Children's Classics.

Little Women                                                                                     December 15, 2013

            LITTLE WOMEN written by Louisa May Alcott is a simple, realistic story of the four March girls' journey from adolescence to adulthood. It is a conventional Victorian era "coming of age" story, set in New England. Alcott weaves a lively, domestic tale of American youth in the nineteenth century. Through their experiences, the young girls learn to appreciate the importance of family, the happiness derived from being unselfish and resourceful, the disconnection between wealth and happiness, and the benefits of working hard to improve themselves and their community. It is a charming episodic tale of proper female etiquette. A glimpse of Civil War America, and what it was like growing to up poor in an upper-class, wealthy, and frivolous social setting.

            The dominant theme of LITTLE WOMEN is family values. All the main characters in the novel are defined by their familial relations and behavior towards each other, and all are deeply invested in cultivating and supporting one another. In particular, Josephine March, the novel's protagonist is devoted to her Concord, Massachusetts family.  She is an outspoken tomboy with a passion for everything to do with literature. She "devoured poetry, romance, history, travel, and pictures, like a regular book worm."(205)  Jo's character is a semi-autobiographical sketch of Alcott herself.  Influenced by the transcendental philosophy of the New England Renaissance period, Alcott's LITTLE WOMEN introduces realism and entertainment to the female readership of early American children's literature.

            LITTLE WOMEN is a family romance. It emphasizes the importance of loving relationships within the family dynamic. Jo's relationship with Laurie might seem to point towards a future adult romance. However, a closer examination of their maturing friendship contradicts this assumption. In chapter 3, Jo meets the "Laurence boy" at a New Year's party in the home of Meg's wealthy friend, Sally Gardiner.  Jo "slipped behind a curtained recess. Unfortunately, another bashful person had chosen the same refuge."(198) Laurie hides out of shyness, while Jo slips out of sight to avoid social embarrassment due to a burn mark on her dress.  The two make friends easily and find out early in their relationship that they have many things in common. "They got to talking about books; and to Jo's delight she found that Laurie loved them as well as she did."(212) Neither are above doing something spontaneous and silly. "The hall was empty, and they had a grand polka"(200) Throughout the novel their evolving relationship exemplifies the attitudes of a proper Victorian society. Teddy is the typical "boy next door" type of male companion for the March girl. Jo is an adventurous, rebellious, and spirited girl. Together they establish a platonic relationship.

            Chapter 5 sets the stage for the March and Laurence families to fill the gap in each other’s lives. The differences in their wealth is initially a barrier to friendship but as both parties are noble, they overcome that divide. Before the appearance of the curmudgeonly old neighbor, Mr. Laurence, and his grandson, Laurie; Josephine tries to compensate for the absence of a male role model in the March household. "I'm the man of the family now papa is away." (186) It doesn't take long, however, for the playful Jo March to break the ice with her shy neighbor by throwing a snowball at his window. "...the head turned at once, showing a face which lost its listless look in a minute, as the big eyes brightened and the mouth began to smile," because "That boy is suffering for society and fun."(210)  Theodore Laurence benefits greatly from the March family's influence, "Never having known mother or sister, he was quick to feel the influences they brought about him."(216)  Laurie's main function in the novel, apart from providing some semblance of a big brother character in the plot, is to show the redeeming influence of the March girls. "The solitary hungry look in his eyes went straight to Jo's warm heart.”(212) Laurie's character growth is essential to Alcott's novel. The March girls, including Marmee, provide a sense of belonging to the lonely, orphaned teenager.  Laurie becomes particularly close to Jo because they are the same age. However, their enthusiastic friendship may have been considered something of an oddity during the Victorian era. "In the nineteenth century, intense and florid female friendships were all the rage. It is significant that in LITTLE WOMEN, the ultimate 'girl's book' of the day, the heroine's BFF (best friend forever) is not a female but a male."* Still, Laurie and Jo become fast and devoted friends. "He liked Jo, for her odd, blunt ways suited him; and she seemed to understand the boy as well as if she had been one herself"(215)

            Jo and Laurie have a brief experience with romance when she embraces him after he sends for her mother.  Jo "flew out of her chair, and the moment he stopped speaking she electrified him by throwing her arms around his neck,..., and, finding that she was recovering, followed it up by a bashful kiss or two."(292) However, this brief moment passes quickly and Jo recovers her stoic posture towards the affectionate boy.

            All the March woman have a genuine interest in a wholesome, loving relationship with Teddy. Marmee values him as an adopted son. He serves as chaperone to her daughters and providing transportation services. Meg and Laurie have a brother-sister relationship. He watches over her protectively when they are at parties. He is instrumental in bringing John Brookes and Meg together. With Beth he is particularly gentle, and they share a love of music. Amy is saved from drowning after falling into a frozen pond. Laurie is the hero of the day when he finds the means to pull her clear of the "rotten ice." The only March woman Laurie doesn't affect is the cranky old Aunt March. Still, he impacts the lives of all the little "Pilgrims.". He is more than a wealthy next door neighbor. His friendship with the March girls, his desire to keep their good opinion, and his tendency to absorb the girls moral principles reinforces a strong sense of Christian pathos in the maturing March girls.

            In the final analysis, romantic love does not sit well with the novel's heroine. "Jo lounged in her favorite low seat with the grave, quiet look which best became her." Throughout the novel, Jo continually avoids Laurie's boyish, unsophisticated advances. "…and Laurie, leaning on the back of her chair, his chin on a level with her curly head."  He is the loyal friend to an ambitious, impetuous young Josephine. A girl that loves literature, both reading and writing, more than the prospect of establishing a stable romantic relationship. Apart from her love of family, she finds employment more rewarding than the secure fineries of high society.  She is the liberated woman challenging social conventions. Jo's pro feminist persona distorts the social norms of her Victorian age; and with her loyal friend Laurie by her side as a devoted witness, "...smiled with his friendliest aspect, and nodded at her in the long glass which reflected them both." (321)

* www.humanities.com  Laurie Laurence in LITTLE WOMEN by Joann Spears.

Children's Classics

The Little Mermaid                                                                                               November 17, 2013

                "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen is a much loved fairy tale in which the heroine of the story, "a sea-princess," makes a choice to grow up quickly and pays the ultimate price for her actions. The little mermaid is an impetuous and strong willed individual with a humanist's heart. The sixth daughter of royal "sea-folk." She possesses all the same charm, beauty, and grace of the most popular classic fairytale heroines. Hers is a sad story of unrequited love, and a heroic tale of overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles to achieve her lofty spiritual goal of immortality.

                Critics have long disagreed on whether or not Andersen wrote this fairy tale as a tragic love story or a more sympathetic story of Christian redemption and forgiveness. A close examination of the final fourteen paragraphs as they relate to the rest of the story must surely reveal the author's true intentions. In Andersen's original version, the story was written for a ballet production (Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, 1837). The story's intended theatrical audience is obvious when the little mermaid is depicted as a ballerina.  "... The little mermaid lifted her little white arms, raised herself on the tips of her toes, and floated lightly across the floor." This romantic portrayal of the daughter of a sea king is rooted in Greek Mythology. A tragic character of adult theatre unable to achieve the goal of becoming truly human. The marble white statue of a young boy is another classical prop that hearkens back to ancient times. A pre-Christian era in which a sea deity’s desire to be human eventually leads to a violent struggles, painful self-sacrifice, and the inevitable evaporation into "sea foam." Andersen's original story satisfies the assumption that her inhuman origins can only lead to a violent end. Yet, so much of the story's most crucial imagery and action reinforces the little mermaid's triumph over death. Andersen edited his timeless classic tale for a paying theater audience, but published the story with his deeply Christian beliefs well entrenched.

                Early in the story, Andersen's "sea-princess" plants a suggestive metaphor in the shape of a "rosy-red weeping willow tree" A precursor to the heroine's inevitable transformation.  Among the Chinese, " the willow is an herb of immortality.  For safe passage into another life, one must plant a willow during their life so it will still be alive at their death. Bear a sprig of this plant and you will be free from the fear of death." * The life affirming sun, the pure white statue of a boy, and the willow of immortality (draped over the son of God) suggests that Andersen is devoted to a Christian story where the heroine overcomes her earthly torments and is afforded the opportunity to earn her immortality. Indeed, the sun does rise on our heroine in the end.

                The prince is a fundamental element in the little mermaid's salvation.  The little mermaid rescues the young noble and delivers him to "a holy temple." The nuptial undertones are obvious. If the little mermaid is no more than a sea serpent, as is suggested without the final fourteen paragraphs; her failure to become human is indeed only infatuation and not a deep enduring love of mankind. The prince's deliverance from drowning is a symbolic baptism. The holy place "where many young girls were worshiping" is the earthly equivalent of the "ethereal daughters domain."  The prince has a golden tongue that charms the little mermaid with words like, "...my good fortune has sent you to me instead, and we will never part."  His eloquence is the antithesis of the mute mermaid. Unfortunately, he is blind to the truth. As if some worldly witch (the sister of the sea witch) has tricked him into trading his spiritual insight for the hierarchy of class and status. Thus, he disregards the little mermaids as a mere "foundling" when, in her expressive eyes, he should be able to see his own soul.

                The prince dresses her in a male costume so "that she might ride out with him... and followed him till they saw the clouds sailing below them like flocks of birds departing to a foreign land." A sermon of sorts by Andersen. Preaching to his devoted congregation about the coming of the "daughters of the air". The angels that fly to "the hot countries, where the sultry, pestilential air destroys the children of men."

                Ending the story with the mermaid's suicide might seem more poetic, more dramatic, and a fitting end to her suffering. However, when we consider Bruno Bettelheim's view:" A fairytale is a narrative form which represents a society's collective concerns with some aspect of growing up, and it explores these concerns at the level of magical thought." we must conclude that Andersen's intent was to tell a story of Christian self-sacrifice, as well as, provide the reader the satisfaction of witnessing a magical assent into immortality. If Andersen's intention was to tell a sad love story, the heartbroken mermaid would have met her end with the jump from the prince's ship. Instead, the magical moment of salvation occurred, not when she plunged from the ship, but when our heroine refuses to murder the prince. At that moment she becomes a worthy recruit as an angel in training.  She is no longer the daughter of a pagan Poseidon but a worthy Christian icon.

                In the final fourteen paragraphs, the little mermaid regresses back to a fantasy world where she becomes one with the "daughters of the air." An allusion to the adolescent world she shared with her sisters of the sea. Her childhood world pierced by the quivering knife forged in that same magical undersea kingdom. "They shone red where it fell, as if drops of blood gurgled up from the water." The bitter bargain her salty sister's negotiated with the sea witch comes back to severe the heroine's connection with her past life. She is transported into a deeply Christian universe. Her rewards are many and her faith is born.  She receives a new body, "and it rose higher and higher out of the foam."  Her longevity is rejuvenated (300 years). Her beautiful voice echoes the strength of her character "was all melody...so ethereal that no earthly music could possible equal it."  Her evolution includes the reward of mature human emotions. "For the first time, she felt tears in her eyes."

                If there is a departure from the original storyline it occurs in the final two paragraphs. Here, the narrative seems more like a revision and doesn't necessarily satisfy the ending to Andersen's fairytale. Apart from revealing the heroine's arrival into adulthood and the inherent maternal duties: the economics of both redemption and punishment create a discounted and budget minded allegory. These checks and balances in an accountant-like spread sheet of salvation serves no particular purpose other than to invoke a less than meaningful moral to the story.  In other words, "when it's windy (daughters of the air are present) and when it's raining (tears from heaven) someone's child must be misbehaving."

                Since the time of early mythology fantastical creatures of the sea have had a place in the oral traditions of folklore. In this grand tradition, Andersen's "Little Mermaid" is a fairy tale that has endured. Inviting young mariners to set sail into a dream world of enchanting "water as blue as the loveliest cornflower and as clear as the purest crystal." Be it, ballet performances for the King of Denmark (in 18th century Europe) or the more recent Disney adaptation, the classic tale of the "Little Mermaid" will find a way to be reinvented to suit an ever changing audience. "For three hundred years we shall float and float and float till we glide right into God's kingdom." A magical journey of biblical proportions.

* www.spiritlodge.yuku.com Spirit lodge Symbolism Library Willow Tree