Little Women: Difference between revisions

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So Louisa May Alcott vicariously describes the story behind the publication of the book that made her a celebrity overnight with an instant success most authors never dare to dream of. Alcott never intended, however, for ''Little Women'' to be her ''magnum opus''; she only needed a little money. Isn't [[Irony]] wonderful?

''Little Women'' is the story of [[Four Girl Ensemble|four sisters]], modeled after Alcott and her own, trying to get along and grow up while their father is away during the Civil War. The March sisters are:

''Little Women'' is the story of [[Four-Girl Ensemble|four sisters]], modeled after Alcott and her own, trying to get along and grow up while their father is away during the Civil War. The March sisters are:

* Meg (short for Margaret), the responsible first-born who tries to set a good example for her sisters, [[The Kirk|make Jo behave more like a lady and Amy less like one]], and [[In With the In Crowd|look less poor than she is in front of her rich friends]], especially the Moffat family. [[Team Mom|Good-hearted and motherly]], but also vain and self-absorbed as proved by Laurie and the Moffats.

* Jo (a [[Tomboyish Name]] for Josephine): Alcott's [[Author Avatar]] and, by 19th-century standards, a tomboy. Jo is the only sister that Miss Alcott herself does not flatter and praise every other word, occupying the opposite end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]. Jo is bold, ambitious, blunt, selfish, terribly unladylike, and the unofficial protagonist. Like Alcott, she is a devoted writer.

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Their closest friend is their wealthy old neighbor's newly-arrived grandson: handsome, mischievous, half-Italian [[The One Guy|Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence]]. He quickly befriends Jo, and the others soon after. Women in town wonder to which sister their mother is planning to marry him off, but in fact they are all [[Just Friends]], [[Like Brother and Sister|Like Brother And Sisters]] - which becomes [[Shipping|a significant plot point later]].

Other characters include: their strong-willed mother Margaret, whom they call Marmee (usually pronounced phonetically in filmed versions, ignoring the reality that with a 19th-century [[New England]] accent, "Marmee" would be pronounced "Mommy"); their father, a gentleman reverend ruined financially through helping a friend (an idealised version of Louisa's father, prominent Transcendentalist Bronson Alcott); their maid and friend, Hannah; Laurie's tutor, John Brooke, who falls in love with Meg; and their nightmare of a meddling relative, Aunt March, for whom Jo and later Amy work as a companion. The book is fraught with [[Shout Out|Shout Outs]] and [[Homage|Homages]] to ''[[Pilgrims Progress (Literature)|Pilgrims Progress]]'' and [[Anvilicious]] [[An Aesop|Aesops]] at a time before that was considered cliche.

Other characters include: their strong-willed mother Margaret, whom they call Marmee (usually pronounced phonetically in filmed versions, ignoring the reality that with a 19th-century [[New England]] accent, "Marmee" would be pronounced "Mommy"); their father, a gentleman reverend ruined financially through helping a friend (an idealised version of Louisa's father, prominent Transcendentalist Bronson Alcott); their maid and friend, Hannah; Laurie's tutor, John Brooke, who falls in love with Meg; and their nightmare of a meddling relative, Aunt March, for whom Jo and later Amy work as a companion. The book is fraught with [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] and [[Homage|Homages]] to ''[[Pilgrims Progress (Literature)|Pilgrims Progress]]'' and [[Anvilicious]] [[An Aesop|Aesops]] at a time before that was considered cliche.

The first edition of ''Little Women'' ended with Meg's and John's engagement. With no [[Fora]] or wikis to conduct their [[Ship to Ship Combat]], the fans were left to bombard Alcott with letters demanding a sequel, mostly to see Jo and Laurie get married, in the earliest case of [[Shipping]] as we know it today. Alcott wrote the sequel BUT with the almost sadistic resolve that [[Ship Sinking|"I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anybody."]]

The first edition of ''Little Women'' ended with Meg's and John's engagement. With no [[Fora]] or wikis to conduct their [[Ship-to-Ship Combat]], the fans were left to bombard Alcott with letters demanding a sequel, mostly to see Jo and Laurie get married, in the earliest case of [[Shipping]] as we know it today. Alcott wrote the sequel BUT with the almost sadistic resolve that [[Ship Sinking|"I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anybody."]]

Thus came ''Part II'', occasionally published separately under the title ''Good Wives'' in the UK (definitely ''not'' Alcott's idea for a title). Meg and John get married and [[Unto Us a Son And Daughter Are Born|have their twins]], [[Dead Little Sister|Beth dies]], Amy goes to Paris, and Jo turns down Laurie and goes to New York to pursue her career. Laurie, faced with the dilemma of killing himself or going to Europe, opts for the latter, where he falls in love with and marries Amy. Manfully supporting her parents while grieving for her [[Dead Little Sister]], life improves for Jo near the end when she marries her beta reader and best friend, a wise German professor, Friedrich Bhaer, and Aunt March dies and leaves Jo her estate, Plumfield.

The next sequel, ''Little Men'', takes place at Plumfield, which Jo and Fritz have turned into an orphanage/school for young boys, based not-so-subtly on Bronson Alcott's then-controversial educational theories. We are introduced to Jo's sons, Rob and Teddy, Laurie and Amy's daughter [[Dead Guy Junior|Bess]], the Brooke twins Daisy and Demijohn (a clever way of avoiding Margaret and John Jr.), their baby sister Josie, [[Tomboy and Girly Girl|Daisy's tomboyish friend Nan]], and Professor Bhaer's orphaned nephews Franz and Emil, along with a mixed assortment of other [[An Aesop|Aesop]]-appropriate youngsters, the most important ones being an ex pickpocket and street violinist named Nat and his best friend Dan.

The next sequel, ''Little Men'', takes place at Plumfield, which Jo and Fritz have turned into an orphanage/school for young boys, based not-so-subtly on Bronson Alcott's then-controversial educational theories. We are introduced to Jo's sons, Rob and Teddy, Laurie and Amy's daughter [[Dead Guy, Junior|Bess]], the Brooke twins Daisy and Demijohn (a clever way of avoiding Margaret and John Jr.), their baby sister Josie, [[Tomboy and Girly Girl|Daisy's tomboyish friend Nan]], and Professor Bhaer's orphaned nephews Franz and Emil, along with a mixed assortment of other [[An Aesop|Aesop]]-appropriate youngsters, the most important ones being an ex pickpocket and street violinist named Nat and his best friend Dan.

Ten years later in ''Jo's Boys'', Plumfield has grown into a mixed college (a rare phenomenon at the time) and we rejoin these [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] as young adults, plagued by an epidemic of romance and broken hearts amidst chasing dreams and choosing careers.

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* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Averted with Aunt March, to the point the aversion is even [[Lampshaded]]: "Some old people keep young at heart in spite of wrinkles and grey hair, can sympathize with children's little cares and joys, make them feel at home, and can hide wise lessons under pleasant plays, giving and receiving friendship in the sweetest way. [[Dissimile|But Aunt March had not this gift]]."

** Marmee may count, especially when she's played by Susan Sarandon of all people.

* [[Creator Breakdown]]: ''Jo's Boys'' was written in segments over several years towards the end of Alcott's life that were fraught with illness and the deaths of loved ones. On the last page, she [[Fourth Wall|breaks the fourth wall]] and writes that she is strongly tempted to [[Rocks Fall Everyone Dies|destroy Plumfield and all its inhabitants in an earthquake]], but she won't.

* [[Creator Breakdown]]: ''Jo's Boys'' was written in segments over several years towards the end of Alcott's life that were fraught with illness and the deaths of loved ones. On the last page, she [[Fourth Wall|breaks the fourth wall]] and writes that she is strongly tempted to [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|destroy Plumfield and all its inhabitants in an earthquake]], but she won't.

* [[Dead Guy Junior]]: Bess, of course, is short for Elizabeth. In the second half of ''Little Women'', she is even identified as "little Beth" and doesn't become Bess until ''Little Men''.

* [[Dead Guy, Junior]]: Bess, of course, is short for Elizabeth. In the second half of ''Little Women'', she is even identified as "little Beth" and doesn't become Bess until ''Little Men''.

* [[Dead Little Sister]]: Beth

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Jo, Laurie, Josie, and Nan

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* [[Flower Motifs]]: While Laurie and Amy are taking a walk through a rose garden, Laurie gets pricked by a red rose he tried to pick while thinking of Jo, whom he last saw when she turned down his marriage proposal. Amy then gives him a thorn-free white rose. Laurie instantly thinks of the [[Colour-Coded for Your Convenience|color symbolism]] - red roses are for romance, white roses are for funerals, and he wonders if this is either a sign about his changing feelings for the two sisters or an omen of death. He chides himself for being so superstitious and laughs it off, but since eventually he and Amy fall in love and Beth dies, it doesn't sound so funny.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: When introducing Beth, the narrator makes a remark about how her type of quiet kindness and cheerfulness is never fully appreciated until it is gone forever; the tone is such that there might as well be an arrow pointing to Beth with "DOOMED" written on it in letters of fire.

* [[Four Girl Ensemble]]: [[Trope Maker|The original!]]

* [[Four-Girl Ensemble]]: [[Trope Maker|The original!]]

* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]

* [[Forbidden Fruit]]: Meg is poised and ready to reject John Brooke's marriage proposal out of fear, until Aunt March shows up and, unaware of her decision, orders her not to accept him.

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* [[Inter Class Romance]]: One of the March sisters is expected to marry their rich neighbor Laurie. Eventually Amy does.

* [[I Should Write a Book About This]]

* [[~~Its~~ for A Book]]: Jo actually does research poisons for her horror stories.

* [[It's for A Book]]: Jo actually does research poisons for her horror stories.

* [[Kissing Cousins]]: Possibly Josie and Ted in ''Jo's Boys''

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: It's Laurie himself who points out the [[Broken Aesop]] of Amy marrying him after she decided against marrying Fred Vaughn for his money. Amy responds she would still love him if he was poor and he believes her.

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* [[School Play]]: A couple in ''Little Men'', Several in the chapter "Class Day" in ''Jo's Boys''

* [[Settle for Sibling]]: Laurie's marriage to Amy.

* [[Shallow Love Interest]]: Dora in ''Jo's Boys'', whom Tommy originally started dating foolishly [[Operation Jealousy|trying to make Nan jealous]], only to find he actually enjoyed the way she treated him and "accidentally" proposed to her.

* [[Shallow Love Interest]]: Dora in ''Jo's Boys'', whom Tommy originally started dating foolishly [[Operation: Jealousy|trying to make Nan jealous]], only to find he actually enjoyed the way she treated him and "accidentally" proposed to her.

* [[She's All Grown Up]]: Amy

* [[Shipper On Deck]]: Jo is a Meg/Laurie shipper in ''Part I'' and a Beth/Laurie fangirl in ''Part II''.

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* [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]: Nat and Daisy, who have been good friends since ''Little Men'', get married in ''Jo's Boys''.

** ''[[Little Women]]'' itself [[Playing With a Trope|plays with the trope]], as Laurie ultimately marries a girl he's known since childhood (Amy) but ''not'' the one he's harbored romantic feelings for since then (Jo). So Laurie was both [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|unlucky]] ''and'' victorious.

* [[Wham Line]]

* [[Wham! Line]]

{{quote| {{spoiler|Beth}}: [[It Was His Sled|"I feel so strange."]]}}

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: The humiliation Amy suffers at the hands of [[Sadist Teacher|Mr. Davis]] for hiding a quarter's worth of pickled limes in her school desk is enough to justify Marmee's withdrawing her from the school.

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[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]

[[Category:Little Women]]

[[Category:Trope]]