'Good Wives' by Louisa May Alcott

Amy looked relieved, but mischievous Jo took her at her word, for during the first call she sat with every limb gracefully composed, every fold correctly tucked, calm as a summer sea, cool as a snow bank, and silent as the sphinx. In vain Mrs. Chester alluded to his “charming romance,” and the ladies Chester hosted parties, picnics, opera and fashions. Each and everyone was answered by a smile, a bow and a demure “Yes” or “No” to the cold.


MY THOUGHTS:

First, you can take a look at my review of Little Women

Okay, now for Good Wives. For starters, I could barely figure out whether I should write a review or a blog post about the author's intrusion. Alcott falls so easily into his own personal reflections on his characters' strengths and weaknesses, sometimes taking up pages of text. Nowadays, editors and publishers warn authors to cut out their subjective opinions and let readers decide for themselves. Lucky for Louisa she lived in the 19th century then. If she couldn't tell us how to direct our thoughts, the book would be much thinner. I honestly wonder if she would have been able to do it, because adding her own little reflective homilies seemed to be as natural as breathing for her. How times and literary standards change.

In this story, the four sisters grow up and leave home, living their separate lives. Meg gets married, Amy is lucky enough to travel the continent, Jo goes to work in New York and poor Beth faces her journey to the next world. She never recovered enough from her attack of scarlet fever to regain her strength.

This is the story where those who had high hopes for a romance between Jo and Laurie blow them to pieces. The signs are there from the beginning when Mrs. March says she doesn't think they are right for each other. If any other character had said this, we might still have hope, but we know now that 'Marmee' is always right. Sure enough, Jo ends up not having romantic feelings for him, even though she compares other young people to Laurie to their detriment. Who knows. — I couldn't fall in love with the dear old man just out of gratitude, could I? I can hear echoes of girls across the centuries saying, 'Yes!'

(I won't deny that he sometimes seems like a spoiled brat. Don't you love the cure your grandfather tries for Laurie's illness? A trip to Europe. You think it might work, if But, like other rich, privileged kids who (we find in the stories, Laurie seems to take it seriously with a, 'Humph, I doubt anything will help, but if you insist, I'll please you,' kind of attitude.)

I think the Jo/Prof Bhaer pairing works, although he is a little older and sometimes seems like a second father. He's such an absent-minded, child-loving academic boyfriend that it's hard to hate him for not being Laurie. And it can be argued that it all works for the good. Jo is devastated that she wasn't offered the trip to Europe instead of Amy, but if she had been, she wouldn't have met the love of her life. And he shows her that “character is a better possession than money, position, intellect, or beauty.” You can't argue with that.

I'm not convinced the Amy/Laurie pairing works either. I like the concept, but I find it hard to swallow that they are as suitable as Jo thinks. Can Amy renounce her mercenary spirit, since she ends up marrying a rich boy anyway? And be honest, do you remember Laurie as the guy who marries a beautiful, artistic woman, or the guy who suffered from unrequited love? Even when he and Jo meet at the end of the book, there are still flirtatious vibes flowing between them.

I've heard people tear apart Meg's part in this story because she was content to be a 'frumpy housewife' and all those other things feminists say. But other than the incident where she burns her jam, she's happy in this role, so I'd say why not live and let live? One of my favorite lines in the book comes right after this disaster. 'John Brooke laughed then as he never dared to laugh afterwards.' Marriage was a learning curve for both of them.

A few parts about the value of writing and stories stand out. Jo prefers her imaginary heroes to real men because “you can lock them in the kitchen tin until needed, while the latter are less manageable.” I wonder if this was Louisa's own opinion of men.

Finally, when Professor Bhaer gives Jo a book of Shakespeare's works, he says something very big. — You often say you want a library. Here I give you one, because between these covers (covers) there are many books in one. Read it well and it will help you greatly, for the study of character in this book will help you to read it in the world and to paint it with your pen.' This is the same reason we read many good books. I think my final opinion of the book echoes Professor Bhaer. — Das ist gute.