Louisa May Alcott wrote her classic novel Little Women to make money. However, her practical purpose for writing the book doesn't diminish its charm for today's reader.
Little Women is recommended for children of all ages. However, it is not a ‘children’s book’ that excludes adult readers. In fact, adults who have not read the book should take the opportunity to do so.
Louisa May Alcott: A Noteworthy American Author
Louisa May Alcott was an unusual woman during her lifetime She was outspoken, a spinster, believed in women’s rights, was an abolitionist, and she single-handedly supported her family. She wrote many books, especially in the adult genre, that are hailed today (by noted critics such as Madeleine B. Stern) as books that reveal Alcott as a complex, experimental writer whose work is worth study and exploration by both literary critics and psychoanalysts. However, she is most well-known for her books for children, her most popular book being Little Women.
Little Women was Alcott’s fourth book, the third that she published after the Civil War. It was her second piece of children’s literature, her first children’s novel being Flower Fables, which was written before the war.
Little Women: An Instant Success
When Alcott wrote Little Women, she did not revise or edit the material for the book as she did when writing adult material. She wrote it and sent it in for publication. The book was so well received and the demand from fans so resounding that she wrote Part 2, which was originally published as Good Wives. Today, Good Wives is now published as part of Little Women.
While Alcott was disappointed to find that her popularity as a writer was born out of her children’s work, she nonetheless appreciated the fact that it increased the readership of her non-children’s literature as well.
Easy to Relate To Story
While some critics attack the book as being too moralistic and the March girls as being too good to be true. The popularity of the books suggests that most readers do not agree with this assessment. One reason that readers love the book is that the girls are uniquely American and represent a uniquely American household. Nearly everyone can relate to at least one of the four March girls. Most people find themselves easily attracted to Meg, Joe, Beth or Amy. Perhaps part of the appeal is the fact that Alcott based the events and characters on her own life.
In addition, to the approachable characters in the book, readers find themselves easily transported to a world different than the world we live in today. Alcott’s clear descriptions of the details of family life from education to work, from clothing to household, and from society to language makes it easy for the reader to slip out of the present into a different and often charming world.
A Reader’s Delight
Louisa May Alcott’s novel may have been a disappointing success to the author. However, to millions of people around the world it is a delightful novel of simplicity and family. It is a superb novel for adults to share with their children and a delightful retreat for adults who want to leave the 21st century for a few minutes or hours. Little Women is also an excellent first introduction to the world of Alcott’s writing.
The copyright of the article Review of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott in Classic American Fiction is owned by Melissa Howard. Permission to republish Review of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Little Women. Warning- does contain spoilers In school one day
the teacher told us that we would be reading Little Women. I was excited,
being an active reader, I thought it would be great to read a famous
American classic, plus it had been on my list of ‘books I want to read but
haven’t gotten around to yet’. I had heard nothing but great things about
the book, and was told that that it was a page turner, and full of sad,
happy, and gut wrenching moments. What a lie. I dived head first into the
book, eager to start. The start of the book began with the sentence,
“Christmas wont be Christmas without any presents”. The girls complained
for a bit until Beth told them what a wonderful family they had. In essence
the first chapter was a bust. But not every book starts out interesting so
I kept an open mind and happily read on. The second chapter was worse. They
had a lovely Christmas although they didn’t get any presents and gave their
breakfast to the poor. Excuse me while I gag. The third chapter had an
‘important’ life lesson, so did the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and so
on. The book has nothing interesting about it, even though death is very
real in the book. The only credibility I can give to Louisa May Alcott is
that she somehow stayed awake while writing the novel. They have no real
kissing, no curse words, no real backstabbing, and nothing to that held my
attention. I understand in took place in the 1800s and most people were
prudes, but Wuthering Heights came out before Little Women and it was way
more realistic and not at all prudent. Pride and Prejudice was more
realistic, and so was Jane Eyre! Little Women talked about nothing but how
you don’t need money if you have a good family, how if you do your best
you’ll always succeed, blah, blah, blah. Give me a break! Louisa May Alcott
made the world black and white, actually she didn’t! She made every
character nice, so it wall all white! The real world is not nice! Jo and
Amy were supposed to be temperamental, but, they weren’t. A piece of ham is
more temperamental then them. I thought that Louisa May Alcott must have
had a way to sheltered life so I looked her up, and she actually didn’t!
Far from it. So she must have thought that it was just her family that was
messed up, and that an average family was like that, or that families
should be like that. Maybe in real life they should (Maybe. The characters
are way to goodie goodie), but in a book you don’t want unrelatable
characters who can be only be described as saints. Louisa May seriously
needed a reality check! I have no idea how that book became an American
classic because it’s the worst book I have ever read, and I’ve read some
stinkers. Listen, if I were you, I’d avoid the book like the plague, and
stick to Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars. Speaking of lying… did you
know it’s the end of the world if you lie, or even keep an tiny little
secret? Well in Little Women did. And what’s with them being so overly
modest, even for girls in the 1800s. And why does Louisa May think it’s a
crime to wear the lates fashions and get dolled up (I’m referring to
chapter… let me check my book… chapter nine, Meg Goes to Vanity Fair). In
this chapter Meg learns that being modest and a prude is better than being
fashionable and in the know. She comes home thinking she would much rather
be poor then rich and confessing to her mother about here ‘scandalous’
trip. All she did was let her friends dress her up in one of their old ball
gowns, do her hair, and make her pretty. Oh my God, she should be put in
jail for that! Whatever shall she do?! Oaky enough ranting. If you’re a
parent you might like to read your five or six year old kid the book at
night (although there is death) to teach them life lessons that they’ll
find complete stupid by the time their thirteen. Sorry guys, but its true.
If you think a book about wholesome saints in a unrealistic world full of
perfecteness and nothing really exciting then you’ll love this book! Good
luck to all of you who may have to read it for school, I hope you survive!
Although you could just read sparknotes. I wish I had. PS- If your
looking for a book that is easy to understand this is one. Although you may
pass out while reading it.
