A Cherished Book: Little Women

The Little Women:

                Meg       . . .       Jo          . . .        Beth         . . .        Amy    

   First off I'd like to say, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you had a wonderful day spending time with your family and loved ones. . . Now, on with the post:

   Little Women has always been a favorite story of mine.  I can't remember when I was first introduced to it, it just one of those stories that have forever been with me. I do, however, remember watching the movie for the first time. It was when I was about 11 or 12 and I loved it. :) I hadn't read the real version of the book at the time, only the abridged, but... I think I read it not to long after watching the movie. :)

   I love the book, it is amazing. Simple as that. Louisa May Alcott does a fabulous job on portraying the characters and does wonderful using the simple story line of following a family of 4 girls. (Partly based on her own life) I have come across lots of people who have read this lovely book, but also quite a few who haven't. Since I love this book so much I enjoy hearing other peoples opinions on it. And they are quite interesting: the people who haven't read may just say it to long. The people who have read it may say they don't like Teddy (simply awful, I tell you! Who couldn't like Teddy?) others may complain that Amy's just plain spoiled,(Yes, that is partly truly, but that's her character!) Some don't care for Professor Baer that much... etc, etc.  I'm sure there's lots more I haven't heard, but it's interesting to hear these. If you haven't read the book (but have watched the movie) then I would suggest you do.
  I recently discovered how closely the books is related to L. M. Alcott's life. I knew before that she based it a little off her life, she had 3 sisters (in all, 4 girls), and was a tom-boy like Jo. But here's a couple other facts that make it seem even closer to her own life:
  -Her youngest sister, Abigail, was an artist, like Amy in the book. In fact Abigail Alcott illustrated the very first version of Little Women for her sister!
 -Her younger sister Elizabeth died of scarlet fever, just like Beth. And Beth's full name, I believe, is Elizabeth.
  -Her older sister, Anna got married not to long after Elizabeth's death and Louisa May Alcott felt this to be a breaking up of their sisterhood. L.M Alcott's emotion was similar to Jo's when Meg got married. In fact, Meg's husband has the same first name as Anna Alcott's husband, John.
  -Alcott had a romance with Ladislas Wisniewski, but she never married him. (Or anyone else for that matter)  Ladislas' nickname was "Laddie" and was the model for Theadore "Laurie" or "Teddy" Laurence. Which might explain why Jo and Laurie didn't marry. . . but that's just a thought of mine. Here's a quote from one of her journals that informs why she didn't have them marry:

Began the second part of "Little Women". . . Girls write to ask who the little women marry, as if that was the only end and aim of a woman's life. I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anyone.
             -Louisa May Alcott, from her Journal

   Anyway, those are some of the interesting facts I have found. :) Louisa May Alcott originally wrote the book in 2 parts. Part I was entitled Little Women, and Part II entitled as Good Wives. The first part showed the the March Family as young girls struggling with their Father being gone at war. The 2nd part is them growing up, getting married, and having families. :) They later published them in a single volume under the name of Little Women.

   Little Women is one of those books that  show character change, which is something I really love. It's nice to be able see them grow and mature and also to be able to relate to the girls in their different struggles. And, of course, there's Laurie. We also see him grow, and mature a lot in the book. We see him learn to appreciate his wealth, and become fast friends with the March girls. Learning lots of lessons from them, too. =D Though he didn't act that mature after (spoiler!) Jo refuses him. He goes abroad and mopes acting like his life is over and there's nothing to live for. "Lazy Laurence" is what Amy called him. =) I think it's so sweet that Laurie and Amy get married. x)
   Anyway, here are some graphics for you to enjoy. I did one of Laurie and Amy, one of Teddy (Laurie) and Jo, and lastly is Meg and Laurie. Ok.. um, that wasn't on purpose. I didn't mean to have Teddy in each one! Well, I put the pictures at the beginning of this post together and that doesn't have Teddy... does that count? =D Enjoy the graphics, and I'll end with a quote since I love doing that. =)

<3 Eva

.       .       .      .      .      .

'November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year,' said Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the frostbitten garden.
  'That's the reason I was born in it,' observed Jo pensively, quite unconscious of the blot on her nose.
  'If something very pleasant should happen now, we should think it a delightful month,' said Beth, who took a hopeful view of everything, even November.

-Little Women [The Book]

Don't forget to click the graphics for full size! They're small because they don't really fit on the page.

 

I sorta made this graphic with Valentine's Day in mind. =D (Graphics made by Miss Evelyn. Click image for full size)