Unleavened bread, porridge, and water for breakfast; bread, vegetables, and water for dinner; bread, fruit, and water for supper was the bill of fare ordained by the elders. No teapot profaned that sacred stove, no gory steak cried aloud for vengeance from her chaste gridiron; and only a brave woman’s taste, time, and temper were sacrificed on that domestic altar.
Full confession, I LOATHED Prof Bhaer from a young age because I loved Jo's Gothics (still do, or Louisa's anyway) and was horrified and angry at him messing with her writing that way. Then when I read some biographies of her and her family, all I could see was Bronson Alcott. Mr March is also sort of Bronson Alcott, but in a wimpier and less aggravating way. (Some author won a Pulitzer rewriting LW from March's point of view. Of course they did. -- Of course nobody wrote from Marmee's POV, although there's a pretty good 'dual biography': https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15748199-marmee-and-louisa) The school Jo sets up in the sequels to LW is pretty much based on her father's (absolutely loopy) educational principles, and is meant as a valedictory of him. So for me it was double extra creepy and unwanted that her most famous character spends her life kind of glorifying Bronson Alcott, much like Louisa did. (He was a total laughingstock until she got famous. Then people took him seriously, but he took all the credit.)
//is obviously way too overinvested in this author
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Date: 2018-07-19 03:47 pm (UTC)Unleavened bread, porridge, and water for breakfast; bread, vegetables, and water for dinner; bread, fruit, and water for supper was the bill of fare ordained by the elders. No teapot profaned that sacred stove, no gory steak cried aloud for vengeance from her chaste gridiron; and only a brave woman’s taste, time, and temper were sacrificed on that domestic altar.
Full confession, I LOATHED Prof Bhaer from a young age because I loved Jo's Gothics (still do, or Louisa's anyway) and was horrified and angry at him messing with her writing that way. Then when I read some biographies of her and her family, all I could see was Bronson Alcott. Mr March is also sort of Bronson Alcott, but in a wimpier and less aggravating way. (Some author won a Pulitzer rewriting LW from March's point of view. Of course they did. -- Of course nobody wrote from Marmee's POV, although there's a pretty good 'dual biography': https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15748199-marmee-and-louisa) The school Jo sets up in the sequels to LW is pretty much based on her father's (absolutely loopy) educational principles, and is meant as a valedictory of him. So for me it was double extra creepy and unwanted that her most famous character spends her life kind of glorifying Bronson Alcott, much like Louisa did. (He was a total laughingstock until she got famous. Then people took him seriously, but he took all the credit.)
//is obviously way too overinvested in this author