Reflection of Little Women
By Amy Gierman
March 7, 2004
After reading many of the articles written about Little Women it is clear that
Louisa May Alcott had no intentions of this book becoming so popular, so controversial,
so classic. Her publishers didn’t either! It was a book “for girls” she was asked to write.
Who would have thought, back in 1869, it would still be discussed so widely around the
world 135 years after its publication?
What amazed me the most was that as the years went on, so did the writers’
reviews and the depth of their interpretations of this book. The articles and reviews went
from positive and informative to critiquing and looking deeper into its so-called “hidden
agendas.” Fetterley evaluated this story in 1979, in the middle of one of the biggest
women’s movements in history; of course it would get torn apart. As members of our
group discussed, the late reviews and articles seemed to pick apart the story of Little
Women and possibly not take into consideration what the circumstances were of the 1869
times, and Alcott’s assignment, so to speak. It was Lyndsey that said the authors needed
to brush up a bit on their knowledge of the times when the story was written. They need
to read the 1929 article that explained Alcott’s situation.
As with many classic and non-classic books, there are going to be ways to pick it
apart, praise, criticize, and analyze them. Little Women is no exception. Even after 135
years, people are still analyzing and discussing it. I do not mean to offend any of the
scholars or those intellects who find it entertaining or necessary, but don’t we get to a
point when we should just let a book be a book? Can we just accept it as pleasurable or
non-pleasurable and read it for that purpose?
I always figured that boys would not read Little Women. The first reason why
males may tend to look away from this book is the title itself. Obviously it is about young
women or girls. And most likely, it would not be a book of pornography containing
women. Secondly, it is a very girly book! I was curious to see what the article written by
Jan Susina (a male) had to say. Of course there was going to be some critique of
characters or plot by a male reader. And sure enough, Susina stated that probably the
most frustrating thing about Little Women to a male reader is that “not a single male…can
hold a candle to any of the March sisters” (1999). I guess men can now understand a
little how some women feel when reading male dominating books or hearing about male
dominating societies – it’s frustrating! Alcott was asked to write a book for girls; why not
write it about girls and let them be the center of it? I was surprised to read, though, that
many distinguished men (both at the time of publication in 1869 to the present) have read
Little Women and praise it for its quality.
Reading about all of the doubts Mr. Niles and Alcott had about the book makes
me have mixed feelings. First, it makes me laugh to think that the book became so
popular and has been the talk of literature classes for so many years. It goes to show that
you never know what will happen if you don’t try. It amazes me how long-lived Little
Women has become, and probably will continue to be. My other feeling is that of a little
disappointment. Reading how Alcott felt her story was “dull” and plain simple, it seems
that maybe she didn’t put much effort into it. It was something she was asked to do, so
she did it. It doesn’t sound like it was her intentions to try to make it popular. Even
though she used herself and her family as a basis for the characters and put a piece of her
heart into it, was she writing it only because she had to, or because she wanted to? This
is something that I would like to interview Alcott to find out more about how she felt
while writing Little Women.
After reading the many articles from several decades since the publication of
Little Women, I think I have come to the conclusion: The more time passes, the more
people are going to have something about to say it. The more it will get picked apart,
evaluated for various criteria, and praised for its literary efforts. Eventually the
discussions will begin to circle around and start over. It is all a cycle that society seems
to continue. I think this is true about many “classic” or popular, controversial books that
have been written and will be written.
People will always have their opinions and everyone does not have to and will not
always agree. There are things that our little group of four felt were important about Little
Women. We saw parts that we felt needed to be changed (such as the rapid scene
changes). That’s just with four people; imagine what a larger group will have in mind! I
do hope that Little Women continues to be a topic discussed in classrooms, chat rooms,
and families for years to come. It has a lot to offer in more ways than one, and I think a
lot is missed when one fails to read this true “classic” of children’s literature.