The Real-Life Friedrich Bhaer
Niina Niskanen/ Little Women Podcast
Summary:
There was a real-life Friedrich Bhaer. In fact, Louisa May Alcott wanted to marry him
and even start a school with him. This man appears in literal disguises in all of her
novels. He is Friedrich in Little Women, Mac in Rose in Bloom and David in Work and
many more. Henry and Louisa shared a deep friendship, was it more than friendship?
In Little Women Jo's and Friedrich's age gap is 16 years. It is the same age difference
as between Henry and Louisa.
You can Listen the Podcast here https://tinyurl.com/3vzyb4uz
Little Women Podcast Transcript
Season 1
Welcome to the Little Women Podcast. The podcast is for all Little Women
enthusiasts. My name is Niina. I am a Little Women enthusiast from
Finland. If I start by telling you a little bit about my relationship with Little Woman
and my little woman research, I grew up watching the 1994 film, and it's still one of
my favourite period dramas ever made.
I think I was about 12 when I read the book for the first time. There is something I
need to say for the American listeners, here in Finland and in many European
countries, Little Women was published in two parts. For me, they were always two
separate books. Little Women part one was Little Women book one and Little Women
part two was Little Women book two.
I read part one as a child and I didn't read part two until I was 17, but since I had
seen the 1994 film, I knew what was going to happen. Around 2018 I started to do
gender study-specific research on Little women. I was studying illustration at
university. I was living in the UK back then and I wrote my thesis on the portrayal of
gender in fairy tales, which was super interesting.
Around the same time, I bought the English version of Little Women, and I hadn't
read it in English before. I was really surprised since there were lots of scenes that
didn´t exist in my Finnish translation. It made me fall in love with Little Women
again, and I started to read more about Louisa and the real-life people behind the
story.
I re-read all the books, and I watched all the adaptations. My research really started
from the desire for wanting to understand the book better. Then I decided that I
, wanted to focus on Laurie, Friedrich and Amy because let's face it, they are the most
misunderstood characters. As my research has been evolving, I think Jo is a very
misunderstood character as well.
One thing that came very loud and clear when I dived deeper into the research was
that Louisa intentend, from the very beginning for Jo and Friedrich to end up
together, and Amy and Laurie to end up together. That is one of the themes of this
episode as well.
This is Little Women Podcast, the real-life Friedrich Bhaer.
Welcome to the deep dive into the world of Louisa May Alcott. All information that I
share in these videos is based on studies made by multiple Alcott scholars and I
have included the sources in the description box if you wish to do further research.
No matter if you have read Little Women once or million times, or only know it
through adaptations, I'll encourage you to keep an open mind.
Margaret Fuller was an American journalist, editor, and woman's rights activist.
Fuller's Writings on Love and Marriage had a huge impact on Louisa. Her book "Dial"
expresses her almost gender-neutral understanding between men and women. Fuller
´s writings are considered the first American feminist writings at a time when
feminism as a concept and as a social movement did not exist yet.
Louisa knew Margaret and greatly admired her and was deeply affected by her
radical ideas. "
Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism, but in fact,
they are partially passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, and solid rushes to
fluid. There is no fully masculine man nor fully feminine woman"
Following the transcendental idea of duality Fuller, sees a man, including both sexes,
those being the two sides of the same. Fuller underlines the fact that we cannot
separate the well-being of either, but what is good for one sex is good for both.
Equality between the sexes is beneficial for everyone.
These ideas were revolutionary. Jo is often portrayed as a feminist icon, and this has
been only highlighted by the movies, but in the book, Jo does fall into misogynist
behaviour more than once, especially in her younger years. There's a lot of talk
about toxic masculinity. In her friendship with Laurie, both Jo and Laurie adapted
behaviour patterns that we might nowadays refer to as sexist.
They fed each other with misogynist ideas. They made one of the feminine girls,
Laurie was flirting with in college. Jo mocked both Amy and Meg, for wanting to fit
Niina Niskanen/ Little Women Podcast
Summary:
There was a real-life Friedrich Bhaer. In fact, Louisa May Alcott wanted to marry him
and even start a school with him. This man appears in literal disguises in all of her
novels. He is Friedrich in Little Women, Mac in Rose in Bloom and David in Work and
many more. Henry and Louisa shared a deep friendship, was it more than friendship?
In Little Women Jo's and Friedrich's age gap is 16 years. It is the same age difference
as between Henry and Louisa.
You can Listen the Podcast here https://tinyurl.com/3vzyb4uz
Little Women Podcast Transcript
Season 1
Welcome to the Little Women Podcast. The podcast is for all Little Women
enthusiasts. My name is Niina. I am a Little Women enthusiast from
Finland. If I start by telling you a little bit about my relationship with Little Woman
and my little woman research, I grew up watching the 1994 film, and it's still one of
my favourite period dramas ever made.
I think I was about 12 when I read the book for the first time. There is something I
need to say for the American listeners, here in Finland and in many European
countries, Little Women was published in two parts. For me, they were always two
separate books. Little Women part one was Little Women book one and Little Women
part two was Little Women book two.
I read part one as a child and I didn't read part two until I was 17, but since I had
seen the 1994 film, I knew what was going to happen. Around 2018 I started to do
gender study-specific research on Little women. I was studying illustration at
university. I was living in the UK back then and I wrote my thesis on the portrayal of
gender in fairy tales, which was super interesting.
Around the same time, I bought the English version of Little Women, and I hadn't
read it in English before. I was really surprised since there were lots of scenes that
didn´t exist in my Finnish translation. It made me fall in love with Little Women
again, and I started to read more about Louisa and the real-life people behind the
story.
I re-read all the books, and I watched all the adaptations. My research really started
from the desire for wanting to understand the book better. Then I decided that I
, wanted to focus on Laurie, Friedrich and Amy because let's face it, they are the most
misunderstood characters. As my research has been evolving, I think Jo is a very
misunderstood character as well.
One thing that came very loud and clear when I dived deeper into the research was
that Louisa intentend, from the very beginning for Jo and Friedrich to end up
together, and Amy and Laurie to end up together. That is one of the themes of this
episode as well.
This is Little Women Podcast, the real-life Friedrich Bhaer.
Welcome to the deep dive into the world of Louisa May Alcott. All information that I
share in these videos is based on studies made by multiple Alcott scholars and I
have included the sources in the description box if you wish to do further research.
No matter if you have read Little Women once or million times, or only know it
through adaptations, I'll encourage you to keep an open mind.
Margaret Fuller was an American journalist, editor, and woman's rights activist.
Fuller's Writings on Love and Marriage had a huge impact on Louisa. Her book "Dial"
expresses her almost gender-neutral understanding between men and women. Fuller
´s writings are considered the first American feminist writings at a time when
feminism as a concept and as a social movement did not exist yet.
Louisa knew Margaret and greatly admired her and was deeply affected by her
radical ideas. "
Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism, but in fact,
they are partially passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, and solid rushes to
fluid. There is no fully masculine man nor fully feminine woman"
Following the transcendental idea of duality Fuller, sees a man, including both sexes,
those being the two sides of the same. Fuller underlines the fact that we cannot
separate the well-being of either, but what is good for one sex is good for both.
Equality between the sexes is beneficial for everyone.
These ideas were revolutionary. Jo is often portrayed as a feminist icon, and this has
been only highlighted by the movies, but in the book, Jo does fall into misogynist
behaviour more than once, especially in her younger years. There's a lot of talk
about toxic masculinity. In her friendship with Laurie, both Jo and Laurie adapted
behaviour patterns that we might nowadays refer to as sexist.
They fed each other with misogynist ideas. They made one of the feminine girls,
Laurie was flirting with in college. Jo mocked both Amy and Meg, for wanting to fit
