My first exposure to the book, Little Women was through the show friends, when Joey asks Rachel, “These little women, how little are they? Are they like scary little?”
A few years later, I watched the 1994 movie of the same name and loved it. Very recently, I watched the one by Greta Gerwig and loved it even more.
Then I ‘wikied‘ it and found out that Little women were not at all little, but big. In fact, they were so big in the impact that their story had inspired seven movies, four TV serials, and many other adaptations, and I instantly felt the urge to dive into the source to learn why is it so?
I must say that I wasn’t disappointed a tiny bit. The plot revolves around the central character Jo(Josephine), who has three sisters, Meg, Beth and Amy, a hardworking mother, a father who is not much around, and a friendly boy Laurie living with his grandfather in the neighborhood. The story begins by exploring the intricacies of relationships between siblings, mother-daughter, grandfather-grandson, and progresses with the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth Amy, and Laurie, as they grow up together. The story along the way evokes human emotions like love, care, loss, rejection, longing, and happiness.
The beauty of the story is that it is simple yet empowering. It develops a strong female character who challenges the norm and tries to find a sense of purpose in the age and times, when the only purpose of life of a girl, as regarded by the society, was to get married and bear children.No wonder why Jo’s character is a subject of inspiration for women and admiration for men. The key characters are likable and well written, my favorite being that of the Mother, another example of a strong character, who lets her girls learn the lessons through their own life experiences. The arc in the character development showcases the writing prowess of Louisa May Alcott in what could be called a timeless story.
#TheLittleWomen;#LousiaMayAlcott