All About Amy
Niina Niskanen/ Little Women Podcast
Summary:
In today´s episode, we are discussing the character of Amy March and her real-life
inspiration May Alcott Nieriker and the harmful things that follow when one self-
inserts themselves into but also the misconceptions about Jo´s insecurities and
especially about her looks. Society likes to put two characters against one another
but is this true to reality? Find out that and more in the Little Women podcast.
You can Listen to the Podcast here https://tinyurl.com/3vzyb4uz
Hello and welcome back to our Little Women den.
Today´s comment shout-out goes to a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit, who says:
I suppose you could argue that Laurie growing up wealthy is partly what contributed
to him not valuing work. He never had to worry about not having things or not being
able to afford what he wanted. In that regard, his exposure to the Marches, and the
March sisters in particular, was fortuitous because they helped to enlighten him.
Laurie's definitely not stupid. He's just more or less indifferent to academia. Not
everyone is, and I like that Alcott sort of points that out with his character.
Meanwhile, Jo lusts after learning. She feels like she can never know enough.
I have spoken about this before, but erasing Laurie´s growth as a character, erases
everyone else´s growth as well, and if you do that, there is no story. Putting two
female characters against one another is a very common Hollywood trope.
Interestingly it is often brunette versus blonde. Think about Marilyn Monroe and Jane
Russel in Gentlemen prefer blondes, Elle Woods and Vivian Kensington in Legally
Blonde.
Legally Blonde I must say is refreshing because it subverts that plot, but I think
Warner Huntington III summed up the problem when saying that he wanted Jackie
and not Marilyn.
People often praise Jo for being a tomboy and how she rejects femininity, but Jo´s
idealization of the masculine has very toxic elements. Amy is a character who is
more governed by her brain, whereas Jo is in fact governed by her emotions, which
is considered a feminine trait. In the novel, Jo struggles to show her feelings because
she considers that weak and "feminine". When their father is wounded in the war
, she shouts to her sisters not to cry. A couple of years later Laurie says that she
doesn't show emotions and calls her out about it. Because Jo tries to shut down an
important human part of herself, simply because she considers it feminine, is
actually something that slowly eats her inside and contributes to her loneliness. This
is why the umbrella chapter is so important because Friedrich says to Jo that it is
okay to be vulnerable.
Amy does the opposite. She considers rational marriage with Fred Vaughn because it
allows her to secure her family´s financial future. When Laurie reminds Amy that she
is her mother´s daughter, and she simultaneously inspires Laurie to become a
productive member of society, Amy allows herself to listen to her heart and her own
feelings and allowing herself to become more open and it is this inner work that the
couples do in Little Women, that makes these relationships work.
Unfortunately, the adaptations rarely pay any attention to this. There are people who
have not read the novel, have only seen the films, and don´t understand why the
couples end up together. This is because the adaptations, never bother to show what
actually happens between these people in the novel.
Another quote from There are people who have not read the novel, have only seen
the films, and they don´t understand why the couples end up together. This is
because the adaptations, never bother to show what actually happens between
these people in the novel.
Maybe Louisa was more of a romantic than people sometimes give her credit for.
After reading about Louisa´s relationships with the real-life Friedrich and Laurie I´d
say she definitely was. Louisa was a transcendentalist and one of the methods that
the transcendentalists used was so-called self-scanning, which basically means
trying to understand and analyze the feelings and the experiences that you are
going through. Louisa practised this throughout her life, and she put lots of
consideration into the true meaning of love. When Louisa grew most marriages that
she saw were unhappy marriages because they were arranged marriages.
Louisa herself answers this question about equality within marriage rather
beautifully and her own wishes for marriage seem to have remained the same
throughout her life.
“You have given your idol a heart, but no head. … I would have her humble, though
self-reliant, gentle, though strong; man’s companion, not his plaything; able and
willing to face storms, as well as sun, shines, and share life’s burdens, as they come.
Let me advise you to take head as a pilot, for you may find, as I have done, that the
Niina Niskanen/ Little Women Podcast
Summary:
In today´s episode, we are discussing the character of Amy March and her real-life
inspiration May Alcott Nieriker and the harmful things that follow when one self-
inserts themselves into but also the misconceptions about Jo´s insecurities and
especially about her looks. Society likes to put two characters against one another
but is this true to reality? Find out that and more in the Little Women podcast.
You can Listen to the Podcast here https://tinyurl.com/3vzyb4uz
Hello and welcome back to our Little Women den.
Today´s comment shout-out goes to a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit, who says:
I suppose you could argue that Laurie growing up wealthy is partly what contributed
to him not valuing work. He never had to worry about not having things or not being
able to afford what he wanted. In that regard, his exposure to the Marches, and the
March sisters in particular, was fortuitous because they helped to enlighten him.
Laurie's definitely not stupid. He's just more or less indifferent to academia. Not
everyone is, and I like that Alcott sort of points that out with his character.
Meanwhile, Jo lusts after learning. She feels like she can never know enough.
I have spoken about this before, but erasing Laurie´s growth as a character, erases
everyone else´s growth as well, and if you do that, there is no story. Putting two
female characters against one another is a very common Hollywood trope.
Interestingly it is often brunette versus blonde. Think about Marilyn Monroe and Jane
Russel in Gentlemen prefer blondes, Elle Woods and Vivian Kensington in Legally
Blonde.
Legally Blonde I must say is refreshing because it subverts that plot, but I think
Warner Huntington III summed up the problem when saying that he wanted Jackie
and not Marilyn.
People often praise Jo for being a tomboy and how she rejects femininity, but Jo´s
idealization of the masculine has very toxic elements. Amy is a character who is
more governed by her brain, whereas Jo is in fact governed by her emotions, which
is considered a feminine trait. In the novel, Jo struggles to show her feelings because
she considers that weak and "feminine". When their father is wounded in the war
, she shouts to her sisters not to cry. A couple of years later Laurie says that she
doesn't show emotions and calls her out about it. Because Jo tries to shut down an
important human part of herself, simply because she considers it feminine, is
actually something that slowly eats her inside and contributes to her loneliness. This
is why the umbrella chapter is so important because Friedrich says to Jo that it is
okay to be vulnerable.
Amy does the opposite. She considers rational marriage with Fred Vaughn because it
allows her to secure her family´s financial future. When Laurie reminds Amy that she
is her mother´s daughter, and she simultaneously inspires Laurie to become a
productive member of society, Amy allows herself to listen to her heart and her own
feelings and allowing herself to become more open and it is this inner work that the
couples do in Little Women, that makes these relationships work.
Unfortunately, the adaptations rarely pay any attention to this. There are people who
have not read the novel, have only seen the films, and don´t understand why the
couples end up together. This is because the adaptations, never bother to show what
actually happens between these people in the novel.
Another quote from There are people who have not read the novel, have only seen
the films, and they don´t understand why the couples end up together. This is
because the adaptations, never bother to show what actually happens between
these people in the novel.
Maybe Louisa was more of a romantic than people sometimes give her credit for.
After reading about Louisa´s relationships with the real-life Friedrich and Laurie I´d
say she definitely was. Louisa was a transcendentalist and one of the methods that
the transcendentalists used was so-called self-scanning, which basically means
trying to understand and analyze the feelings and the experiences that you are
going through. Louisa practised this throughout her life, and she put lots of
consideration into the true meaning of love. When Louisa grew most marriages that
she saw were unhappy marriages because they were arranged marriages.
Louisa herself answers this question about equality within marriage rather
beautifully and her own wishes for marriage seem to have remained the same
throughout her life.
“You have given your idol a heart, but no head. … I would have her humble, though
self-reliant, gentle, though strong; man’s companion, not his plaything; able and
willing to face storms, as well as sun, shines, and share life’s burdens, as they come.
Let me advise you to take head as a pilot, for you may find, as I have done, that the
