Guo Ting
The title page of "Little Women" quotes the 17th century British Puritan priest John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" (The Pilgrim's Progress):
Then go, my little book , To show all
who are willing to accept and welcome you
those things that you conceal deeply;
Go, then, my little book, and show to all
That entertain, and bid thee welcome shall,
What thou shalt keep close, shut up from the rest,
and hope: what you tell them
will make them happy forever, and make them aspire to
to be a pilgrim much better than you than me.
And wish what thou shalt show them may be blest
To them for good, may make them choose to be
Pilgrims better by far than thee or me.
"Little Women" Chinese translation book cover. Yilin Publishing House, 1998 edition.
kind of high spirits, world-minded, touching. When I was young, I liked this of the protagonist Jo March, and it is the same now. Looking at the casualness of the girl Joe March in the movie, I understand her strengths and weaknesses better, and understand her better. Will work hard to cultivate and improve, but will not change, still stubborn, still black and white; now every time I finish writing a paper or comment, I also have the same mood, hoping it will fly to a wider place.
read "The Handmaid's Tale" when she grew up. The author Margaret Atwood (Margaret Atwood) also mentioned the influence of John Bunyan on her writing style and compared Bunyan with William Blake, Emily Dickinson is listed as the author who has the greatest influence on her. Blake is a British romantic artist. His representative works include the picture book epic "Milton". Dickinson and the author of "Little Women" Alcott are also New England female writer. All three of them are religious mysticism speculators, and Atwood believes in what John Bunyan said in "The Journey of Heaven", that the book will have its own life and will represent the author to more distant and perhaps unknown world. In the movie version of
1994, Winora Reid played Joe, who was in the dark in the novel. In the 2019 movie version, although the slender, blonde Saoirse Ronan may not be the Joe in our minds, she also showed her enthusiasm, arrogance and spirit. The film strives to restore Alcott's real life: as an advanced feminist, she is unmarried all her life and always supports herself and her family with writing. The 2019 edition also presents the publishing process of "Little Women" for fans of the original book. It is true that Alcott, at the request of the publisher, changed the ending to "all happy" in which the three pairs of sisters were married and married, and indeed, as shown in the film, according to the publisher's request, Joe and the professor were settled. One chapter is called "Love in the Umbrella". The adaptation of the film makes the plot development more dramatic, and it can also be seen more clearly that "Little Women" draws on its previous female novels including the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen's "Sense and Emotion", such as Young The imposing girl bid farewell to her vigorous first love and married an elderly but considerate gentleman. This may not be their own idea, but it is the way of writing romantic novels popular at the time. As the publisher said in the movie: romance can only be sold. "Little Women" was finally published in 1868.
2019 version of "Little Women" stills.
When Alcott was growing up, the American independence movement has passed a century. Both parents are abolitionists. She was born in New England, and she was more free than Austin, who lived in England a century ago, but her freedom is still Limited-Although the environment of the female writer has changed to a new world, the new country still carries the same prejudices, and the heroine still "either marries or die, choose one of two"; as a woman, she cannotIf you have a decent career for yourself or have a place in society, if you have an ordinary background and want to change your destiny, you can only marry someone. Yes, "democracy", "freedom", "equality", and "independence" were all put forward by the "father of the nation". Who are the founding revolutionaries of the United States who are women? In other words, which women are allowed to leave their names and are known and commemorated by the public like their male colleagues? There is always a gap between historical progress and our imagination. After returning to the historical context, taste and speculation will see the true meaning. The concept of "progress" has been privileged since the Age of Enlightenment.
"Little Women" will always be an American moral prophecy. Alcott's parents were abolitionists, feminists and transcendentalists, and his mother was the first professional social worker in the United States. This is why apart from the strong religious color, "Little Women" spent a long time describing the details of visiting, funding, and serving poor neighbors and compatriots. In the 2019 movie version, Mrs. March said: "I have been ashamed of my country all my life", which is also a common attitude of American liberals in the Trump era. In addition to the reflective love of the people and the country, the moral sense of "Little Women" is also reflected in the religious spirit and practice. Alcott's father ran an experimental school in Boston, and was also a member of the Transcendental Club with famous writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau who also lived in Boston. The 2019 movie version lacks the straightforward religious discourses of the 1994 version and the original book, but still has obvious Protestant ethics, as can be seen from the frontline letter from his father and Meg’s newly-married statement: “The waiting time is also a time to work. Not to waste time", "I want to work hard with him." This Protestant ethic is very American, not only in the famous "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) as quoted by Franklin (Benjamin Franklin) by Max Weber. The ethical meaning conferred by economic activities also includes personal charity and social group charity other than hard work and diligence. In contrast, state-led public mechanisms are second.
This generation may have different views. On the day of Meg’s wedding, director Greta Gerwig tried to join the third wave of feminist rhetoric, emphasizing individual self-selection ("My choice is different from yours, and It does not mean that my choice is wrong"), but now we all know that to make a choice, we must have the corresponding environmental support, because rights are a collective, public, and composite concept. If there is no mechanism, we will always be alone.
"Joe, can't you really?"
"Teddy, dear, I wish I could."
"Oh, Jo, can't you?"
"Teddy, dear, I wish I could!"
Many readers were obsessed with the dialogue between Joe and Laurie when they were young, just as they were obsessed with youth. When my friends recalled, they all thought Laurie was a representative of a handsome boy, but it is likely that the memory of his youth has beautified his appearance for us. Looking back at the original work again, Joe actually spent a lot of time describing the "Professor" on the letter paper at home, the scholar from Berlin who wandered to the New World.
2019 version of "Little Women" stills.
"He is an authentic German-quite sturdy, with a tousled brown hair, a thick beard, a straight nose, and a kind eyes. He is used to the harsh or ambiguous tone of the Americans, Professor Barr's voice It sounds loud and sweet. He is dressed in shabby clothes and has big hands. Apart from his beautiful teeth, the facial features on his face are really not good. But I still like him. He is smart and has a crisp linen shirt. Although his coat is missing Two buttons and a patch on one shoe, but he still looks like a gentleman. He hums in his mouth, but his expression is serious. He walks to the window, moves the hyacinth ball to the sun, and strokes With the kitten, the kitten can be petted like an old friend."
" "I want to know who that strong-willed lady is, she ran so bravely in front of these many carriages, and walked through the mud road so quickly. What are you doing here, my friend?'
'I'm shopping. '
' Mr. Barr smiled. His eyes swept from the kimchi shop on one side of the street to the leather wholesaler on the other. But he only said politely: "You don't have an umbrella. I can go with you and help you get things." ? "
" Yes, thank you. "Joe's cheeks are as red as her ribbons. She doesn't know what he thinks of her, but she doesn't care. After a while she finds herself and her professor walking arm in arm. She feels the sun seeming to burst out of the clouds, shining Dazzling, the world is back to normal again. This woman who is wading through the water is extremely happy.
"What are we buying?" Joe asked. She ignored the latter part of her question and walked into the store pretending to be happy Smell the mixed scent of fruits and flowers.
, "Do they eat oranges and figs?" Mr. Barr asked with a fatherly air. How much do you eat? "
" Do you like nuts? "
" like Squirrels like it as much.'"
2019 version of "Little Women" stills.
Joe found a confidant in 1868, and Geweige in 2019 is like us, knowing that this is not enough, the world needs to be wider and wider than the embrace of lovers. Gerweig is considered to have made a contemporary response to the classic work of "Little Women", including the dialogue between Emmy and Laurie in the studio about women can also become outstanding artists, and invited Emma Waugh, who is known for her feminism. Sen Lai re-interpreted the relatively traditional older sister Meg, the recognition of the professor's immigration status, and so on. But the moral prophecy in 2019 is still about the return. The movie ends when the sisters return to their hometowns, together with their husbands-in-law and children on the lawn to celebrate their mothers’ birthdays. We are in the contemporary Chinese American actor and playwright Ali Wong’s Resonance can only be found in immigration stories. In the latter's film "Always Be My Maybe" (Always Be My Maybe), the two protagonists of childhood sweethearts reunited in a foreign land, but did not return to their hometown together, but embarked on a journey together. Because we are the latter, we also understand the courage, gain and loss in the immigration narrative better. Therefore, the 2019 version of "Little Women" touches us, not only the innocent emotions that never fade in the original movies and novels, but also the friendship, community, and family that we can't take with us on the journey of becoming Joe. , And always question the sense of belonging and root of the state. This is our journey to heaven. Editor in charge of
: Zhu Fan
Proofreading: Liu Wei
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