The object today's rant cannot be considered a fandom, as it's quite rare to find anyone who loves it as much as I do but I shall rant anyway and trust ya'll not to judge because this is a website where we accept each other with all our little quirks cos we're all in the same boat in the long run, right?
I'm sure ya'll are somewhat familiar with the name Louisa May Alcott, yes? The authoress of Little Women? Yes? No? Maybe?
I'm going to assume most everyone has at least HEARD of Little Women (if not, it's okay no judgement here, but there are things I've got to cut out of this rant if you don't want it to be so long it takes you a week to get through it all.)
Slightly lesser known than this classic, is that Louisa May Alcott actually made a serious out of it. A total of four books. The first two are Little Women and Good Wives, following the lives of the four March sisters, as they grow up, get married and start families of their own. At the end of Good Wives, you learn that the legendary Jo March had opened a school for boys alongside her husband. The third book, Little Men, focused on her little band of wild boys, numbering 14 including the couple of girls who had been admitted.
This book has been among my favorite books of all time since I first read it in middle school. I am like Jo March in many many ways, including her tomboyish behavior and her love for writing, but perhaps where we are most alike is our absolute adoration for little boys. It's not something that I can explain, but it's something that's been there for quite a long while.
But because this is a romance rant book, we're going to skip right over to the fourth book in the series, Jo's Boys. Here we find the boys we had come to love with all of our heart (or is that just me), all grown up and ready to make their way in the world all on their own. There are three romances which take place within the little bunch of main characters LMA created, all with completely different stories and results.
That's actually the first things I wanted to touch on in the series. Romance has become a cliche in the fact that 98% of the time, it works out for the pair of lovers. LMA preferred the odds of 1/3 of the couples actually end up together. This both delighted me and broke my little heart.
The first romance is that between Nat Blake and Daisy Brooke (Meg's eldest daughter). The roots for this romance took place in the first book, where the two were childhood sweethearts of the most innocent variety. Nobody was surprised to find Nat openly pursuing Daisy in Jo's Boys, and I was quite delighted.
I particularly loved this romance because it was never really a question, as long as Nat could find a way to provide for Daisy. There was an unerring devotion between the two of them, as well a touching understanding, so that from the moment they met, it was quite clear to the reader that they fit together, and made it so easy to believe in the happy marriage they end up pursuing.
The second romance which LMA allows the readers to explore, however briefly, in a comical one at best. This is between Tommy and Nan, the two trouble makers of the school. Tommy's fascination is quite obviously nothing more than a schoolboy crush, and even if it was more than that, Nan would have none of it. Nan was a strong-headed, independent girl from the start, and was pursuing a career in medicine. The two were not exactly a perfect match.
JUST SAYING GUYS THIS KINDA ROMANCE IS AN OPTION.
And finally we come to the romance which shredded my heart to pieces and fed it to the wolves. Dan and Bess. So many emotions here. Prepare for a full blown rant. Ready?
For starters, MY DANNY. You know, idk even what to call my emotions toward this character. Most would probably call it a crush, but I honestly don't think it's just that. Dan. Ugh. Dan. Okay. Dan was 13 when he was introduced to the reader, and had grown up on the street. The men is his life were not good examples, drinking, smoking, gambling, and swearing are all things that he is quite familiar with and at one point even tries to introduce to a couple of the other boys. Dan hated authority and rules. Dan had no trust whatsoever for adults. Dan was the trouble child. He was rough and tough and had a soft spot for animals and small children. It took me all of one chapter to begin to love him, even though that one chapter was just him rebelling against the rules in every way he can, being sent away from the school, and finding out he had run away from where he had been sent to stay. But I believed with all my heart, as Teddy would say::: "My Danny's tummin' back soon."
He does. It's much later when Dan learns to love and trust this couple that had made room in their hearts just for him. It took all of three sentences for me to give all of my heart to him.
"Mother Bhaer, I've come home."
"Please God, bless everyone and help me to be good."
"I wish I was your boy."
Just fyi, I was up til one reading this book last night and legit started crying and each of these lines. And so we learn that rough, rebellious Dan is a good, sweet and loyal boy, and any woman would have been lucky to have the man he became love her. I really truly honestly believe that.
Bess came from an entirely different world than Dan. Born to well-to-do family (Teddy Lawrence and Amy March Lawrence), the very definition of a proper young lady. When she young, she was referred to as "Princess" and "Angel" among other things. She had a way of turning even the roughest young man into a gentleman, for he was in awe of her. The reader, too, was enchanted by her. Se the kind of person you couldn't help but adore.
I can't honestly say I saw it coming. But once it came around, I knew how it would end.
Yes, it became the "out-of-my-league" scenario. And it was one I could take seriously, because it was during time period where "classes" were an actual thing of consequence, and an important part of your standing in society.
Dan was every bit the kind of man who deserved the best in life. And so was Bess. And truly, the idea of the two of them was beautiful. But they were opposites. Quite literally like light and dark. Bess was a well-mannered young lady, every bit like her mother, and she was going places in life. Dan had big dreams, but the kind of life Bess was used to wasn't one he could stand. He belonged in the woods, he needed adventures and to be able to spread his wings.
But goodness, how he loved her. Passionately.
He left. They never saw each other again. She grew into the woman she was destined to become, he took what the world threw at him and lived doing what he loved. In my eyes, it's a tragedy comparable to Romeo and Juliet.
I suppose I should have a moral to this last romance, but I don't think I have one in me. There are too many emotions covering it up. So I'll just leave at this: "THAT IS A FREAKING GOOD ROMANCE< AND ITS NOT EVEN ThE MAIN PLOT OF THE STORY."
Take notes. I am.
Go read the book. Come and cry over character development with me. Please.
Sorry for the unusually long rant, here's a potato.
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