Towards the beginning of Little
Women, Louisa May Alcott embarks all four girls on their own Pilgrim’s Progress
journey, in which they strive to reach their own Celestial City. For many readers, Little Women may
often be the preferred part in comparison to Good Wives, as Little
Women is able to have serious themes and events while still being a
light-hearted and feel-good novel about adolescence and growing up. In contrast, Good Wives may appear as
having more serious undertones and focuses more about emerging adulthood and
the trials that accompany this period.
While Little Women may have the ‘chicken-soup-for-the-soul’, Good Wives
presents a realistic outcome to childhood dreams and the unfortunate walk of
life.
In the Chapter ‘Castles in the Air’, each of the four girls
share with Laurie what they view as their own Celestial City. For Meg, it is to be mistress of a nice house
and never work a day, while making everyone love her dearly. For Jo, it is fame from her writings and
leaving a lasting mark on the world. For
Beth, it is to have everything stay just as is, to be safe and take care of her
family. For Amy, it is to be the best
artist and travel to Rome (Alcott 142). Their
dreams all compose of a child-like wonder and sensationalizing of their own
strengths that would hopefully lead to the happiest life imaginable. This part
of the novel may be identifiable to readers of their own hopes and dreams, reminiscent
of a time in which these aspirations seemed achievable. While this is not to say that everyone’s
dreams are fruitless, and that Little Women is merely a hallmark of what
could have been, it is a more nostalgic story of a time of innocence not yet
ruined by reality.
However, in defense of Good Wives, there is certainly
a bittersweet ending to each of the girls’ journey to reach their Celestial
City. While Meg never received her riches and nice house without needing to do
a day’s work, she is still loved by the family she has created with John Brooke,
in which her tiny home of Dovecote is a reminder of hard work and love. Jo, while not being a renowned author, was
able to leave her mark on the world by turning Aunt March’s home into a school
with the help of her husband Mr. Bhaer.
Amy may not have succeeded at being the best artist, but her travels to
Rome led to her on a roundabout journey to find love with Laurie. And finally, Beth. While she couldn’t continue
to take care of her family, she died with the “comfort to know the someone
loves [her] so much, and feels as if [she’d] helped them” (Alcott 418). While
Ms. Alcott presents a more emotionally turbulent story, Good Wives is a
reminder that one’s dreams may not necessarily be achieved, rather just
rewritten.
While Good Wives includes more somber issues and tribulations for the characters, I agree it presents a realistic outcome for all four of the women’s dreams. Comparing the chapter ‘Castles in the Air’ to the last chapter ‘Harvest Time’ shows the growth of each woman’s character. Although each of the women’s realities in the last chapter are different from their castles in the air, they realize that they ended up with what they needed rather than what they wanted.
ReplyDeleteJo realizes that her castle in the air would have been “‘selfish, lonely, and cold,’” but she does not give up hope on writing a good novel (Alcott 353). Similarly, Amy feels her castle is “very different from what I planned,’” and she also says she will not give up on her artistic pursuits (353). Meg acknowledges that her desire for “‘splendid things’” would not have kept her as satisfied as she is with her husband and kids, claiming she is “‘the happiest woman in the world’” (353). Beth is near and dear to all the sister’s and family’s hearts in the last chapter, and although her death is heartbreaking, she still accomplishes her castle in the air before her death. Her castle in the air was to “‘stay at home safe with Mother and Father, and help take care of the family,’” and she does this until her last day, dying with the comfort in knowing “‘someone loves [her] so much, and feels as if [she’d] helped them” (106,418).
I thoroughly agree that Good Wives provides a bittersweet yet fitting outcome to the dreams of the sisters. Many people express disappointment that the sisters’ dreams (especially Jo’s) never come to fruition, as if this is an injustice to the characters, which suggests a misunderstanding of the novels. Neither Little Women nor Good Wives ever promises to show the sisters achieving their dreams, or becoming notable members of society. The novels were always about navigating the complexities of life, overcoming personal faults, and dealing with domestic struggles. This identity is so central to the book that Alcott explicitly spells it out towards the end of Good Wives: “If [Jo] had been the heroine… she ought to have become quite saintly. But, you see, Jo wasn’t a heroine, she was only a struggling human girl,” (763). Based on this, it would’ve been antithetical to Alcott’s writing for each sister to achieve her dream and find perfect happiness. After all, what life struggle is more universal than the giving up of childhood dreams? Learning to accept a life which looks different than your childhood expectations of adulthood is one of the final life lessons Good Wives imparts to its readers. It promises that even if life turns out different from how you imagined (as it often does), there will still be places to find love, joy, and family.
ReplyDeleteMeg learns that her dream of wealth would not have brought happiness as there are “things more precious than money could buy—love, protection, peace, and health,” (321). Jo, while she hasn’t “given up the hope [she] may write a good book yet” realizes that writing on its own will not make her happy, saying: “the life I wanted then seems selfish, lonely, and cold to me now” (858). And Amy, after almost marrying Fred for his money and position in society, insists to Laurie that “Women never should marry for money,” (802). Each of the girls fails to reach their castle in the sky, but in doing so learns that adulthood is more complex and nuanced than childhood dreams often allow for.