I can’t think of another fictional character who inspired generations of real-life aspiring female writers. Or was she? Certainly, that was her stated ambition in Little Women, in which we witness the birth of her first book. Like Louisa, Jo was completely dedicated to the pursuit of writing and the writer’s life. Little Women is now available on Digital HD.Jo March, the standout sister of Little Women (1868), was the idealized alter ego of her creator, Louisa May Alcott - both were tomboyish, with a bit of a temper. Listen to the full podcast discussion below, in which Gerwig goes deep on how she brought Little Women to life. But if it wasn’t evident through Gerwig’s changes, it’s clear in her explanation here that she had a strong point of view in retelling this particular story. But the structure truly came out of wanting to introduce this layer of authorship everywhere in it, how we author our own lives even if we’re not writers and how we kind of tell and retell the story of how we became who we are.”Īll of this shines through beautifully and is part of what makes Little Women one of the best films of the year. I thought if we can’t do this now then we’ve really made no progress and we should all hang our heads (laughs). “Part of what I wanted to do was 150 years later give her an ending she might have liked. So Gerwig says she set about giving Alcott the Little Women ending she actually desired: She does, in exchange for a greater percentage of the net profits of the book while also deciding to maintain her own copyright (side note: Alcott also owned the copyright to her book). Dashwood bristles at the idea that the story’s heroine would end the book unmarried and childless, and insists that Jo change it so that the protagonist marries the Professor. Dashwood ( Tracy Letts), a publisher who is now considering printing March’s book Little Women. In Gerwig’s film, it appears as though Jo (Ronan) is going to fall in love with Professor Bhaer ( Louis Garrel) just as she does in the book, but the film instead then flashes to Jo proposing this very ending to Mr. At the end of the story, however, Jo eventually marries her boarding housemate Professor Bhaer and has children. In Alcott’s book, Jo March spends much of the pages talking about how she never wants to marry or have children. Gerwig also made a radical change to the Little Women ending, presenting an alternative path for literary heroine Jo March. But the Little Women book changes don’t end with the structure.

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