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booksofthedead
I mean...let's use autobiographical discourse here.
Romantic love? Very unlikely.
There is plenty of evidence that Louisa May Alcott was a lesbian. Jo was meant to be inspired by her - her autobiography, steeped in fiction. When Jo tells Laurie that she's tried to love him like he loves her but she can't, this is a nod to the author's struggle to love men as she thought women were supposed to love men but she just couldn't.
Jo was never supposed to marry, much like Alcott never married. She was forced to write Jo into marriage, hence the older German professor - a meeting of the minds, not the hearts. Once again, very much perhaps how Alcott was able to meet men, with her mind but never her heart. And in her diaries, she doesn't even understand her own feelings towards women. This confusion is easily reflected in Jo.
So did Jo love Laurie? Yes. And she always will love Laurie.
But was Jo ever IN love with Laurie? No.
Romantic love? Very unlikely.
There is plenty of evidence that Louisa May Alcott was a lesbian. Jo was meant to be inspired by her - her autobiography, steeped in fiction. When Jo tells Laurie that she's tried to love him like he loves her but she can't, this is a nod to the author's struggle to love men as she thought women were supposed to love men but she just couldn't.
Jo was never supposed to marry, much like Alcott never married. She was forced to write Jo into marriage, hence the older German professor - a meeting of the minds, not the hearts. Once again, very much perhaps how Alcott was able to meet men, with her mind but never her heart. And in her diaries, she doesn't even understand her own feelings towards women. This confusion is easily reflected in Jo.
So did Jo love Laurie? Yes. And she always will love Laurie.
But was Jo ever IN love with Laurie? No.
Sketchbook
Jo was a closeted lesbian.
Trix Wilkins
I think she definitely deeply loved him and thought the world of him - even after she's married someone else, she still points to him and says, "there's your model my lads" (as in, 'this is the sort of man you ought to aspire to become'. Not sure how her husband would have felt at that moment...). From the beginning of the story she's spent time with him and cared for him, and shares some secrets with him even before her sisters. She cries when she goes to college, and when he comes to propose to her, she tells him "you're a great deal too good for me." She also tells him that she does love him but that's it's "not the right sort of love." (Which doesn't necessarily mean she didn't love him romantically - that could be taken to mean that she didn't love him in the way she thought wives ought to love their husbands at that time. Marriages were not necessarily romantic.)
But in love with him... Not sure if she ever got that far. If she was in love with him, I think she either wouldn't admit it to herself, or actively repressed it. Her own mother tells her they are not suited for marriage together - if anything was going to throw cold water on any feelings Jo might have had for him or might have allowed herself to feel in the future, that would do it! She's too strong a character to choose to marry someone she loves who she thinks will suffer from her saying yes, and she's too trusting in her mother's judgement to depart from it. I almost feel that she is love him from her rejecting his proposal. If she didn't care so much for him, it might have been more tempting to accept, seeing as it would have been a convenient marriage especially in that time period.
But in love with him... Not sure if she ever got that far. If she was in love with him, I think she either wouldn't admit it to herself, or actively repressed it. Her own mother tells her they are not suited for marriage together - if anything was going to throw cold water on any feelings Jo might have had for him or might have allowed herself to feel in the future, that would do it! She's too strong a character to choose to marry someone she loves who she thinks will suffer from her saying yes, and she's too trusting in her mother's judgement to depart from it. I almost feel that she is love him from her rejecting his proposal. If she didn't care so much for him, it might have been more tempting to accept, seeing as it would have been a convenient marriage especially in that time period.
Lily
Jo loved Laurie, it was just a different kind of love. To the reader, they seem perfect together. Many people believe Jo chose the "wrong one". That's life though and that's the way Alcott wanted it. To me, Jo is Alcott. If you research Alcott, it seems very clear that she was not sexually attracted to men or maybe she just didn't want to be a married woman. Love is really complex. Women were not allowed to be complex during those times. I don't like saying Jo was not in love with Laurie because I don't think it's true. It just could never be more than what it was, for whatever reasons.
"I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man's soul put by some freak of nature into a woman's body ... because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man." Alcott
"I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man's soul put by some freak of nature into a woman's body ... because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man." Alcott
Fernanda
I personally think she was!! Her refusal to his proposal was due to bad timing as Jo was still rejecting the idea of falling in love, ever marrying and wished to be independent, but she did love him.
She really tried to impress him by preparing a dinner, commenting that he was good looking to her sisters and thought he had read more books than her and could write beautifully without being sentimental.
Right at the beginning of the book they danced together and even though Jo is not romantic she later says she had a capital time at the party. Jo only left the party because Meg hurt her ankle. To me, from that point on there was physical attraction and the seeds of love...
She really tried to impress him by preparing a dinner, commenting that he was good looking to her sisters and thought he had read more books than her and could write beautifully without being sentimental.
Right at the beginning of the book they danced together and even though Jo is not romantic she later says she had a capital time at the party. Jo only left the party because Meg hurt her ankle. To me, from that point on there was physical attraction and the seeds of love...
Hannah Lofthus
I personally don't think she ever was. She loved him as a friend, or like a brother even.
Kari Ann
I really don't think so. She loved him sooo much as a brother, but she was repulsed by the idea of a romance with Laurie. She did look back and regret saying, "No," for a time, although not out of love. Rather, it was out of loneliness. I WISH they had mutually fallen in love, but our stubborn Jo has always avoided the predictable :P
Sharon Toji
When I first read Little Women in the third grade, back in 1944, I would not have known there were lesbians, and certainly not known that Louisa May Alcott was one, but of course it's quite easy to understand now, especially when you read it clearly in her own diary. I didn't know then that her husband in the series was written in because of a demand from her publisher. So it's clear that Jo loved Laurie as a brother and a person, but struggled with her sexual identity, as Alcott did.
I read and re-read Little Women, and for years of my adulthood, read it yearly every Christmas. As with many women today who grew up as "tomboys" who liked to climb trees and have career aspirations, Jo strongly influenced my life. I even based my wish to have children and to teach children with problems on "Jo's Boys" and her school. I have never wanted to be a boy for sexual reasons, but always wanted to be able to have whatever career I wished, and to live a life without barriers. Luckily, my parents agreed on that and never quashed any idea of what I could do. I think Alcott was lucky in that as well.
I read and re-read Little Women, and for years of my adulthood, read it yearly every Christmas. As with many women today who grew up as "tomboys" who liked to climb trees and have career aspirations, Jo strongly influenced my life. I even based my wish to have children and to teach children with problems on "Jo's Boys" and her school. I have never wanted to be a boy for sexual reasons, but always wanted to be able to have whatever career I wished, and to live a life without barriers. Luckily, my parents agreed on that and never quashed any idea of what I could do. I think Alcott was lucky in that as well.
Lady Willpower
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Dori-anne
I just found this short essay and thought it was very interesting. It tries to explain this ambiguity that lies within Jo's character, her relationship with Laurie,... Good material to think upon, but as always literature allows us to make our own interpretation.
Here is a link to the essay : https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/...
Here is a link to the essay : https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/...
Elliott Browne
No. I think the fact that she moved away from him to avoid his proposal makes it kinda self explanatory. I also think she never should have married like Alcott intended in order to stick to her character. Her marriage seemed unfit. I also don't think she was a closeted lesbian. I think that love wasn't important to her. Every time the mention of Meg falling in love was brought up she was disgusted and even told Laurie that she never intended to marry because love was not a priority for her. I think that she thought love would get in the way of her dreams.
Elizabeth Faustina
She loved him with a brotherly love, but, **spoiler** she fell in love with Professor Bahr.
sophie
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玉玉
I don't think she does. They're like, best friends. But I ship them though.
Louise
Not romantically. I think Jo was in love with the thought of Laurie. He was everything anyone could ever ask for and more. BUT SHE WAS A LESBIAN!!! So many signs lead back to this exact point. When Jo went to take Laurie back she had convinced herself that it would be okay, and that she wanted that, but really the true reason behind their amazing bond was that they were platonic soulmates. Jo loved Laurie, but she was not IN love with him.
Eztizen Leicea
And what about Laurie? Was love what Laurie felt?
Susana González
Definitely, Jo always loved Laurie as a brother
Aya
yes i think she had a little thing for him, but love !!? no
Gemma
Yeah, I think Hannah Walsh is right.
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