Influences Case Study- Little Women / The Last Resort

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Little Women

  Both volumes of ‘Little Women’ are exemplary pieces of Bildungsroman literature written by Louisa May Alcott which has had an highly influential impact among many who read, watch, and hear of the story. ‘Little Women’ is a classical example of a coming-of-age story, featuring themes of romance, women’s struggles, personal growth, gender and, most importantly and profoundly: family. This piece has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, truly showcasing the timeless message of the text- including both the screen adaptation of 1994, directed by Gillian Armstrong, and the more recent 2019 screen adaptation, reworked by modern feminist director Greta Gerwig.

  ‘Little Women’  began as a singular volume, which reflected a semi-autobiographical version of Alcott’s life, with all for centric sisters being fabricated around Alcott and her three sisters; with Jo March being a near reflection of Alcott herself- despite the fact Alcott became a famous author and remained unmarried, much like the way Jo views her future self at the beginning of the story. Alcott was anxious to write the novel at first- as she wrote in her novel prior to writing her book in 1868: “I don’t enjoy this sort of thing. […] Never liked girls or knew many, except my sisters; but our queer plays and experiences may prove interesting, though I doubt it”- of which led her to scribble the first volume of ‘Little Women’ in her journal in the time manner of ten weeks, and has infamously never been out of print since. This novel had a very simplistic purpose- to portray Alcott’s life into a story that many can read without having the story being centred on herself- the March household within the novel loosely follows the journey that of the Alcott family- with few differences; for example, the poverty within the novel is much less tragic than in the tragic case of the Alcott’s; some days Alcott and her family had to survive of bread simply dipped into water since their funds were so scarce, especially during the peak of the Civil War, as most males we required to serve to fight against the South, which left many families struggling financially if the role of the breadwinner could not be adequately filled. Alcott shows a much simpler and less gritty version of her life, on the main premise that the sweetened version of her life would sell well as opposed to her biography word for word; as a result of her destitute upbringing, Alcott’s fear of poverty hung over her for her entire career- she thought the March family story would sell better than the Alcott family story.

  In spite of it’s little mentioning throughout the novels, the story was based in the time of the American Civil War; more so at the beginning of the novel, when Mr March is off at war as a preacher, until injured and reunited with his family. This time frame enhances the suffrage meaning behind story- in both the South and the North, men were missing from their posts of work, leaving job positions to be filled by women- who, at this point within history, were deemed inferior and less capable. This notion of suffrage is littered throughout the play- especially through the character of Marmee, serving at the Women’s Aid Auxiliary, which deals with the welfare of men at war during the Civil War. As a result, her suffrage lessons have been passed down to her daughters, whom of which have a strong sense of charity; for example, within the character of Beth, she takes the role of caretaker for an impoverished family once Marmee left to see Mr March after he was injured- called the Hummels, which is the cause of Beth contracting her deadly scarlet fever within the play.

  Scarlet fever is a highly infectious bacterial illness that presented in one of every two younger children during the 1800s; it shows in the form of common flu symptoms- followed by a raised patch of raised spots all over the body, leaving the skin with a red blemish- and especially throughout the 1800s, it was very difficult to treat if the symptoms were dire; antibiotics were not researched by the time, and would only first be discovered a century later. In addition to this, scarlet fever severely affects one’s immune system if infected worse enough- leaving those, much like Beth within the play, with life long fatigue, caused by a more serious long term affect that affects the heart, kidneys, and other vital organs. Alcott made Beth to reflect her younger sister- Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Alcott- whom fell ill with scarlet fever, then dying at 22, suffering from the long term complications, however- despite Beth being portrayed as taking her death dignified and in little pain, the reality was that Lizzie suffered for years vocally before dying painfully; she began to isolate herself and lose her temper at family members- delirious with the side effects that scarlet fever brought her. It is rumoured that Alcott made Beth as dignified within her death as she was as a tribute to her sister Lizzie’s persona before she contracted scarlet fever, and wrote Lizzie the death she wished she had.

  Another fundamental part of the time frame of the piece is the differentiation in etiquette from then until current times- women were given lessons and expectation for etiquette; the largest juxtaposition of etiquette is between Meg and Jo- both sisters of which know the social expectations of a lady, yet Jo chooses to ignore them, showing Alcott’s suffrage voice. Meg is the most socially applicable of the March sisters- she is well versed within the expectations of the time; she takes her role as the eldest to earn for the family, with her child career position at the beginning of the play, she never refers to any male characters by their first name whilst in public settings, she turns her hair up to prove her femininity, opposed to Jo, how grimaces at the thought of tying her hair back, she always refers to Theodore Lawrence as ‘Laurie’ or ‘Teddy’, regardless of setting, and she hesitates to take up a traditional job at the beginning of the play with her Aunt March.

The Last Resort

  ‘The Last Resort’ is a contemporary comedic stage show written by British playwright Chris Owen, which showcases the many differing lenses of a seaside holiday- coming together to create an immersive and realistic environment, using outlandish personas and characters. Owen wrote this piece to not only emulate the essence of a much more sheltered section of British culture, that isn’t avid knowledge to tourists- the bustling seaside environment, yet also create a piece which could not only be produced by expert directors and actors of every genre, but also accessible to amateurs to create a production of this piece: with its mix of comedic skits throughout to the complexity of maturely handling the ideology of rape within a short hour long piece, Owen truly gave anyone and everyone a chance to show the stage what actors of any ability can do.

  With the fictional setting of this play being ‘Ferryton-On-Sea’, being based on the general perception of the infamous British seaside, I feel it’s vital to view the history of the creation of the ‘British seaside’, and what makes it so unique to beach resorts globally. The first British seaside town was in Scarborough, a northern town, which has stayed relevant within its 363 year history: a catalyst knows as ‘Scarborough Spa’ was founded in 1660, which proved to be the first seaside resort, however, in modern times, is home to the typical tourist crowds, coming from all ends of the country to have an enjoyable day out amongst arcades, donkey rides, and- of course- the pier. It is heavily connoted that Ferryton-On-Sea is based off of Scarborough, however it still bears links with other popular seaside towns, such as Blackpool- which is the biggest place within the country for seaside nightclubs.

  Through a tourist’s lens, British seaside nightclub culture is simply another attraction to draw more tourists into the beach, however it homes one of the most toxic peer pressure culture- it’s quite common for nightclub security to be quite lacklustre, especially within seaside towns, letting those underage to easily enter the clubs and be taken advantage of, demonstrated through the character of Becky within the play- a fourteen year old girl who was picked up by an older man and raped, only for her to fall pregnant and run away from home to reunite with the older man, only to find he hasn’t shown up and has left her to fend for herself. Girls who live or go to seaside resorts are up to twice as likely to become pregnant in their teens, with most seaside town homing the highest teen pregnancy rates in Britain- linking to the fact that alcohol is highly more available in seaside clubs, as a result of poor security. In a study conducted by Hull University professor Gary Craig, it was actually discovered that it’s quite common practice to serve younger looking girls alcohol in hopes of attracting more male customers- not to mention the ‘fun atmosphere’ being a factor, as reported; “Seaside towns were characterised by a ‘sense of detachment’ and ‘suspension of reality’, all of which can encourage casual sex and a lack of responsibility for the consequences of actions.”.