'Little Women': A Burned Manuscript And A Great Love That Never Arrives
The BBC adaptation now coming to PBS is effective if expected, and features Angela Lansbury as Aunt March.
[This piece discusses the plot of the novel Little Women, which was published in 1868 and 1869. You have, we hope, had a chance to read it.]
Is it only writers who can never forgive Amy March for burning her sister Jo's handwritten novel manuscript? Or is it only me?
In the pantheon of fictional villains, Amy, the youngest March sister in Louisa May Alcott's , might seem to pale in comparison to those who destroy planets or aspire to. The only copy. And she did it in a fit of jealous, childish pique over not getting to go out on one single night. Somehow, it is this act of breathtaking cruelty that lies at the center of 's legacy for many readers, who lament Amy's awfulness still. (Or ... at least the writers.)
