About this episode
This episode features an excerpt from Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Women', exploring themes of familial love and responsibility.
“Four little chests all in a row, Dim with dust, and worn by time, Four women, taught by weal and woe, To love and labor in their prime.” Louisa May Alcott’s bestseller, Little Women , has been a cherished favorite of readers young and old, rich and poor, optimistic and cynical. The only dichotomy that may not be confidently claimed is male and female. Perhaps we’ll break the mold with this reading, given the largely male proportion of Classics Read Aloud subscribers. I do hope so, for Alcott’s sincere tale of deep, hearty familial love and loyalty can be a tonic for any human soul… and I suspect perhaps men could relate to Alcott more than they might realize. Her driving sense of responsibility to provide for her family, sacrificing her own preferences, made her, in a sense, a pragmatic and tireless rower of her family’s canoe. Alcott was the second daughter of four, born to parents of respected lineage and obvious intellect. While not of high society, it was a hardworking family defined by dignity and civic duty. As Ednah D. Cheney remarks in Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals , “…the uncommon powers of mind and heart that distinguished her were not accidental…
People in this episode
Host: Ruby Love
Topics covered
- family
- literature
- sacrifice
- gender roles
- classic novels
Keywords
- Little Women
- Louisa May Alcott
- family
- sacrifice
- classic literature
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