I want to be Beth: sweet, gentle, compassionate, patient... unfortunately, I'm a Jo. Harum-scarum, abrupt, opinionated, and with chopped hair. Badly chopped.
It's like Gone With the Wind: I always wanted to be a Melanie, but I'm a Scarlett. I'm not nice, I'm not compassionate, I'm not gentle or forgiving...
I WANT to be.
But I'm not. I'm the cold-hearted survivor who doesn't want to share anything with anyone unless I'm absolutely nuts about them.
Meg, easily. Jo is the most commonly preferred one just because so many girls think it's cool to be quick-tempered, violent tomboys who hate girlish things.
Meg was not "perfect" and definitely not supposed to be, contrary to popular opinion (which shows those saying that have never read the book ar need to read it again, and watch the movie). She was vain about her appearance and wanted a rich husband and nice things, which isn't wrong to want but she was too focused on that. She was also classy and motherly, which is almost the opposite of how most girls are today, I'm embarrassed to admit.
Beth was my favorite and I can identify more with her.
I agree with your post Weetzie Bat. I don't get why it's cool to be a tomboy now but not cool to be feminine...
National Geographic: The Lord of the Rings-8/10
The Runaways-7/10
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...As I said, she appeals to them because as I said, girls today think it's "cool" to show your anger so violently and hate femininity. Society is trying to turn girls into boys instead of letting them be their natural selves, and it's horrible. They like to pretend females being feminine is "wrong" and that they should be as masculine as possible, which is as freakin' sexist as it gets (ironically, since it was feminists who strived to get women rights, and now they're hating on women who are proud to be women). Although most girls today are NOT tomboys. Jo was a tomboy because she was pretty much a man in a girl body, which is what a tomboy actually is- not someone who hates pink and shopping, which is an ignorant, inaccurate description. I know tons of "girly" girls who hate that "girly" stuff too.
Beth was a lot more bland than Meg. I love Beth and her fear of strangers is very easy for me to relate to, but she was way too perfect still. She had no evil thoughts whatsoever which for a human (an imperfect being) is entirely unrealistic. Meg had plenty of flaws and I love that she still tried to be good and a lady. Why on earth would being proper be wrong, exactly, if you don't mind me asking? Would you rather we go around breaking rules because we "feel" like it, then throwing fits when our selfish, rebellious behavior brings us the consequences we deserve? Not to mention the fact that most girls and even some women today are immodest, catty, aggressive, quick-tempered brats, because, again, it's encouraged to be so, and we have so few classy, sweet-tempered, strong women like Meg and Marmee anymore.
Jo was just as bratty as Amy was. Had Jo burned something of Amy's if Amy had annoyed Jo (as Jo did Amy in the story), you'd all be applauding her! If Jo is admired for her bad traits and not being perfect, why can't Amy? Amy is far more a realistic character than Jo. Real tomboys are not nearly this warm and motherly as Jo could be, they're usually very bitter, anti-men people, nothing like Jo often was. anyway... /rant
"I never confuse gentleness with weakness."
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That's a toughie. There are bits and pieces from each of the sisters in me.
I guess Jo, because she like I am is always "Chatty Kathy" and always putting inserting her big foot in the mouth saying something stupid at the wrong time to the wrong person (a fault I sometimes have a most difficult time to control).
Amy was by far my favorite. I think she had the most character growth in the novel. She and Laurie. And she felt the most real.
Next favorite is Jo.
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I have always loved Jo's character but as some others have been mentioning, its quite a modern attitude towards the role of the female - she is independant and proud of it.
With the other characters we get different types of 'women' shown - Amy has the ambition and society, Meg has the traditional role of wife/mother whilst (as I was reading somewhere), Beth is the quiet and selfless type that was popular in novels of the early 19th century.
I actually like all the sisters in their own way but when I first read the book as a child, I liked Beth and Meg best. I think its different reading the book and watching the film as an adult, you can understnad their changes of heart more - I am thinking specifically of Laurie and Jo.
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as an adult I still don't get it that Laurie married the sister of the woman he loved for long, long years
My favorite is Jo--she's so lively and spirited, though when she rejected Laurie, I was very upset with her (okay, I was so mad that I bawled. Laurie and Jo BELONG together!!)
My second favorite was kind, gentle, sweet little Beth. Then Meg was my third favorite.
I can't even say Amy was any sort of favorite of mine, I didn't even like her. She was spoiled, bratty, selfish, vain, and greedy. (It would've been better if Jo and Laurie had not heard her at the pond, and instead, Beth could have survived)--that's how much I don't like Amy. The little gold-digging harlot who married Laurie for his wealth.
Beth. The others all irritate me in some way.
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