Jo and Laurie? Why Not!

I, like most people who read the book am completely drawn to Jo, but there are a couple things that bother me about the way Alcott treats her character. I find it difficult to believe that a woman of Jo’s age would have absolutely no attraction or romantic feelings to her best friend Laurie, or anyone else for that matter. I thought that in every other aspect Alcott really fleshed out Jo’s character, made her relatable and seem like she could be an actual person. The fact that Jo is content to remain a tomboy, happy to write and tend to Beth without any thought to her romantic or married future seems a little odd. I realize that Jo unlike Amy and Meg cares about other things which to her are more important than constantly worrying about boys or marrying into wealth. But I think Alcott could have at least given us more of a look into Jo’s private thoughts about this matter.

We start to see Jo’s crush on Professor Bhaer develop in the last section of the reading, but before this we haven’t seen anything like this for Jo. It seemed as if Alcott did this just to satisfy readers who didn’t want Jo to end up an old spinster. I’ve read the book before so I know eventually that Professor Bhaer and Jo will eventually marry, but Bhaer seems like an odd choice considering Jo’s character. If Jo were to end up with anyone I think Alcott should have placed Jo with someone who could really challenge her. Since it’s been so long since I’ve read the book, I don’t remember much about Professor Bhaer’s character and if he is capable of doing this. But I think Jo would be better with someone who could handle her “gentlemanly” ways and engage in more of a partnership rather than the typical 19th century dominant-subservient man and wife relationship. I remember reading the book when I was younger and secretly wanting her to end up with Laurie and being really disappointed when she didn’t.

I guess the relationship between Jo and Laurie goes back to the age-old question, Can men and women really be friends? However, I don’t think Alcott was trying to answer this question when writing Little Women.