Alcott Readathon 2018: Little Women Part I
If there's only one thing you should understand about Little Women it's that Amy isn't a brat Bhaer is based on Emerson, not Bronson it wasn't her first book. Flower Fables, Hospital Sketches, On Picket Duty and Other Tales, Moods, Morning Glories and other stories, and Proverb Stories were all published before, as well as stories in various magazines and newspapers. The Inheritance, Work, and A Long Fatal Love Chase were written before LW and published after it. Little Women sold very well from the beginning, but it might have sold worse if people hadn't already known her name. The reviews were almost all positive, except for one who thought it wasn't Christian enough.
Playing Pilgrims
Let's note that Beth doesn't like washing dishes and cleaning.
Meg is plump, which people tend to forget.
Can you imagine having a four year old, a three year old, a one year old, and a newborn? Goodness. The Alcott sisters weren't so close together - Anna was born March 1831, Louisa November 1832, Lizzy June 1835, a son who died April 1839, and May was born July 1840.
Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person, in her own opinion at least. Go Amy. Everyone is an important person.
"Glad to find you so merry, my girls," said a cheery voice at the door, and actors and audience turned to welcome a tall, motherly lady with a 'can I help you' look about her which was truly delightful. She was not elegantly dressed, but a noble-looking woman, and the girls thought the gray cloak and unfashionable bonnet covered the most splendid mother in the world.
One of the differences between the first and second editions of the book is the description of Marmee. The above quote is from the 1880 edition, the one with new illustrations by Frank T. Merrill. The following quote is from the first edition.
"Glad to find you so merry, my girls," said a cheery voice at the door, and actors and audience turned to welcome a stout, motherly lady with a "can-I-help-you" look about her which was truly delightful. She wasn't a particularly handsome person, but mothers are always lovely to their children, and the girls thought the gray cloak and unfashionable bonnet covered the most splendid woman in the world.
According to this New York Times article Marmee is simply a different spelling of Mommy.
By vivan, Jo means vivandiere, a woman who works at a canteen.
Jo leaning on the back, where no one would see any sign of emotion if the letter should happen to be touching. Awww, Jo.
A Merry Christmas
There's one edition, I think the Signet, where the annotater insists that the book is Pilgrim's Progress, and not the Bible, but to me Bibles make far more sense. Both "roll of directions" and "the best life ever lived" sound like Jesus.
"I shall take the cream and the muffings," added Amy, heroically giving up the article she most liked.
AMY IS THE BEST AND SHE HAS GREAT TASTE.
"I wish I could send my bunch to Father. I'm afraid he isn't having such a merry Christmas as we are." Beth is adorable.
The Laurence Boy
If Jo ate four apples, either she has small apples or she was very hungry.
Meg looks German. LMA likes the Germans.
With what Meg called 'a great want of manners' Jo had saved some bonbons for the little girls Jo is an A+ sister.
Burdens
"not to hint Aunt March" - snarky LMA is my favorite LMA
Petrea is a character in the works of Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish writer.
Being Neighborly
Meg reads Ivanhoe.
I wonder how long Jo means by "we haven't been here a long while." I always pictured them in the same house all their lives.
Beth Finds the Palace Beautiful
Tableaux!
Too happy to eat? Too sad to eat I can understand, because that's happened to me several times, but too happy is weird.
Mr. Laurence is a darling.
The "little granddaughter" is a bit of a mystery. Laurie never mentions having a dead sister, so I think the most reasonable interpretion is that she is either Laurie's cousin, or that by LMA meant daughter instead of granddaughter and she is his aunt.
Amy's Valley of Humiliation
I've always wanted to try pickled limes but it hasn't happened yet.
But Amy had not forgotten Miss Snow's cutting remarks about 'some persons whose noses were not too flat to smell other people's limes, and stuck-up people who were not too proud to ask for them', and she instantly crushed 'that Snow girl's' hopes by the withering telegram, "You needn't be so polite all of a sudden, for you won't get any."
I LOVE HER.
"I never lie, sir." &AMY;
Jo Meets Apollyon
Fiddlesticks!
So I kind of love Amy, and yes it was mean of her to do that, but it was only a manuscript, and really Jo should have kept the first draft. And I understand not liking her or not forgiving her. I remember someone saying "I was an older sister who wrote" and I actually was too, but I have a practically photographic memory so if my work was destroyed I would have just rewritten it. I guess I had my character preferences from the first chapter so I just forgave Amy. After all, Jo does!
I don't care if people hate my favorite characters but I get annoyed at the assumption that the hatred is 100% universal.
Note that May Alcott never burned anything of Louisa's.
Meg Goes to Vanity Fair
Jo, who loved to give and lend, but whose possessions were usually too dilapidated to be of much use. In which I am Jo and Jo is me.
"He's too old." "My child, what do you mean? What is his age, I beg to know!" cried Miss Clara. "Nearly seventy, I believe," answered Meg, counting stitches to hide the merriment in her eyes. LOL Meg.
For fuck's sake stop calling teenagers little girls.
The P. C. and P. O.
Beth grows catnip in her garden.
Hannah's last name is apparently Brown.
Hannah/gardener OTP!
Experiments
"Aunt March is a regular samphire, is she not?" observed Amy, tasting her mixture critically. how do you not find her adorable
Darn it I am now craving gingerbread.
Poor Beth, poor dead bird :(
Oh my gosh, Laurie "eating away manfully" strawberries covered with salt kills me. He's such a good friend.
Camp Laurence
Flowers are mentioned a lot, and besides being pleasant they serve a practical purpose of making a house smell good, which today is done mostly by artificial scents.
Jo wearing her unfashionable hat because she wants to is a thing that kid-me took as an example, a very good one.
No wonder Amy fell in love with Laurie - he indulges her sweet tooth.
I've always liked this chapter and I'm glad there's now an adaptation that has it. (I haven't seen it yet.)
Brooke is eleven years older than Meg.
Prim Kate reads porn, haha.
I wonder if anyone realizes then or later that Brooke is Mary Sue-ing - I mean, self-inserting himself.
Funny that they play Authors because Alcott herself was later added to the game.
<3 Sallie defending Meg.
Castles in the Air
"then there was a hunt for the key, which was at last discovered in [Laurie's] pocket"
"I have ever so many wishes, but the pet one is to be an artist, and go to Rome, and do fine pictures, and be the best artist in the whole world," was Amy's modest desire.
No seriously she is my favorite character ever.
We know Brooke is worthy of Meg because he looked after his mother.
Secrets
Laurie is reminding me of Dan here.
"It is always pleasant to be believed in." So very true.
"The Rival Painters" is a real Alcott story, but it has a different plot than the one described here.
A Telegram
I was also born in November, the most disagreeable month of the year.
"Jo and I are going to make fortunes for you all. Just wait ten years, and see if we don't," said Amy, who sat in a corner making mud pies, as Hannah called her little clay models of birds, fruit, and faces. <3 again.
Laurie calls Marmee Madam Mother. Oh my gosh.
I don't know what accent Hannah is meant to have. Creeter and picters, in' for -ing, pianny for piano, ain't, garding for garden, ef and Chiny, git, mum for ma'am, sech for such, cherry-bounce, Mis for Mrs.
LMA never sold her hair. She once wrote that she was $40 in debt and could pay it off with her hair, but she didn't. I can't find a citation for where she got the money from.
Oh, they rent the house. I guess they sold the house they had when rich and moved into a rental.
Letters
Laurie is not as respeckful as he ought to be now I am almost in my teens, he calls me Chick and hurts my feelings by talking French to me very fast when I say Merci or Bon jour as Hattie King does. OTP.
Hannah's last name is now Mullet. Someone's editor missed that.
Little Faithful
Wait, Dr. Bangs. Is he related to Tommy Bangs? I adore that child.
"approving pat, which annoyed Amy" - I enjoy how she wants to be treated with dignity. Some people think children don't care about dignity, but even ones younger than Amy do.
Laurie studies in vacation time.
Dark Days
I forgot that Laurie kisses Jo.
"I telegraphed to your mother yesterday, and Brooke answered she'd come at once, and she'll be here tonight, and everything will be all right. Aren't you glad I did it?" Awww.
Amy's Will
I actually like Aunt March, though I didn't as a kid.
I assume Curtis is Marmee's maiden name.
Amy has $100, which must be a gift from Aunt March or some other relative, probably given at birth. I guess she isn't allowed to use it, at least not at present.
I love that she decided to draw Notre Dame instead of something easier.
awww Laurie crying
Confidential
LMA: I won't even bother trying to describe the scene
Laurie Makes Mischief, and Jo Makes Peace
Caroline Percy is a character in Patronage by Maria Edgeworth.
Mr. Laurence calls Jo hussy? Huh. I know words shift meanings but they still jar you.
Pleasant Meadows
If I were transported to the Victorian era the worst part of it would be never getting to sit in a comfortable postion.
Aunt March Settles the Question
"The old lady couldn't resist her longing to see her nephew" ♥
Meg is so cool here; you just want to cheer for her.
"James Laurence is a crotchedy old fellow" - Pot and kettle much?
So the curtain falls upon Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Whether it ever rises again, depends upon the reception given the first act of the domestic drama called Little Women. Similar to the final line of Jo's Boys.
This entry was originally posted at https://nocowardsoul.dreamwidth.org/39758.html
Playing Pilgrims
Let's note that Beth doesn't like washing dishes and cleaning.
Meg is plump, which people tend to forget.
Can you imagine having a four year old, a three year old, a one year old, and a newborn? Goodness. The Alcott sisters weren't so close together - Anna was born March 1831, Louisa November 1832, Lizzy June 1835, a son who died April 1839, and May was born July 1840.
Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person, in her own opinion at least. Go Amy. Everyone is an important person.
"Glad to find you so merry, my girls," said a cheery voice at the door, and actors and audience turned to welcome a tall, motherly lady with a 'can I help you' look about her which was truly delightful. She was not elegantly dressed, but a noble-looking woman, and the girls thought the gray cloak and unfashionable bonnet covered the most splendid mother in the world.
One of the differences between the first and second editions of the book is the description of Marmee. The above quote is from the 1880 edition, the one with new illustrations by Frank T. Merrill. The following quote is from the first edition.
"Glad to find you so merry, my girls," said a cheery voice at the door, and actors and audience turned to welcome a stout, motherly lady with a "can-I-help-you" look about her which was truly delightful. She wasn't a particularly handsome person, but mothers are always lovely to their children, and the girls thought the gray cloak and unfashionable bonnet covered the most splendid woman in the world.
According to this New York Times article Marmee is simply a different spelling of Mommy.
By vivan, Jo means vivandiere, a woman who works at a canteen.
Jo leaning on the back, where no one would see any sign of emotion if the letter should happen to be touching. Awww, Jo.
A Merry Christmas
There's one edition, I think the Signet, where the annotater insists that the book is Pilgrim's Progress, and not the Bible, but to me Bibles make far more sense. Both "roll of directions" and "the best life ever lived" sound like Jesus.
"I shall take the cream and the muffings," added Amy, heroically giving up the article she most liked.
AMY IS THE BEST AND SHE HAS GREAT TASTE.
"I wish I could send my bunch to Father. I'm afraid he isn't having such a merry Christmas as we are." Beth is adorable.
The Laurence Boy
If Jo ate four apples, either she has small apples or she was very hungry.
Meg looks German. LMA likes the Germans.
With what Meg called 'a great want of manners' Jo had saved some bonbons for the little girls Jo is an A+ sister.
Burdens
"not to hint Aunt March" - snarky LMA is my favorite LMA
Petrea is a character in the works of Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish writer.
Being Neighborly
Meg reads Ivanhoe.
I wonder how long Jo means by "we haven't been here a long while." I always pictured them in the same house all their lives.
Beth Finds the Palace Beautiful
Tableaux!
Too happy to eat? Too sad to eat I can understand, because that's happened to me several times, but too happy is weird.
Mr. Laurence is a darling.
The "little granddaughter" is a bit of a mystery. Laurie never mentions having a dead sister, so I think the most reasonable interpretion is that she is either Laurie's cousin, or that by LMA meant daughter instead of granddaughter and she is his aunt.
Amy's Valley of Humiliation
I've always wanted to try pickled limes but it hasn't happened yet.
But Amy had not forgotten Miss Snow's cutting remarks about 'some persons whose noses were not too flat to smell other people's limes, and stuck-up people who were not too proud to ask for them', and she instantly crushed 'that Snow girl's' hopes by the withering telegram, "You needn't be so polite all of a sudden, for you won't get any."
I LOVE HER.
"I never lie, sir." &AMY;
Jo Meets Apollyon
Fiddlesticks!
So I kind of love Amy, and yes it was mean of her to do that, but it was only a manuscript, and really Jo should have kept the first draft. And I understand not liking her or not forgiving her. I remember someone saying "I was an older sister who wrote" and I actually was too, but I have a practically photographic memory so if my work was destroyed I would have just rewritten it. I guess I had my character preferences from the first chapter so I just forgave Amy. After all, Jo does!
I don't care if people hate my favorite characters but I get annoyed at the assumption that the hatred is 100% universal.
Note that May Alcott never burned anything of Louisa's.
Meg Goes to Vanity Fair
Jo, who loved to give and lend, but whose possessions were usually too dilapidated to be of much use. In which I am Jo and Jo is me.
"He's too old." "My child, what do you mean? What is his age, I beg to know!" cried Miss Clara. "Nearly seventy, I believe," answered Meg, counting stitches to hide the merriment in her eyes. LOL Meg.
For fuck's sake stop calling teenagers little girls.
The P. C. and P. O.
Beth grows catnip in her garden.
Hannah's last name is apparently Brown.
Hannah/gardener OTP!
Experiments
"Aunt March is a regular samphire, is she not?" observed Amy, tasting her mixture critically. how do you not find her adorable
Darn it I am now craving gingerbread.
Poor Beth, poor dead bird :(
Oh my gosh, Laurie "eating away manfully" strawberries covered with salt kills me. He's such a good friend.
Camp Laurence
Flowers are mentioned a lot, and besides being pleasant they serve a practical purpose of making a house smell good, which today is done mostly by artificial scents.
Jo wearing her unfashionable hat because she wants to is a thing that kid-me took as an example, a very good one.
No wonder Amy fell in love with Laurie - he indulges her sweet tooth.
I've always liked this chapter and I'm glad there's now an adaptation that has it. (I haven't seen it yet.)
Brooke is eleven years older than Meg.
Prim Kate reads porn, haha.
I wonder if anyone realizes then or later that Brooke is Mary Sue-ing - I mean, self-inserting himself.
Funny that they play Authors because Alcott herself was later added to the game.
<3 Sallie defending Meg.
Castles in the Air
"then there was a hunt for the key, which was at last discovered in [Laurie's] pocket"
"I have ever so many wishes, but the pet one is to be an artist, and go to Rome, and do fine pictures, and be the best artist in the whole world," was Amy's modest desire.
No seriously she is my favorite character ever.
We know Brooke is worthy of Meg because he looked after his mother.
Secrets
Laurie is reminding me of Dan here.
"It is always pleasant to be believed in." So very true.
"The Rival Painters" is a real Alcott story, but it has a different plot than the one described here.
A Telegram
I was also born in November, the most disagreeable month of the year.
"Jo and I are going to make fortunes for you all. Just wait ten years, and see if we don't," said Amy, who sat in a corner making mud pies, as Hannah called her little clay models of birds, fruit, and faces. <3 again.
Laurie calls Marmee Madam Mother. Oh my gosh.
I don't know what accent Hannah is meant to have. Creeter and picters, in' for -ing, pianny for piano, ain't, garding for garden, ef and Chiny, git, mum for ma'am, sech for such, cherry-bounce, Mis for Mrs.
LMA never sold her hair. She once wrote that she was $40 in debt and could pay it off with her hair, but she didn't. I can't find a citation for where she got the money from.
Oh, they rent the house. I guess they sold the house they had when rich and moved into a rental.
Letters
Laurie is not as respeckful as he ought to be now I am almost in my teens, he calls me Chick and hurts my feelings by talking French to me very fast when I say Merci or Bon jour as Hattie King does. OTP.
Hannah's last name is now Mullet. Someone's editor missed that.
Little Faithful
Wait, Dr. Bangs. Is he related to Tommy Bangs? I adore that child.
"approving pat, which annoyed Amy" - I enjoy how she wants to be treated with dignity. Some people think children don't care about dignity, but even ones younger than Amy do.
Laurie studies in vacation time.
Dark Days
I forgot that Laurie kisses Jo.
"I telegraphed to your mother yesterday, and Brooke answered she'd come at once, and she'll be here tonight, and everything will be all right. Aren't you glad I did it?" Awww.
Amy's Will
I actually like Aunt March, though I didn't as a kid.
I assume Curtis is Marmee's maiden name.
Amy has $100, which must be a gift from Aunt March or some other relative, probably given at birth. I guess she isn't allowed to use it, at least not at present.
I love that she decided to draw Notre Dame instead of something easier.
awww Laurie crying
Confidential
LMA: I won't even bother trying to describe the scene
Laurie Makes Mischief, and Jo Makes Peace
Caroline Percy is a character in Patronage by Maria Edgeworth.
Mr. Laurence calls Jo hussy? Huh. I know words shift meanings but they still jar you.
Pleasant Meadows
If I were transported to the Victorian era the worst part of it would be never getting to sit in a comfortable postion.
Aunt March Settles the Question
"The old lady couldn't resist her longing to see her nephew" ♥
Meg is so cool here; you just want to cheer for her.
"James Laurence is a crotchedy old fellow" - Pot and kettle much?
So the curtain falls upon Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Whether it ever rises again, depends upon the reception given the first act of the domestic drama called Little Women. Similar to the final line of Jo's Boys.
This entry was originally posted at https://nocowardsoul.dreamwidth.org/39758.html