According to the survey we took on the first day of class, this was the book on our syllabus that more of you had read than any other. Originally published in two volumes in the late 1860s (and then reissued as a one-volume set in 1880), Alcott's beloved novel of the March family still captivates readers. As you read it for class this week, you might think about the following topics & questions:
• Which of the characters (if any) do you identify with as you read
the novel? Why?
• Jane Tompkins suggests that popular writing derives its power from
(among other things) stereotyped characters, sensational plots, and trite
expression. Are these the sources of power in Alcott's novel?
If not, where does the novel's power lie?
• What does the novel suggest about mid-19th-century gender roles?
• How does the novel present class differences?
• The classic question: should Jo have married Prof. Bhaer? Why
or why not?
• We asked this with Charlotte Temple, and it seems fair to
ask again: is Little Women a proto-feminist book?
• Do you think male and female readers read this book differently (then
or now)?
• Finally, if you've read the book before, does it seem any different
to you on this reading? How?
