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Resentful Little Women: gender and class feeling in Louisa May Alcott.(Critical Essay)

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From: College Literature
Date: 20050101
Author:Foote, Stephanie

In one of the most dramatic and emotionally charged scenes in Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel Little Women, Amy retaliates against her sister Jo for a perceived slight. Jo refuses to let Amy accompany her on a rare outing to the theater, and Amy, resenting her exclusion, burns the only copy of Jo's handwritten collection of original stories. The manuscript of "half-a-dozen" fairy tales is the result of "the loving work of several years" (1993, 68) and for Jo its destruction is catastrophic. (1) For their part, Jo's mother and sisters understand the significance of "Amy's bonfire," ...

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