Week 2

[Lisa]

Chapters 12- 23

[Lisa]

The March sisters have significant aspirations. Meg wishes to marry well and run a successful household, Jo to make a fortune writing, Amy to be a successful painter... And Beth to stay home to care for the family. Laurie wishes to travel and to be a famous pianist.

I feel as if these goals set us into the next part of the novel, where we will see if they are achieved. At present Jo's and Beth's appear highly likely.

[Lisa]

Laurie. I saw someone mention in a post years ago that he was their romantic male hero. And I thought: Laurie? The best- friend- neighbor- big brother? I guess I'd never seen him as a romantic hero.

As a kidI desperately wanted a friend like Laurie, a big brother type who would consider me an equal. Laurie's humor makes him memorable, although his temper can lead to trouble. He stands out sharply as honest and well mannered against fashionable Ned Moffat and spoilt Fred Vaugn.

[Lisa]

John Brooke. Tutor to Laurie, reliable and honest but poor. We start to suspect that he cares for Meg.
When Mr March is taken ill, Brooke accompanies Marmee to Washington. The girls christen him Mr Greatheart, a character from The Pilgrim's Progress.

[Lisa]

There is an episode of the TV series 'Friends' where Joey reads Little Women at Rachel's behest. At the part where Beth becomes ill, Joey puts the book in the freezer.

Beth's scarlet fever would be treatable today but pre antibiotics options for treatment were limited. The book suggests that she revovers due to her mother's care and ongoing prayer. I can't imagine the fear and pain of watching your child suffer close to death's doorstep.

[Mizzou]

Lisa, I had scarlet fever as a little girl in the Thirties. I was born in 1928 at "home", my maternal grandparents' house. Grandmas were key persons in those times, the "Great American Depression". My mother had been withdrawn from high school in her late teens and sent to business college, as office work was then opening up to females. Good thing, too, because a little later, in the Depression, she was the one who could get a job and bring home a paycheck that together with what Grandma got from her renters, supported our three-generation family. (She always hated domesticity, anyway!) Between "home remedies" and the vile-tasting medicines of the homeopath who was summoned to the house when I got scarlet fever, I made it through childhood , but I never did get my 8-point Health Button, like the other grade schoolers. Why? Grandma did not believe in vaccinations. It wasn't until I read Little Women that I had any idea how serious scarlet fever was.

[Lisa]

Mizzou wrote: "Lisa, I had scarlet fever as a little girl in the Thirties. I was born in 1928 at "home", my maternal grandparents' house. Grandmas were key persons in those times, the "Great American Depression"...."

Fascinating Mizzou.

My mother had scarlet fever as a child in the 50s. She speaks about weeks of quarantine, Dr's home visits, her mother's fears. A fearful illness.

When I was in medical school, Scarlett Fever had become: investigate for and treat with antibiotics at the first sign of infection. Complications rare if effectively treated.

In my country, in the era of HIV/ AIDS, grandmothers are still pivotal. We are losing mothers and fathers to AIDS and grandparents head households providing for orphaned children.