Throughout the book, I found it really interesting to track the relationships between Laurie and the March sisters. Laurie is the most significant male presence for the girls until their respective marriages, though often moody and hot-tempered. He routinely does and says things that get him in trouble, such as pranking Meg by writing her a letter from John Brooke or drinking with Ned Moffat. It seems that the sisters, Meg and Jo in particular, have a tempering effect on Laurie, as they are not afraid to point out when his actions do not follow their moral code.
When on a picnic with Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, Laurie starts talking of John Brooke and how, when he gets his castle in the air, he will do great things for him. Meg points out that he could "begin to do something now, by not plaguing his life out," as she can judge how Laurie treated Mr. Brooke by how he looks when he leave the Laurences' house (Alcott, 145). Hot-tempered Laurie gets rather offended by this, and Meg apologizes. However, Laurie realizes, "I am the one to be forgiven... I like to have you tell me my thought and be sisterly" (146). Laurie often gets offended when the sisters question him, yet he realizes that they are concerned and genuine in their censure, and takes it to heart.
Unlike Meg, Jo's fiery attitude make one think that temper Laurie, or, indeed, that Laurie and Jo would feed off of each other and get into all kinds of trouble. However, Jo is independent (a trait considered morally dubious in the world of Little Women), she still operates on a strict moral code. For, when she thinks that Laurie may be "wast[ing] time and money" playing billiards and drinking at the saloon, she disapprovingly tells him that she'd hoped he would "stay respectable, and be a satisfaction to your friends" (149). Laurie, who doesn't see the harm in a little drinking and billiards, hesitantly agrees not to, for he knows that Mrs. March will no longer allow him to see Jo if he does such things. Later, when Laurie plays a prank on Meg by forging a passionate letter from John Brooke, he and Jo have an intense fight. However, she later makes peace with him and has Mr. Laurence apologize for being angry at him, showing her forgiving and tempering nature when it comes to Laurie.
I also found Laurie's relation with the March sisters to be a fascinating topic throughout the book, one that continues up through the entirety of the story and to the ending. Alcott seems to have created a multi-faceted and complex relationship between them, one that becomes fairly complicated during the ending, when Jo decided not to marry Laurie despite many fans of the book and many signs seemingly pointing to it. Marmee noted that "As friends you are very happy, and your frequent quarrels soon blow over, but I fear you would both rebel if you were mated for life. You are too much alike and too fond of freedom, not to mention hot tempers and strong wills, to get on happily together, in a relation which needs infinite patience and forbearance, as well as love." (Alcott, 214) I feel like this quote shows the intricacy of their relationship continuing even into the last point of the book, highlighting that they are incredibly strong friends, both helping each other with constructive quarrels and experiences.
ReplyDeleteHowever, due to this bond and their continual conflicts alongside the importance both figures hold in each other's lives, marriage would be too strict and trying of a bond to happily keep themselves in. Both Laurie and the March sisters temper one another, and it is a relationship which transcends the traditional bonds of love or marriage, and this relationship holds much of the intrigue of the novel, in my opinion.