Little Women and the Feminist Imagination: Criticism, Controversy, Personal Essays (review)

Little Women and the Feminist Imagination: Criticism, Controversy, Personal Essays. Edited by Janice M. Alberghene and Beverly Lyon Clark. New York and London: Garland, 1999.

So, what's a reader who loves Little Women to do? After you've read all three books, that's right, only three, what do you do next? If only you had been an ardent reader of Nancy Drew. The number of books seems endless . . . and that's only the first series. Why couldn't Alcott have begun her own syndicate? All of us who love Little Women and its sequels would promise to read the books, even if Alcott only provided the ideas and the books were written by other, lesser authors, right? Then there are the stories about Redwall, and, of course, the Harry Potter books, which are just getting underway. Each of these series ought to be good for at least a few more volumes. Of course someone should have pointed out to Alcott that she shouldn't cover years in each book and leave gaps of years between the books. It's a little late for that now, but just imagine having book after book centered on the March family and their activities. The March girls may not be particularly extraordinary or the events in their lives that unusual, yet there is an intrinsic interest and luster about them that continues to draw in new readers with each generation.

In any event, we've only got Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys. Little Men has become a television series, but Michelle Rene Thomas isn't really Jo. Sitting in front of the fire after all the children have been put to bed, trading nuggets of wisdom with Nick, the handsome handyman, she's too sweet and soft to be Jo. Traces of the lithe tomboy and the prickly rebel can hardly be found in these scenes. Even when the TV Jo immerses herself in a cause like women's suffrage, she doesn't seem like a rebel. Yes, she's feisty, but she's also too winsome. Too sweet. We prefer the Jo of our childish imagination, the Jo of our memory, the Jo who was all elbows and angularity. We want to see that heroine, arm in arm with Meg and Amy as the March sisters continue to make their way through life. It's a life that has its share of problems, but we know that Marmee will be hovering nearby, always ready to offer sweetly sage advice. Furthermore, the secondary cast of characters (read men) are always ready to offer whatever is needed (a strong back, an intelligent mind, an open purse), so that any and all problems will be solved and the young lives in the care of the March women put in order. Yet . . . there are only three books. Whatever was Alcott thinking? To leave all of us who love Little Women with such a short supply of March reading material seems an act of cruelty, unpremeditated though it may have been.

For a measure of relief, turn to "Little Women" and the Feminist Imagination: Criticism, Controversy, Personal Essays, edited by Janice M. Alberghene and Beverly Lyon Clark. Perhaps perusing the essays in this collection won't have the same effect as devouring more stories about the Marches, watching, almost participating as Meg struggles with the vanity only a beautiful young woman has to contend with, as Jo strives to balance her desire for fame with her urge toward duty, as Beth tries to reconcile herself to the separation she knows all too well is coming, and as Amy, nose tilted firmly in the air, tries both to outdo big sister Jo and to take her place in the higher level of society where she is sure she belongs. But, as that option isn't open to us, this collection is definitely the next best thing. You...