Why We Still Love Little Women, 150 Years Later (feat. Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes) | It's Lit
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- čas přidán 26. 05. 2020
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Before women were asking “Am I a Carrie or a Samantha?”, they were asking “Am I a Jo or an Amy?” Before there was Edward vs Jacob, there was Laurie vs Professor Bhaer. And over the more than 150 years since Little Women was originally published, there have been (deep breath) dozens of adaptations, feature films, television adaptations, plays, ballets, operas and at least two animes based on it.
So despite being written off as proto-chick lit or kiddie lit or as Alcott herself said, "moral pap for the young,” Little Women has worked its way into the consciousness of readers for the last 150 years, and has stayed there.
But what is it about the tale of the March sisters that keeps us coming back?
Hosted by Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes, It’s Lit! is a show about our favorite books, genres and why we love to read. It’s Lit has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
Interested in using this video as a teaching resource? Check it out on PBS LearningMedia: to.pbs.org/3tJYEyU
Hosted by: Lindsay Ellis, Princess Weekes
Written by: Princess Weekes
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Editor: Sara Roma
Writing Consultants: Maia Krause
Executive Producer (PBS): Adam Dylewski
Editorial Producer (PBS): Niki Walker
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
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So Alcott wrote a story about the triumphs and tragedies of four sisters, and all her fans cared about was shipping. Sounds like fandom hasn't really changed in a century and a half.
Just look at how quickly the Arthurian mythos, written by dozens of different authors in a time with no copyright (essentially a forum of fan fiction writers stretched out over a century) turned from holy adventures and recontextualised folk stories to the tragical love triangle of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere.
Kind of funny, isn't it? I think it's because a love story appeals to the core of many people, you know? Finding that one person who you'll love so much and you'll want to spend your life with.
So did I. I believe women can be successful AND married, but that was a fantasy at the time and fans knew it.
It's gotten more graphic.
Agreed!
"Amy burning Jo's manuscript, which has scarred generations of young female writers forever."
Why yes, this is very accurate.
It’s right up there with Parson Adams accidentally chucking his only book into the fire in Joseph Andrews. 😭
I don't hate Amy but I've always disliked her and there is no version in the world which would make me like her as a character tbh.
cat lover Same for me, although maybe not as prevailing as it used to be, considering that it is difficult to live well as a family on just one salary. Amy was still very traditional though and very shallow and vain. She did grow up a bit later on and overall she has a good heart, but to me compared to the other sisters, she's the least likable. Weird though, because in your case Jo should be the one you aspire to be and relate to the most. In the end she did marry but she didn't give up on her dreams. Amy as far as I remember ends up just a high class "trophy" wife. Sure, Laurie loves her, but tbh to me it always looked like he wanted to be part of the family so much, he would've gotten with any of the sisters. Amy was the only available one in the end, lol.
That scene is why I believe that flashback Amy must be played by a child actress. Seing an adult actress do something this malicious crosses the threshold of forgivability for me.
I think something great about this book/film is that there’s no “villain” or even antagonist so to speak. It’s just sentimental everyday life. And it works so well.
"these little women... how little are they?" -joey tribbiani.
"Beth is sick....."
"Joe, do you want to put the book in the freezer?"
Baehr was based on Alcott real lover, a German older guy. He was the love of her life, and died before they could marry. Baehr also reflects Alcotts opinions in terms of education, phylosophy, etics and religion. He is not just Team Edward
I always liked Professor Baehr. Jo's relationship with him freed us from the tyranny of having to stick with a childhood sweetheart. Alcott also shows us that Jo and Laurie continue to be friends even after they marry other people.
@@tessat338 that is so refreshing! When I was younger I had this idea that I had to marry my childhood friend, because that was the most common thrope in films and literature. However, after becoming adults, I had nothing in common with those friends! Jo&Baehr are the most realistic couple, that fall in love in adulthood because they totally match
James and Dolley Madison had a 17 year age gap (she was 26 and he was 43 when they got married) and by all accounts they were a very happy couple.
I love that this came out just after Patrick H Willems' video in which he proclaims he wants everyone to make Little Women video essays
The best one is still from Be Kind Rewind!
@@phoebexxlouise I LOVE that channel so much!
I really liked his take that the "marry a professor" end for Jo in the movies is the BOOK end. The book that the character Jo wrote. The real ending is her getting to hold the book that she wrote, and she actually becomes a successful single author.
@@phoebexxlouise i don't think i follow them, i'm gonna check them out
@@TacticusPrime So meta... makes sense though, because that's what happened to Louisa in real life!
Thank you very much for this presentation, very lovely and sharp. Just an FYI, that youngest sister May became a successful painter in Europe. She illustrated the first edition of "Little Women", and though her work was negatively reviewed, it improved enough for it to be displayed twice at the Paris Salon. She was also an author, publishing a book about living cheaply as an American woman in Europe. She helped to support her art and her family by teaching art, and, with Louisa, was a productive and creative person. In Europe, she managed to snag a husband several years younger than she was, but unfortunately died from complications in child birth. Bronson Alcott has a great deal to answer for in terms of his family, but discouraging his children, as you pointed out, was not one of his faults.
I like to speak up for May because I feel she's often left in Louisa's shadow.
I also find it interesting that Alcott gave the name "May" to one of Amy March's antagonists. At the charity fair, May and her mother bogart the prominent booth that Amy spends hours setting up and banish Amy to a much less prominent space. Laurie and his university friends come and buy out all of Amy's merchandise. One pens a poem with the line "March is much fairer than May."
Wait, Little Women anime has existed this whole time and I never knew about it?? I appreciate this info. 😂
It's wonderful, there is so much Beth to see, i love it
@Sergio Díaz Nila Yeah, as a kid my main exposure to things like Heidi, Alone in the World and even Les Miserables for example, was through anime.
There used to be a whole series of animes based on Western literature -- in Japan, "Anne of Green Gables" and "A Dog of Flanders" are still fondly remembered, while here in Spain the most popular were "Heidi" and "Marco, 3000 Leagues in Search for Mother". But we did get to see the "Little Women" anime, too. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Masterpiece_Theater
It was broadcasted in Iran as well, along with Anne of Green Gables, Daddy-long-legs and other pieces of western kids literature.
The one on the right was HUGE here in Germany! I watched it when I was in primary school and I loved it! There's also another one that takes place years later when Jo has her own school. Definitely check it out, it's worth it! :-)
I didn't want Jo to marry Laurie (I believe her just fine when she says she loves him like a brother but not romantically). But I do wish she could have been allowed to just stay single. She and book Behr had zero romantic chemistry. (Though 2019 movie Behr was quite nice.)
@@idontevenhaveapla7224 Yes, I know, and I'm glad the movie found a way to acknowledge that.
I read "Little Women" over and over as a kid and a teen. I find it deeply amusing that Alcott would, in some of her other books in that same genre, criticize "slang" and sensational novels (try "An Old-Fashioned Girl" and "Eight Cousins" for some hilarious moralizing) when she had written novels like "A Long Fatal Love Chase." I don't necessarily love her having Jo marry and settle down, but I love that she had Jo do it in her own way--marrying the older guy who was more her match intellectually and starting a crazy experimental school together.
Well, Alcott didn’t have a choice-her publisher wouldn’t give the book a green light without a marriage ending.
I genuinely really like Eight Cousins, and its sequel Rose in Bloom
Speaking of Isabel Allende, it would be interesting to see a breakdown of magical realism and its history.
You'd have to go to Elena Garro for that (Mexican writer) and not Márquez who likes to think to himself he invented the thing.
Yes!
I have a really hard time understanding the concept of magical realism as described in the places I've seen it, usually as "supernatural thing exists or happens, but is described as a part of life in the world of the narrative".
Like... isn't it like that in almost every story with supernatural elements?
If ghosts were not part of life in, say, "The Canterville Ghost", there would be no ghost in Canterville, right?
I remember in "Jane: the Virgin" they tried to explain it like "just like supernatural elements in telenovelas" which... doesn't explain it at all for me.
@@edisonlima4647 I agree... i suppose the Latin American element helps. It's like Gothic literature or folk horror... They don't seem to work so well in hot climes apart from the southern states. I couldn't see magic realism working the same way in the Netherlands but I could be wrong.
@@edisonlima4647 as I understand it, from reading Allende's books, it's more like in the world the supernatural elements are still supernatural, people know these things aren't common and some don't even believe in them but they are very much real in the world of the story. And I think it's sort of different from regular supernatural stories because in those things like vampires and witches are like a secret societies and, again just from my expirience with Allende's novels, in magic realism it's just the old lady from the house in the corner that can speak with the dead or the little boy who fell as a baby and now he can dissapear. It's like our old leyends woven in the realest of scenarios, not just elements of realism and fantasy but the combination of the hyper real and the magical
About to get STORIED
I'm a 30 year old man. I discovered Little Women through the new movie in January, and finished the book less then a month ago. I adore this story.
"her very own creepy old guy!" I see you sneaking that Beetlejuice reference in!
CREEPY OLD GUY CREEPY OLD GUY SHES MARRYING A CREEPY OLD GUY
I scrolled to find this comment because I knew other people would have also picked it up :)
"Alcott, much like Rian Johnson, didn't believe in giving in to fan service."
Preeeaaaach!
that remark alone earned a dislike for the video
The precise moment I paused it to give my like. But it's a pretty cool video regardless. I'm sure even The Force Remakens widows are wholly capable of enjoying the remaining 9 and a half minutes.
Because we all know what happens when "creators" give in to fan service. *stares at the wall to calm myself*
Awaiting the flame war
Really one of the best moments in the whole vid lol
as a New Englander I have an obligation:
it's Concord like conquered.
thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
While it's New England rather than the UK, I shall still let Mister Pikedevant respond to that subject. :) czcams.com/video/mOd3lwluQIw/video.html
Right. Concorde was an airplane fleet, the cord was pulled on them long ago. Yet the towns named Concord have survived, you may say they have conquered after all.
@monny287 Alright, you cunning linguist. You named two towns. which is #3, and how do you pronounce it? Don't say it's in Canada, party fowl!
I used to have a copy of "Little Women", abridged and illustrated for children, back when I was nine. I now have a copy of the book as it was originally written. I've seen versions of the story in movies and TV movies. What a cozy story it still is to me! I have no problems with Jo falling in love with and marrying the homely but very sweet German professor.
As a Chilean, it's kind of funny you consider Isabel Allende as a marginalized voice. She's one of the biggest writers here, though many critizise her because of how "light" her work is perceived (I do like her earlier work). But it's not like she has a marginalized background: she is the daughter of a diplomat and was able to escape Pinochet's regime and go into exile, whereas so many poorer people got tortured and/or murdered. And for us, there isn't a "Latino" race (it's different here), but if I had to put there somewhere, she would be white with European roots. Goes to show how subjective - dare I say, American - the notion is. There are plenty of Latinamerican women writers with way less reach than her
Yeah, I grew up reading her books in freaking *Greece* in the eighties-nineties, so. She did have an extensive readership.
Maybe I misunderstood but I thought the plug for Allende at the end was more of a “but also there are a lot of other influential female authors from other cultures who write in this theme” thing rather than “marginalized authors” thing
Did she said “Isabel Al Dente” instead of “Isabel Allende” at the end? 😂
Yeah, what's that about? Her last name is pronounced "ah-YEN-day." Although "Isabel Al Dente" would make an intriguing name for a restaurant.
@@pagano60 It's A-yen-deh. In spanish we pronuounce "e" like "eh".
lol, I have a lisp and I'm terrible at pronouncing things sometimes XD I accept all the shade
my wife is Chilean, she pronounces it with a soft "j" sound, so ah-jen-deh.
@@MrGringissimo its a-YEN-de. The "LL" is akin to an Y. I'm Chilean as well
Lindsay and Princess together again! to talk about Little Women! Today is a great day.
Alcott sure "George Lucas-ed" her publisher by keeping the copyright.
George Lucas “Louisa-May Alcott-ed” given the hundred year seniority.
Well, I'm never not gonna think of Laurie as a romantic McGuffin now...
I mean...kinda? He has way more character moments than most prince charming/romantic mcguffins though, at least in the book.
I loved at the end of the vid where you can clearly see Lindsay trying not to laugh at the seasoning line
I grew up with one of those anime’s! I called it Sailor Moon Family cause I was 6 😂 watched it so times! 💜 also, Lindsey, I’m loving the podcast about the musicals! Very fun and well done. 👍👍👍💜
I love that I came across this comment while on a break from a Sailor Moon binge to watch this video lol
To this day the only time I truly laughed at Friends was when Rachel spoiled Little Women for Joey
Isabel Al Dante i'm dead 😂
(no shade tho mistakes happen)
did you see the "frusteration" at 8:47? lol I love little mistakes like this, shows that even channels with editing teams and fancy stuff are still humans in the end :)
I will never not want more of your videos, each is progressively better and always super interesting. Keep up the good work, honestly this channel deserves so much more attention than it gets.
oops. whoever did the graphics misspelt frustration at 8:47 ...
whatever. great video. absolutely loved the transition from Lindsey to Princess.
“Alcott gave Jo her own creepy old guy....” 🤣 I see what you did there, Lindsay. Hehehe 😉
So. . . confession? I did not really like this book. When I read this, I was 8 or 9 or 10, and was always a bit of an advanced reader, and have read other books that had been written during this time period (Little House on the Prairie series, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty); I understood all of those just fine and I had liked them. But when I got to Little Women? I remember being hung up on having no idea what kind of flowers they were talking about, and the most important part? When it got to the part where one of the girls falls through the ice and other people have to save her, I came away from reading that scene thinking, "Wow. If I'm STILL not interested in this book even after what's supposed to be a really exciting part, I should just stop reading it." So I did.
I am a guy, but never in my life I have identified more with a literary character than I have with Jo March!! So, it's not just women!
I relate to Anne of Green Gables slightly more, but Jo is awesome
My twin love the little women, she read the books and watched two versions of the movie
I'm always reminded of that time in the Simpsons when Moe when to the Homeless Shelter when he read Little Women to the people at the shelter
I was just thinking earlier today I could use a new video examining literature or some other aspect of media and culture. Thank you for scratching that itch.
Great Job. Always glad to watch your work.
The Alcott house is a couple towns over from where I grew up. I love visiting the site and at one point one it so well I could've given the tour. The story is part of my world knowing all these amazing authors lived essentially down the street. And it's funny you hear someone from not in the area say Concord.
Good video. Thank you.
Alcott wrote some drippy, gothic thrillers which I totally love, in the style of that woman who wrote the Romance of the Forest….
I wish some of Alcott's other works got more love. My personal favorite is "Under the Lilacs" and I liked the 1997 adaptation of The Inheritance (I own the DVD).
Love your channel ladies.
I watched this ♡3 weeks ago on PBS.
Stay safe/healthy & sane.🤪😷
The thumbnail for this video is gold 🤣 the bonnet becomes you Lindsey 🤗
I was disappointed that you didn't mention the recent graphic novel adaptation by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo: "Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy" which is a modern retelling with a blended mixed-race family that includes gender queer characters (guess who!), highly recommended!
Ooh sounds interesting! Maybe Mr. Lawrence? We don't get to see him with a partner in the book.
in other words: I want this 150-year-old book to be about MEEEEEEEEEE!
@@ericlurio246 I think that's true of every book ever... things we can't relate to stop being appreciated
When y’all suggest more authors to check out it’d be nice to put it in the description. Great video as always, I love Lindsay and I’m so glad I found out about Princess through this series!
6:00 Hahaha, ah jeez the fact that people were just so invested in shipping wars even way back then.
I LOOOOVE Lindsay! Never heard about Little Women before this video, and that got me really interested
This was so interesting!!
And people complain about Spider-Man reboots! That is a valid point that Weekes makes, as well. The 1994 adaptation was my childhood one, and I loved it. I think "Their Eyes Were Watching God" has a similar, beautiful, universal, and infinitely rebootable appeal!
I remember reading this book, or the first volume, for a children's literature course. Good times...
"Marmee" is just the word "mommy" as a 19th Century New Englander would spell it, the r was never meant to be pronounced.
Thanks, very interesting. :)
Just fyi, your editing team spelled "frustration" "frusteration" at 8:47... and I love how it sounds and am planning on pronouncing it that way from now on!
Laurie Always Laurie. I get that Jo was being wise in refusing Laurie, but it will always hurt 😅
Edit: OMG! I KNEW the professor was shoehorned in!
YES! More little women content!
Lovely work as always Lindsay and Princess
First CZcams video about Little Women I’ve seen in these circles to mention the opera, yay!
I would like to say on a side note, if you ever get the chance to visit the Alcott house, it's worthwhile.
I love the purple top Princess!!! 😍
For the record, of the four authors listed near the end, all but Allende have had a book adaptation. Morrison (Beloved) and Tan (The Joy Luck Club) had big screen adaptations. Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God was made into a TV film (better than nothing I suppose) for ABC. Not a lot of seasoning, but there is some.
La Casa de los Espíritus was adapted for cinema. With Merly Street, Jeremy Irons, Winona Ryder. Ok movie, awful adaptation.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE GRETA GERWIGS version. ❤️
I still have a vivid memory of reading Little Women for the first time as a pre-teen. It was a big honking hardback too. God I love big honking hardbacks. Anyway, I loved it as tweens generally do and I still have that hardback 30 years later... somewhere. It's a little tattered. I finally downloaded a kindle version for the sake of convenience. I'm not ashamed to say that especially over the last couple years I have dived into re-reading many of the books I loved as a kid and hadn't read much since. It's been interesting.
"It is interest to think that a book about four cis hetero white women has managed to be so universally loved." - you what mate?
They had to shoe horn that in there of course. Still I’ll listen to all points of view.
"Cis hetero" as if women had more options back then
I read it when I was 9, it was okay. But I legitimately had no idea how old the book is. Surprising I could read it so easily.
Nippon's Little women is the best little women adaptation
100%!
If your goal was to make us start humming Creepy Old Guy, mission accomplished.
Last Jedi AND Beetlejuice The Musical. God bless you, Lindsay.
The burning of the manuscript was a necessary editing pass preparing Jo for the real world
I watched the animes on afternoon TV growing up.
9:30 "ISABELA ALDANTE"
the level of disrespect
Here for Lindsay
You both are so intelligent. I want to be like you, when I am an adult ;) and I love Princesses Blouse. It's so pretty.
my mom made me read it and watch it as well. I liked it :)
Watching this reminds me of the one where Joey Tribbiani read Little Women
5:10 This is right up there with "it's paaaaank" as one of the funniest sounds Lindsay has ever made.
That *snort!* at the end is utterly adorable
I know only the twwo anime + the secound season with Josephine as a teacher. It was one of the earliest anime i grew up, long before Sailor Moon and long before Captain Tsubasa boomed in the western world. I still get emotional by the opening of the secound season in german, which is the same opening as the first season, but mote hep, more faster.
This was my assigned reading when I was in year 6 (10-11 yrs old), I despised it then and to this day still do. But... I recognise that i should probably give it another go....
clicked for the thumb nail, stayed for all the reasons
I love the latest movie version but my favourite is still the 50s version, with Elisabeth Taylor as Beth.
Elizabeth Taylor played Amy; Margaret O'Brien was Beth, although that film adaptation did switch the ages of the characters.
It's been 150 years and we're still pissed because Jo and Laurie didn't end up together.
Isabella al dente? Did she mean isabel allende? Does she know who she is?
Aaah yes, Isabelle AlDente
I’ve been in love with the book since I was 6 after seeing the 1994 version. I’ve seen every readily available adaptation. I will forever and I mean forever grateful for Greta Gerwig for writing and directing the 2019 version. More and more people are discovering the book as well as the adaptations. I always felt similar to Jo and when I found out Jo was Louisa’s avatar it all made so much sense. Little Women just means so much. I mean, it was the second most popular book in America for a long time. It basically started shipping. Oh this book. This wonderful and beautiful book.
Because it's a good book.
ooh turns out the author Allende mentioned at the end of the video is the first cousin once-removed of the former president of Chile who met a very gruesome end
Yep... he was actually represented in "La Casa de los Espíritus"
I never read the book, watched one of the movies years ago and it bored the living sin out of me. Just never got into into it but rock on to everyone else that has.
"Then they realized they were no longer little girls ... they were little women." - Moe
Thanks for the video. I did like that woman who interrupted Lindsey. Hopefully we see more of her. Eventually I'll know your name as well.
Funny part is I wanted to make a Little Women adaptation of Mexicans in New Mexican during the Mexican-American War.
0:44 Her name is Princess Weeks :)
Weekes*
*sweating face* (Pardon my compulsion to post before I check for spelling)
she has her own channel, melinapendulum
Thanks everyone
Princess was one of the writers Lindsay worked with when It's Lit! was on PBS Digital only. She's the co-host of the series now that it's part of Storied. I'm sure we'll see more of her :)
MWAHAHA way to go bringing Rian into the picture hahaha.
As an artist and a writer whenever I watch a film or show where someone destroys their art or writing, I get really really upset. I still find myself unable to forgive Amy, who should understand.
I think the character was not supposed to be well liked from the get-go. I distinctly remember her whinning because there was no coffee for her breakfast, in the middle of a war, and their .... maid? Let's go with maid, saying she'd have to go all the way south to Brazil just so Miss Amy could have her coffee. I don't know why that always stuck with me.
Call me shallow but the fact in the thumbnail Lindsay is wearing a bonnet (which no one in Little Women 2019 did) made me very happy
laurie didn't settle for amie è_é it was genuine love
7:16: Top row, center: Must've been stuck in some sort of parallel universe thing....
FRUSTERATION
I AM FRUSTERATED!!!!!1!!1!!!
Hmmhm... As always I love this essays that.... *record scratch* is that william shatner?!
Ok, so what's published as Little Women was,actually originally 2 books. And the one I read (& still have) is one of the rare copies that only has the first book. So my experience with Little Women was very different!! 😆
Princess Weekes mispronounces Isabel Allende at 9:31.
Someone needs to double check the words that pop up in the back ground at 8:46. she says frustration, but it's spelled frusteration. what?
When Princess Weekes entered the scene I was READY TO LEARN. Yes, Princess!
I'm just here to say, Lindsay is the best
settling for Amy?
they did not settle
I would love a video unpacking the troupe of "orphan white girl has to go live in a sad place and makes it better." Is there a name for the genre? I loved all of those books/movies growing up except Annie (which is the worst). Anne of Green Gables, the Secret Garden, Heidi, The Little Princess, and Pollyanna all fall under the category and are pretty much the same story in many ways. Jane Eyre kind of does too though she is older. I think they are some of the first books to show young women making an real difference in there communities and where there opinions actually matter. The characters of Anne and Mary are also shown as not perfect, good little girls by society's standards, yet there unique perspective on the world ends up being a good thing. Would love to a video about it!!
Yay.