When Jo's conservative sister Meg says she must turn up her hair now that she is a "young lady", Jo shouts, "I'm not! and if turning up my hair makes me one, I'll wear it in two tails till I'm twenty.... I hate to think I've got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China aster! It's bad enough to be a girl anyway, when I like boys' games and work and manners! I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy; and it's worse than ever now, for I'm dying to go and fight with Papa, and I can only stay at home and knit, like a poky old woman."
Jo always irritated me so much. And Louisa May Alcott's thoughts on life irritated me even more. Especially her misogyny. Then again, I read _all_ her books when I was a kid, even Little Men and Jo's Boys. Mine was a compelling irritation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the frustration but my utter devotion and love for Louisa, the March family, specifically Jo, outweighs my issues. I was Josephine growing up, minus the self-loathing and gender issues.
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