I am not arguing that Little Women is a “conservative” book; it was certainly liberal for its time, and the Alcotts and the New England intellectuals were liberal and even radical. Any scholarly article about Little Women written today will emphasize that and Alcott’s own feminist tendencies. What I am trying to show is that the ethos of the book remains that of a white, Christian society centered on marriage and holding clearly-defined gender roles or at least, as I call them, gender-specific “virtues.” Alcott herself may have felt forced to alter what she really wanted to write to meet the standards of her society, but that does not change the nature and value of the resulting work. In our advanced liberal society, even Little Women appears conservative!

Also, (though I’m not sure whether you’re disputing this) what I am calling “traditionalism” refers to a set of social values which recognize categories of existence that transcend the individual, e.g. gender, age, race, nationality. It does not mean the rejection of individual choice and equality under the law, and does not inherently preclude things like women’s education and women working outside the home. Like some other conservative thinkers, I view this sort of expansion of choice for women as something made possible by things like the civil order and the economic prosperity of a modern society, and not necessarily as the achievements of modern liberalism and feminism.

The Alcotts themselves were anything but traditional! They belonged to a radical religious sect and Alcott herself spent most of her life working for women’s suffrage.

Your comment about women saying they were “like Jo” is funny because when I mentioned Little Women to my wife, who has not read it, her main impression came from a woman friend who also identified with the Jo character. I guess that has become a “meme”….

Of course, it could also simply be that Jo, as Alcott’s alter-ego, is the most “real” character. And it may be hard for a girl today to relate to any of the others. “Oh, I was just like Beth…”

Re: recovering the virtues: so, men need to take charge here, huh? :-)

Maud Hart Lovelace…I see she wrote historical novels too. I’ll take a look. Thanks for the suggestion. And yes, the Heritage American should tackle Gone With The Wind sometime….

One thing I’ve noticed in recent years: when I talk to other women about Little Women, they always, always say they were ”just like Jo” when they were girls, or at least that they ”identified with Jo.” I suppose Jo is seen as the budding feminist in the book.

I agree that the ‘new America’ which is in opposition to the old America of Alcott’s day has pretty much burned its bridges to the older standards of feminine virtue, and it would be a real challenge to try to reinstate those old ideals, much more of a challenge than reviving the old male virtues, as you say. But I think perhaps any kind of renaissance would have to begin with men reclaiming their rightful role and then we might work from there.

As far as American female writers of the ‘old America’, at least those of my childhood, I remember reading avidly the books of Maud Hart Lovelace. She was later than Alcott, being an early 20th century writer. Her books were about girls in small-town Minnesota. I can’t say whether she was a literary great, but her books were popular and I loved them. I expect they were part of the childhood of many little girls up to the 1950s and 60s, but I think her books are out of print now.

What about Margaret Mitchell? Unlike many women I do not adore ‘Gone With the Wind’ but many women seem to.
-VA

I am interested in what the ladies have to say about this subject…!

By the way, if you have other favorite American female writers/figures you think the Heritage American should cover, let me know. The women remembered today (including Alcott) are remembered mostly for their “liberal” tendencies….

A lovely piece about a work of literature I enjoyed very much when I was young.

I’d like to refer to it over at Kinism.net, if that’s all right with you…

God bless,
Laurel