November 29, 2006
Happy birthday to Louisa May Alcott
"November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year," said Meg, 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.
Louisa May Alcott was born on this day, in 1832. (I just LOVE that picture of her above. The dress!!)
Truth be told, I have only read Little Women. But that, frankly, was enough for me. To me, it is a perfect book - a book I go back to again and again and again - always seeing something new in it, always finding new levels. The characters seem to grow up with me. When I first read it, when I was 10 years old, I was ALL ABOUT JO. And my love affair with Jo continues to this day. She is one of my favorite female characters ever written (it's a tie between Jo March and Harriet the Spy). Jo LIVES. No one can convince me that she is just a fictional character. Nope. You cannot do it.
But as I have grown up, and as I have continuously gone back to the book - the other sisters have come to the foreground - I see myself in all of them. Parts of me are like Amy, parts of me are like Meg, and I would like to think that parts of me are like Beth. But honestly: Jo is the one. Jo is the one I most relate to. She's the artist. The tomboy. The independent wild spirit. The one who is afraid to make the wrong choice. The one who sticks to her guns.
I still am not really reconciled to the fact that she and Laurie did not end up together - HOWEVER, I can see Jo's point. They were like brother and sister. But ... but ... but ... couldn't that have segued into a love thing? The intimacy they have together, the comfort?
When I was a kid, I HATED the professor. With his stupid German accent, and his goofy poetry as he wooed Jo. I resented the fact that he wasn't Laurie. I loved Laurie.
Now I know that Louisa May Alcott was forced by her publishers to marry Jo off. She wanted her to stay single. And if you really think about it, THAT would be much more logical - it makes much more sense that Jo, even with all her passion, and her ability to understand men (in a way that Meg, the one with all the love affairs, doesn't) - would choose to spend her life alone. She would marry her writing. In that day and age, those were the choices. It was the choice Louisa May Alcott herself made. She could not submit to the demands of wifehood and motherhood - it would infringe on her writing. She knew it, even when she was 15 years old, and wrote in her journal: "I will do something by and by. Don’t care what, teach, sew, act, write, anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won’t!"
Alcott grew up in Concord, one of 4 girls, and part of what we would now call an activist family. They were abolitinists. Social reformers. Her mother was a social worker. Her father was an educational philosopher, and had a belief in communal living (Louisa May Alcott wrote some funny pieces about these experiments of her father's, and having to submit to them as a young girl.) Her father (Amos Bronson Alcott - also born on this day) was buddies with Emerson, and part of the Transcendentalist movement. At the time, her father's views on teaching were very controversial: He actually believed that students should enjoy learning. Heaven forbid! He thought that students should be actively involved in their own education, and not just sit back and be passive little drones. Her father thought it was very important to have a beautiful classroom - not just desks and a chalkboard. He poured his heart (and finances) into a school - which ran for a couple of years - but then went under, putting the family at financial risk. Louisa May Alcott eventually, many years later, would be pretty much the sole supporter of her parents. She made a ton of money DURING her lifetime, which is quite rare. Her parents just weren't the money-making types - obviously. As a young teenager Louisa May Alcott had a passionate girlish love of Emerson - a crush, if you will. His intellect, his library that she was allowed to use, whatever ... She adored him.
In 1862, Alcott (as always, determined to make a living - and to contribute financially to her family) traveled to Washington DC as a Civil War nurse. By this point, Alcott had already started getting stuff published - poems, short stories in the Gothic melodramatic vein ... She actually preferred Gothic melodramas to the kinds of books that later would make her name. (She despised Little Women and found the writing of it extremely tedious.) Her experience as a nurse in the Civil War prompted her to publish a book called Hospital Sketches. At that point, her publisher asked her if she would write a book "for girls". Never one to back off from a challenge, Louisa May Alcott sat down and wrote Little Women in two months. She had grown up with 3 sisters - and she put her entire childhood and life into that book, even as she hated doing it, and didn't think the book would amount to much.
Little Women was published in 1868 and was an immediate rip-roaring success. The publisher, within only a couple of weeks of its publication, begged Alcott to get to work on a sequel. So Alcott did. Another smash success. Louisa May Alcott had become a star.
Every book she wrote after that was eagerly awaited for by a breathless loving public. Success had, indeed, come - her childish ambitions to be 'rich and famous' came to fruition tenfold ... but 'happy'? Was she happy?
She never married. She ended up taking care of her sister May's daughter - after May died from complications in childbirth. Being a surrogate mother to this young girl was one of the most fulfilling experiences of Alcott's life. She kept writing, kept publishing ... although she began to get more and more ill from mercury poisoning she had received years earlier during the Civil War (she had, like many other Civil War nurses, contracted typhoid fever - and at the time, the proscribed cure was something called "calomel" - a drug laden with mercury).
Near the end of her life, Alcott became active in the suffragette movement. Her father (an extraordinary man in his own right) had always been a feminist himself:
His passion was to see that his four daughters were educated, well-rounded, and part of the intellectual community helived in. (Some heavy-hitters there - Emerson, Thoreau, etc.) Louisa's father kept detailed diaries during the raising of his 4 girls, chronicling everything about each one of them. His whole thing was early education - the importance of the first couple of years - and again, you don't ever get the sense that he thought this was only good for BOYS. On the contrary. Here's a snippet of a letter Louisa's father wrote to Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869, which gives you some idea of who this man was:
Woman is helping herself to secure her place in a better spirit and manner than any we [men] can suggest or devise, it becomes us to take, rather than proffer Consels, readily waiting to learn her wishes and aims, as she has so long, and so patiently deferred to us.
In 1879, Louisa May Alcott was the first woman to register to vote in Concord - for the school committee election. Pretty awesome, huh?
Her beloved father passed away on March 4, 1888. Louisa May Alcott died two days later.
An extraordinary woman.
She didn't care for the book that made her name ... and probably wished that her legacy was different ... but that's okay. It is not for the artist to decide what the audience will react to, what the reader will respond to. She created something with Little Women that transcends the ages, that pierces through the centuries. It is a classic book. And perhaps it's fitting, in a way, that she wrote it for hire, pretty much - it was not her idea, and yet - look at what she was able to create. Look at what she was able to bring out!!
Those 4 girls are immortal.
When I was 16 years old, one of the assignments we had in our Drama class was to do a one-person show - maybe 15, 20 minutes long - based on either a real person from history, or a fictional character - and we had to come into the class as that character, and do a monologue - based on our research - and then take questions from the class - in character. I still remember my core group of friends and their projects: Beth came in as Mae West. She was incredible. She had on a blowsy blonde wig, and wore a tight sparkley dress - and I still remember the shock when Beth started telling us all about birth control options - because Mae West was an early champion of birth control for women. It was awesome. Beth was fearless. Betsy did Paddington Bear (and I still remember how one of the questions for Betsy was: "Why don't you eat some of your marmalade?" and Betsy - who despises marmalade - had to dip her hand into the jar, take out a big scoop of it, and eat it - pretending she liked it. Now that's dedication to the acting craft!). Michele did Marilyn Monroe. Unbelievable. Michele was an amazing actress, a natural. She got the sadness beneath the blonde glamour of Marilyn.
And I did Louisa May Alcott.
One of my first forays into the one-person show format ... I did hours and hours and hours of research for a mere 20 minute piece - because I had no idea what questions people would ask, and I had to be ready for anything!
It was great, because I had known nothing about her before that. I had just read Little Women and we had also visited her house in Concord on a family trip (a great thing to do if you are in the area). Orchard House:
Once I learned all this stuff about her, my admiration for her grew. I loved that our birthdays were almost the same. She was a Sagittarius too.
Little Women. I don't know if I would call it a great book - but I would say that it is something much better than "great": it is beloved. Little Women is a beloved book. And that is a rare and precious thing.
Happy birthday, Louisa May!
I loved "Little Women" PASSIONATELY growing up and read it over and over again. When I recently reread it as an adult, I was surprised to realize that I had completely forgotten how enraged I was when Amy threw Jo's manuscript in the fire. I devised a scenario of my own where Amy would have to cut off all her hair as an act of penance to be readmitted into the family fold. Any of her puny, whiny. whimpering about being sorry paled by what I wanted from that selfish, jealous bitch.
So Happy birthday LMA . I had no sisters of my own- so these were mine. Happy Belated Birthday to you too Sheila you brighten my day and stun me with your prolific and diverse passions.
kelly - hahahahaha I know - Amy was pretty awful at times, wasn't she?? I have to read the book again - doesn't Jo attack Amy? Is there some kind of fisticuffs altercation when she realizes what Amy has done?
Oh, and thanks for the birthday wishes. :)
Posted by: red at November 29, 2006 8:01 AMI hadn't heard about calomel's use in typhoid - but I was aware that it was used extensively for syphillis and as a germicide.
But, I see from here why they used it - to control fever.
"Typhoid Fever,—Calomel, a 10-grain dose each day for three days, is antipyretic. This is the German specific typhoid treatment."
You can see why the old folks didn't trust doctors. Nobody had any willow bark?
Posted by: John at November 29, 2006 8:46 AM...i'm a little jealous that you have a birthday so close to Louisa May Alcott, but i'll try to console myself with my birthday's proximity to one Mr. Leach.
Posted by: amelie / rae at November 29, 2006 9:22 AMJohn - ha, yes, I had read about Benjamin Rush's bilious pills in some other book - can't remember which one. The whole thing sounds LOVELY doesn't it?? Open up the bowels, people, open 'em up!
Posted by: red at November 29, 2006 9:45 AMYeah, Jo attacks her, but there was no lasting damage to Amy- it was simply not enough. She should've had to pay. I wanted vengeance. I am obviously still not over it.
Posted by: yippeekelly at November 29, 2006 10:36 AMHa!!! I TOTALLY understand.
Posted by: red at November 29, 2006 10:38 AMI would highly recommend Little Men, esp. since it's more of Jo's story.
Posted by: Dan at November 29, 2006 11:25 AMDan - yeah, I honestly do not know why I didn't go on to read Little Men!
Posted by: red at November 29, 2006 11:31 AMI borrowed Little Women from the library once, but had to turn it in before I could finish it. Still don't know why I never went back to it...
I had no idea about all this... her father seems awesome.
Posted by: alli at November 29, 2006 11:46 AMI love Little Women, but have a feeling why you've never read Little Men, Sheila. I _started_ Little Men, but hadn't gotten over my wildly extravagant resentment that Jo and Laurie hadn't ended up together, so couldn't deal with Jo and the Prof.
I should try again.
Posted by: melissa at November 29, 2006 12:38 PMI read Little Women when I was 8 or 9 years old, and it was so powerful for me that it inspired me to write a few "short stories" with the book's characters as the protagonists. Can you believe it??
I still remember sitting at my grandfather's huge desk, using his very old typewriter to write the silliest stories you can think... I spent entire afternoons after school (and after doing my homework, of course!) just typing, typing, typing... I must have driven my family nuts with the typing noise!
Eventually I realized that I was a lousy writer and that I had better leave Louisa's characters alone, hahahaha! I wish I had kept my "short stories" though, I bet it would be endlessly funny to read them today.
Anyway, I don't think I have reread Little Women since that time, so many of its storylines are a little foggy in my mind now, but I always remember the writing frenzy that seized me when I first read it. It's a cherished memory from my childhood.
Posted by: Ceci at November 29, 2006 1:22 PMSheila, I dare you to spend an entire day in the city in a dress like the one she is wearing in the photo. Just go about your normal day of work, shopping, eating, etc. We'll need pictures, of course.
Posted by: PatrickP at November 29, 2006 3:32 PMHi! I'm sorry, I'm fairly new to this whole commenting thing and rather unsure of myself so I hope it's okay that I pop up here...? (I'm the one who wrote you a horrendously long email a few days ago. ^^) Anyhow, I'm really staggered and so happy you wrote about Louisa May Alcott. This book and Anne of Green Gables made and defined my childhood. Like you (who wouldn't??) I adored Jo. I WAS Jo. In fact, note my name! lol I was born in Saigon Vietnam and my family came to the United States when I was a wee little thing. I got my citizenship in the summer between fifth and sixth grade, right smack in the brightest haze of Louisa May Alcott worship. One day my mother took me to a tall, imposing building in San Francisco, and we were ushered into this very offical, American-flag toting room. I didn't really understand what was going on, except I was becoming a "American citizen" (which made no sense to me, wasn't I already??) and at one stunning point out of the blue, the man behind the desk looked up at me and asked me if I wanted to change my name from my ethnic--and tortuous, what trouble it gave me--"Khanh." I repeated him several times to make sure he wasn't making fun of me, granting this dream. And I blurted out, "Josephine," for my favorite character of all time. The rest was history. I'm Jo now, through and through. Haha so this book... I have a unique, living breathing relationship with it as I will never have with any other. :) Was that too much? lol
Posted by: Josephine at November 29, 2006 4:08 PMJosephine - Not too much at all!
I DID get your email, I have not had a chance to respond yet - but let me just say: it was not horrendously long at all. It was one of the funnest emails I have ever received! I tore through it - and said to myself, "Okay. Clearly I need to sit down and watch While You Were Sleeping again - just so I can relive the joy!" I was SO GLAD you wrote!! We can share the Bill Pullman adoration. Ha! But trust me: I will respond in a much better and more thorough way via email. I am looking forward to it.
I LOVE the story about you naming yourself after Jo March!! How amazing!
If you had named yourself after Amy I might have been a bit worried. heh heh But Jo is an awesome role model. Beautiful story. :)
And don't worry that it was too much - and I LOVED your email. It made me feel so good that some horrendously long post that I had written had somehow been found by you and that you loved it. It made my day.
:)
Posted by: red at November 29, 2006 4:24 PMWhat a beautiful story!! Can you imagine if we could all pick out our names based on a favorite book character? I'll have to think about what name I would choose, and why... that would make a great post, Sheila...
Posted by: just1beth at November 29, 2006 6:27 PMUm - I would like you to continue the memory of me with the marmalade, but that was someone else. You were vital to my assignment though because I did Judy Garland. The problem was that I had only read the first half of the huge biography. So I came up with a brilliant plan (I am the queen of BS) to just be "young Judy". Here's where you come in - I asked you to note when my act was winding down or if people were asking hard questions, and then you were to raise you hand and ask me to sing. Brilliant! I sang 'Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries' - I wonder who ate the marmalade...
Posted by: Betsy at November 29, 2006 6:54 PMBetsy - now just wait a goldurn cottonpickin' minute. Didn't you become Paddington for SOME project? I remember that you were forced to eat marmalade - and you wore a slicker and a little rain hat ...
I could have SWORN that was you!
It wasn't????
My entire world view has shattered ...
I also remember you doing Judy now, though - so what the hell with the Paddington ... where did THAT come from??
Posted by: red at November 29, 2006 9:22 PMEven though the comments have melted into marmalade. . . I've been lurking for a while, not sure where to jump in--the LMA post totally called out to me. This discussion is great. (That, and I just can't seem to get my grad school work going tonight.) I read a collection of LMA's journals and letters that I borrowed from the library this summer. It was so huge I had to renew it and STILL it went back overdue. The most amazing thing about LMA was that her mind was constantly going. I think she described her constant writing as pots "boiling on the stove." (While I'm probably not as manic I can relate and wish I had more committedness to sit down and write everything out.) It seemed as if she hardly ever slept and while she had to do a lot of sewing and cleaning to support herself and her family, the stories kept coming. The book of her journals was ancient--I wish I could remember the editor but to be honest I think some of her comments were a bit off, and it was a little annoying that she would spoil the journals/letters I was about to read. But it was really thrilling to read LMA talk about her life and her family and all that was going on around her.
"Little Women" never did it for me and in fact in 9th grade I answered a test question pointing how Amy was such a phony! I'm almost embarrassed to say as an aspiring novelist I still couldn't get excited about Jo. "Eight Cousins" is my favorite LMA story. (Maybe it's b/c I have only one sister? I can see it now--psychology studies on families and LMA story preferences. . .)
Posted by: Kate P at November 29, 2006 10:36 PMAhhh!! Thank you, Sheila! You made MY day in return. Honestly, I was positively gleeful at your response, and so relieved my monsterbaby email was well-received. Er, in fact, I kind of, er, ended up writing another. lol. On accident I swear! I *really* blame your review because I went back to read it for the millionth time and -_- I found MORE things I just HAD to scribble madly about. Blast. lol
However, I made a resolution to confess bravely and see if you want it just yet or not. And wonders, here I am abiding! I DO have self control! [waves a little flag around happily]
Oh dear, what's the etiquette on replying to comments replying to a post?? I don't know anything! Except I shouldn't ever, ever talk politics of Hollywod but I AM encouraged to heap burning piles of scorn on TomKat. Heehee. :]
But thank you, just1beth! I felt a little silly sharing but I'm glad you thought my story was interesting. Haha, yeah... It really says something about me that I named myself after my favorite book character. My friends would roll their eyes right now and agree rather vehmently. Cheeky bunch. :]
Posted by: Josephine at November 30, 2006 5:38 AMNow that I'm nearing the "F" word, my memory is fading. I'm thankful that the diary lives to remind us all of details from days long gone - but I'm reaching as far into my head as possible and I've got no Paddington. I'll keep on it though!
Happy Birthday too!
Posted by: Betsy at November 30, 2006 6:05 AMI loved Little Men and Jo's Boys - almost as much!
Posted by: jenclair at December 1, 2006 12:41 PM