Louisa May Alcott's Love for Germany

Little Women Essay (Little Women Podcast, Book 16)

De: Niina Niskanen

Narrado por: Niina Niskanen

Louisa May Alcott´s Little Women is the author´s love song for German culture and literature. In the novel, there are many moments when the characters make references to German literature, and Jo's love interest professor Bhaer is also based on Alcott's favourite writer, the German poet Goethe. When Friedrich helps Jo when she struggles writing to Weekly Volcano, we can see her influences from Goethe, Friedrich recommends Jo read Shakespeare and study characters like Goethe would have done. It is also remarkable that Alcott gives Jo a German love interest because German immigrants were widely discriminated in 19th century America, but in Concord where Alcott's resided there was a full-blown German epidemic with people rushing to buy German books and anything that came from Germany.

In the very first chapter of Little Women Jo wishes for a copy of Undine and Sintram as a Christmas present. Undine and Sintram is a collection of Scandinavian and Germanic fables written by French-German author Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. This book appears again in the last Little Women book, Jo´s boys. Marches help the poor Hummel family who has immigrated from Germany. Beth and Marmee are especially close to them. Beth catches terrible scarlet fever, but the Marches never blame the Hummels. Epidemic diseases were rather common back then and Louisa always writes about the Hummels with great sympathy. In the chapter "Camp Lawrence" John Brooke translates a German song for Meg and reads her parts from "Mary Stuart", a play that was written by German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller. At Meg´s and John´s wedding, Laurie suggests that they dance as the Germans do.

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