booksofthedead answers “Was Jo ever in love with Laurie?”

Padmini Sukumaran asked this question about Little Women (Little Women, #1):

Was Jo ever in love with Laurie?

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 w…moreI 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. (less)

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