Little Women Podcast Q&A Your Questions Answered

Summary

How did I get started in Louisa May Alcott's research? Is Beth really just part of the sick girl trope or is there more in her? and why is Friedrich from Germany? Why did the film-makers erase Laurie's backstory? What is Amy's relationship with Catholicism? was Louisa May Alcott religious? Did she want to get married? are Fritz and Laurie really based on men in her life? I've got so many questions from you guys that I will answer them in this excellent Little Women Q&A. One thing that surprised me was that it was really difficult to find studies on Laurie. I was interested in Laurie as an individual, and why he behaves the way he does. I was expecting to find a lot about him because Laurie is a popular character, at least according to the filmmakers, a lot more popular than Friedrich, and I didn't find anything about him. Nothing about him being an orphan. The tricky relationship that he has with his grandfather or why he's hanging in Jo´s apron strings. There are scenes in Little Women where Laurie is annoyed when Jo is lecturing him, but he's still addicted to her care. Maybe Amy's screen portrayals are the reason why there hasn't been that much research made on May Alcott by scholars .I think the same applies to Laurie and Friedrich in films. Laurie is this pretty guy who Jo rejects. Then in a lot of the studies that I read, the writer was asking why did Louisa May Alcott marry Jo to an old German and not to the rich and handsome young Laurie? Okay. Friedrich is not old. He's 39. If you read letters between Louisa and her publisher, Thomas Niles, Louisa was the one who came up with all the marriages.When I was reading these essays, it was so frustrating because the book doesn't show Laurie as this manic pixie dream boy, as the movies do, but more as a seriously troubled young man.