Little Women полностью

The eldest March sister, Meg, is based on Alcott’s oldest sister, Anna. Alcott uses her own dismay at the rupture of the family household brought about by Anna’s wedding to parallel Jo’s (and Meg’s) resistance to Meg’s marriage in Little Women. The prototype for shy Beth March was the third Alcott sister, Elizabeth (“Lizzie”), who, similar to Beth, had contracted scarlet fever after nursing a neighbor in 1856. Lizzie never fully recovered; doctors suggested various physical and mental sources, including hysteria, for her continued frailty. She slowly wasted away over a period of two years, eventually refusing even to eat. Alcott’s youngest sister, Abba May, served as the model for the petulant, spoiled, and beautiful Amy March, an artist like her real-life counterpart. May’s somewhat naive published illustrations for the first edition of Little Women unfortunately met with widespread critical disapproval (an early reviewer called the engravings “indifferently executed” and “betray[ing]… a want of anatomical knowledge”). However, she later studied painting in Europe (a trip financed through Louisa’s earnings from writing), lived in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris near the experimental Impressionist painters of the day, and became acquainted with American Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt. May’s skills improved, and her artwork ultimately was accepted into Paris salon galleries in 1877 and 1879. Alcott claimed to have based Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, Jo’s best friend and neighbor, on two of her own admirers: her friend Alfred Whitman and Polish revolutionary Ladislas Wisniewski, who escorted Alcott around Paris during her 1865 European travels.

Louisa May Alcott based Jo on herself. Consequently Jo is the most fully realized, complex character and, not surprisingly, the one most beloved by Alcott’s readers across generations and most inspirational for these readers’ own fantasies and ambitions. The character shares the author’s November birth month, strong concerns about women’s claims to independence and artistic expression, and the desire to be a writer and to broaden her experience through travel far from her provincial New England home. The titles of Jo’s sensational stories are identical to some of Alcott’s own early efforts. Louisa and Jo share the title of their first published story, “The Rival Painters,” for example; Louisa’s version appeared in print in 1852. Even the cylindrical pillow Jo uses as a silent marker for her approachability in part two of the novel – if Jo stands it on end next to her on the sofa, it means she’s in a good mood; lying flat, the cushion signifies the opposite and serves notice that her family shouldn’t disturb her – echoes Alcott’s own “mood pillow,” which remains on display at Orchard House, a former Alcott family residence in Concord, Massachusetts, that is now a museum.

Critics have often remarked upon the more masculine aspects (for her time) of Jo’s characterization: her boyish nickname, her husky voice, her desire to play only the male roles in family theatricals, the “gentlemanly” linen collar she wears, her natural use of the phrase “I’m your man,” her restless spirit, her ambition to do something splendid with her life, her desire for fame, her love of such sports as running and riding. Jo claims she wants to marry Meg herself to keep her in the family. She doesn’t care much for the company of other girls, with the exception of her sisters, of course, and she positively loathes girlish gossip; instead, she appreciates “good strong words that mean something” (p. 43). (When Amy forces Jo to accompany her on social calls in chapter 29, Jo’s humorous mockery of the girls they visit makes for one of the novel’s most unforgettable episodes.) Unlike her more traditional, ladylike sisters, Jo understands the need for social reform on a number of issues affecting women’s autonomy. Not inclined to domestic responsibility – or skill, for that matter – Jo views her future published stories as her children.