Louisa May Alcott, yielding her quill as a sword, drew more than blood when painting the lovely phantasm of the four March sisters. The thrilling, spine-tingling novel is all but the habitual mediocre children’s classic. Incorporating - in lieu of the “ruthless” bad wolf or the vile godmother - an unanticipated suitor, a dear one’s loss, and the constant fear of losing sisters to marriage, Little Women became world’s greatest didactic american novel. The idealism of the altruistic, philanthropic virtues pursues you in an engaging chase through good and bad as magnificent Meg, topsy-turvy Jo (Her words, not mine!), little Beth, and gifted Amy defy their fates and challenge their flaws. Indeed, the beloved Alcott artist gives each and everyone of the lovable “little women” troublesome burdens as a mother would give her little ones milk. To the boisterous gaiety of the audience’s hilarity, Les Quatre Filles du Docteur March¹ introduces inconceivably presumptuous and scatter-brained characters whom you quickly learn to love and cherish as your own brothers and sisters. Even a shortsighted little nitwit like me could acknowledge that the American novelist has cooked up a whole new kind of literature, a type of realism anticipated to its time. Albeit it wasn’t Alcott’s birthday wish to write a story about four loving and noble creatures², the accomplished author became quite fond of the four sisters (as did the audience), and used them to send a message so dear to her it could have been her newborn: marriage is not the only thing a woman is fit for.

Little Woman takes place in Boston amid and subsequent to the Civil War and follows the March sisters as they attempt to prevail poverty and mature into civilized young ladies; Margaret - alias Meg - is handsome but swayed by an extravaganza of posh temptations; Josephine, as her aunt calls her, is a compassionate writer who also doubles as a ludicrous tom-boy; Beth or “little tranquility” as her dad addresses her as, is introverted and venerates music and piano-playing with absolute devotion; and finally, last but not least, the youngest girl known as Amy, as egocentric as she can be, is excessively sociable and sumptuous. Disregarding the girls’ constant bickering, under Marmee’s watch, the girls keep their home a big warm mug of hot chocolate for their father’s arrival (not forgetting the marshmallows, bien entendu).

Between Jo’s refusal to an enchanting suitor and Meg’s constant envy of a comfortable life, the girls are far from perfect, which makes them even more lovable. The story having been written in 1868, the writing is old-fashioned, the gender roles out-dated, and the characters vivid and relatable. “Perfection” wouldn’t be a word big enough to describe what the novel is to sentimental teenagers like me, just like “stupidity” doesn’t cover half of what I think depicts imbeciles who won’t give the life-changing story a shot. 

As well as the captivating characters and the fascinating plot, what really threw me was the writer’s technique and approach. Every sentence, every word has been chosen for its simplicity as well as for its beauty. Every page leaves your mouth hanging open and the hair on the nook of your neck rising. 

Can I ask you… May I inquire whether you’ve ever felt that sizzling tingle of trepidation when reading a masterpiece of english literature? Have you?

I have. And the happiest I have ever felt was when sensing that thrill, perceiving that dynamic spark. I had when reading Harry Potter, when reading Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, and I had it when reading Little Women. That spark that lights your heart on fire. I would fake it and say it caught me by surprise, but I felt it the moment I laid eyes on the book in the book shop. BIM, BAM, BOOM. And just like that I went for it. It felt like hours till I reached the book, it may only have been seconds. If you ever have that feeling, like the book in front of you is going to become your favourite, go for it, go for it with all you’ve got. 

“More than anyone in the world, Beth. I used to think I couldn’t let you go, but I’m learning to feel that I don’t lose you, that you’ll be more to me than ever, and death can’t part us, though it seems to.”

Little Woman explores countless adventurous themes, all of them being grand evidently; love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family obligations, and the clash of the cultures between Europe and America have all to do with the plot. Louisa May Alcott teaches you a myriad of intricate things in the simplest ways possible. This book pushes you to be better, to act in a civilized fashion, and not mistreat your enemies. 

“That’s the spirit, my dear; a kiss for a blow is always best, though it’s not very easy to give it, sometimes,” said her mother. Although the writing style in Little Women can be didactic, even contemporary girls who can’t imagine wearing silk dresses or being to ladylike to run, will identify in the four March sisters.

So, in essence, what I mean to say, is go for it. Little Woman is a children’s classic without being childish or bringing innocent themes into play, it is complex as well as simple, for children as well as adults, about girls as well as women. It is brilliant, engaging, captivating. It is a whole new era for you to investigate. Little Women is one of the world’s crowning accomplishments and it is yours to discover...

¹ Modified and adapted french version of Little Women, translated from the english language by an individual going by the pen name - or nom de plume - P.-J. Stahl.

² It was actually Thomas Niles, her editor, who first approached her with the idea of a book for girls in September 1867.