Little Women Inspirations: Friedrich Schiller (With Hejar Sinem) Part 1
Introduction
Hello everybody, my name is Niina and welcome to the Little Woman Podcast. Today’s comment shoutout goes to @rainbowmilk1996RainbowMilk1996, who left this insightful comment. ”Jo also doesn’t really like writing for the Weekly Volcano, she’s only doing it for the money and it doesn’t even pay well. She’s probably lying to herself and saying Everything is fine. I am giving Beth the luxuries I want to give her and she is happy. I am happy. But when Fritz gives his opinions on sensationalism, she realizes what she is doing and stops. Considering the movies don’t really talk about what Jo is actually writing about. I can’t remember off the top of my head, but murder is mentioned. It can’t exactly be all pretty stuff. It is easy to think that Fritz is a generous snob. He is not. People were less desensitized in the 1860s and 70s than in 2022. Fritz is less a genre snob and more not wanting people, specifically children, scared at a formative age.
End quote. When the book Jo is in New York, she actually has two editors. The first editor wants her to write sensationalism. Stories that Jo herself calls trash. The second editor only wants her to write moralistic tales, which is not something that Jo is that into either and it is Friedrich who helps her to find her own way of writing. Why the filmmakers don’t show this conflict that Jo has with her editors? And kinda portray Friedrich in a bad light when in the book it is the opposite? That is a very good question.
My today’s guest is really an expert on this field. We have talked a lot in this podcast how Louisa May Alcott loved German culture and German writers and now for the first time I have a guest from Germany.
Her name is Sinem and Sinem is here today to talk to us about Louisa May Alcott’s adoration to Goethe and Friedrich Schiller and how we can see the effects of these two writers in Friedrich Bhaer’s character and in general in Louisa May Alcott’s novels. If you guys wish to get episode transcripts of this podcast, you can head over to my Gumroad site at at littlewomen.gumroad.com. I have tons of new stuff uploaded there. This is Little Women Podcast, Friedrich Schiller and Goethe, Alcott’s literal heroes.
Episode Transcript
Sinem: Hello, I’m Sinem. I really love Little Women and I also really love the chapters that involve Friedrich and Jo. I was born in Germany. I really love the way Friedrich talks in the novels and yes, I also love this chapter we’re going to analyze.
Niina: Yes, I love it too. It’s one of my favorites and I also think it’s very romantic for everybody who says that Jo and Friedrich aren’t romantic. I recommend reading that chapter again. I think the problem is, is that it’s not really in the adaptations, but it’s so good, it should be there.
Sinem: Yes, definitely. I think mostly in the movies or adaptations I’ve watched, mostly it’s like Friedrich goes to visit Jo and then that’s the end, it’s like only one day, whereas in the
novels, it continues. Their partnership continues. Even at the home, not only in New York, but it’s also where Jo lives, they have this extreme and powerful bond and it only grows as the longer he stays there.
Niina: Even when Jo leaves New York, they have continued writing letters and I think you can only see that in some of the TV versions, because in the movies you just see them arguing and then they stop communicating, which is really weird, because that doesn’t happen in the book at all. Some of the TV shows, they do show that they continue writing these letters and when Friedrich comes to Concord, he’s actually there for two weeks or something, courting her.
Sinem: I actually have to say that I really like this chapter, really and I also think it is very important that Louisa May Alcott decided that even when they were apart, they continued writing letters to each other and in the chapter before, Jo reads a letter from Friedrich and she’s like, oh, if only he would come and it’s like a wish come true to her.
Niina: Exactly. It’s this secret wish that she has, that he would return back her life.
Sinem: Yes, and I also think it’s very important, because Jo literally craves her company in this chapter, but the thing is, she has her mother with her and also her father, but she even says that she wants to try all kinds of love that exists. She isn’t really satisfied any longer with only the love of her mother, of her parents or of her sisters.
Niina: The previous chapter is called All Alone, there’s really this long monologue, that she has about how lonely she is and how she longs to find love and I think she says that her heart is so elastic and she would like to try what romantic love feels like. This is such a misunderstood part about Little Women. We have discussed about this before, that people really do not seem to read the book at all when they talk about Jo wanting to be independent or whatever.
Sinem: Yes, and to be honest, I think, even if you are person, a woman, but she already has a partner, it doesn’t make them not independent. I mean, relationships can enrich people, and that is the same with Jo, infatuation enriches her, but she still has her independence, and they live together in a very beautiful harmony.
Niina: Yes, and if Jo would have married Laurie, that’s when she would have lost her independence completely.
Sinem: I think because Laurie was demanding at that time. You have to take care of me, you are the mother to me, you will take care of me 24 hours a day, and when I’m angry, you will do whatever I want you to, etc. I also think in this chapter, she completely forgets to compare Friedrich to Laurie, and I think it’s also a funny thing, because she has idealized Laurie very much, but in the end, she stayed true to herself, and she fell in love with Friedrich, because he is the right man for her. Laurie at that time was not a man. He himself states it in that chapter.
Niina: Also, in this chapter, there is an apology from Laurie, which I find very feminist-thing for Louisa to write, but like we have discussed in this podcast, and you and I have discussed this in our private discussions, this is one of those things that is not in the adaptations either, because Laurie is so incredibly idealized. I think the only version where Laurie apologizes to Jo is the BBC series from 1970s, and most people have not even heard from it, so I am very glad that I get to discuss about the chapter Surprises with you today, because I think this is a completely overlooked chapter.
Sinem: I agree. I also think this chapter is very important for the growth of Laurie, because we have seen him evolving and growing and improving, but this is the climax, because he not only acknowledges his mistakes to himself in the others chapters, but he also acknowledges them to Jo, when he says, I was making a mistake at that time, and I’m sorry, because I think it is, like you said, first of all, very feminist to acknowledge it, that he forced her to be in some things she was not, but it is also very important, because I don’t think in many adaptations you don’t really see his growth, and it’s actually very sad, like there is kind of an apology, I guess, but it doesn’t really feel right, because then again in the movies, he never did anything wrong.
