Little Women
Happy New Year! We’re back with a classic in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a book that many would call a quintessential American girl’s tale. Do we agree with this assessment? You’ll find out if you listen to this episode. You’ll also discover what we think about feminism in historical context, question certain self-improvements, agree with the narrator’s opinion on spinsters, and discuss the lack of passion in this story. We also talk about ladies who don’t like ladies, the creation of shipping, obnoxious children, and (perhaps oddly) lobsters.
The music bump is Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor, op. 17 due to period appropriateness. Feel free to imagine Beth playing it in heaven if that makes you feel better about it.
109 – Little Women – Marmee is the Worst
Our recommendation: Short version is that it doesn’t really hold up that well.
Ben: 5/10. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. I liked that there were a lot of things to discuss, as there usually are with classics.
Gabs: 5/10. 6/10 for part 1, 4/10 for part 2.
Quick administrative note: We’re hoping to post more often this year, though of course we guarantee nothing. As part of this “do more stuff” plan, we would like to be a little more responsive to our listeners. Please leave some requests/recommendations/suggestions for books for future episodes either in the comments for this episode or on our suggestions page.
This entry was posted in Admin, Episodes and tagged adventure stories=moral decay, Amy's potential, anti-climactic death, automatic male competence, be nice to spinsters, class issues, communication, context, cotagonist, creation of shipping, Daria, dogs fighting, family, feminism, feminism again, fixing your faults, good Christian morals, independent women, intersectionality, Jotagonist, lack of passion, ladies who don't like ladies, Little Women, lobster shame, Louisa May Alcott, meta-narration, modern retelling, morality tale, needs an editor, obnoxious children, patriarchy, picaresque, Professor Bear, protagonist, racism, rational rejection, rich in spirit, semi-autobiographical, Serial, ship wars, sibling interactions, slavery?, suggestions, trolling, white people, Yankee pride.
Novel Ideas 
January 10, 2017 at 7:36 pm
I never actually listen to your podcast but I enjoy reading your emails about them.
Sent from my iPhone
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