The Struggle for Happiness

        In an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Dr. Quinn’s son, Matthew, needs money quickly to build a homestead for his beloved fiancée.  To achieve this financial support, he gambles.  Ironically, the very person for whom he gambles detests him for engaging in such a dishonest activity; however, Matthew becomes addicted because of his gambling success.  Unfortunately, one of his games does not bring the same success as the others: he loses his mother’s engagement ring that he desires to give Ingrid, his fiancée.  Matthew’s father, sympathetically, compassionately, and benevolently, buys the ring back for his son.  At this point, Ingrid has called off the engagement, but Dr. Quinn tells Matthew to ask Ingrid for forgiveness.  Dr. Quinn explains to Matthew, “most things worth having are” (“Luck of the Draw) worth the work needed to acquire them.  While it will take Matthew effort to gain back his fiancée, Ingrid is worth the effort, as she will bring happiness to his life.  All people have to work and endure struggles to achieve their goals.  One of the goals people need to achieve is happiness.  For some people the struggle comes easily, but for others it requires much effort.  Literature provides examples of the pursuit for happiness. Louisa May Alcott writes about people who have to overcome adversity to attain that sense of joy because of their monetary struggles.   In her many works, Louisa May Alcott illustrates the struggle for happiness.

        Louisa May Alcott, like her authored characters, led an active life with many hardships. She was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on November 29, 1832.  Alcott wrote novels, fairy tales, short stories, a nonfiction piece, plays, poems, and articles and reviews that appeared in major periodicals.  Her most renowned novel, Little Women, written in two and a half months, immediately sold 2,000 copies (Durbin 1).  She also wrote plays and performed them with her three sisters. Louisa May Alcott models her real-life experience in Little Women.  Jo, one of the characters in Little Women, writes plays, and she and her three sisters act them out, similar to Alcott’s childhood.  Alcott, the second oldest child, realized her father could not provide for the family of four children (qtd. in Price 1); therefore, Alcott felt compelled to write to provide her family with the finances needed to fill his void.  Louisa May Alcott’s eldest sister married and left the family, which Jo’s eldest sister does in Little Women.  Alcott contracted typhoid fever after six weeks of service in Washington D.C.  Her doctors, typical of their era, used calomel, which had mercury in it, to cure typhoid (Durbin 1).   Alcott recounts those experiences in her non-fiction book entitled Hospital Sketches.  Additionally, in Little Women, Jo does not adhere to the female conventions of her era.  Similarly, Alcott became an avid activist for women’s suffrage and she, “…became the first woman in Concord to register to vote in the village’s school committee election” (Durbin 2).  On March 6, 1888, Alcott died in Boston, Massachusetts, just two days after her father’s death.   Louisa May Alcott, a world-renowned author, incorporated her real-life experiences into her writing.

        Through the character of Jo in Little Women, Alcott illustrates the struggle for happiness.  Jo goes to New York to escape Laurie, a boy Jo’s age who lives across the street, and his potential attraction to her.  She also leaves to give Beth, Jo’s sister, time to establish a bond with Laurie.  After a few weeks in New York, Jo submits her writing to a tabloid publication.  They indicate that they will publish her work if Jo omits her moral lessons.  She acquiesces and continues to write for them because she needs the money.  Eventually, Jo no longer cares about the quality of her writing and focuses solely on the financial support it provides her.  Fortunately, her close friend, Professor Bhaer, reads one of Jo’s stories and tells her that he would rather, “give my boys gunpowder to play with than this bad trash” (Little Women 345).  Jo then realizes how callous she has become to the quality of her writing because she has concentrated only on money.  After that realization, she burns all of the essays that she has been preparing for submission to the magazine, and her future works incorporate her high standards. Jo’s experience in New York teaches her that she cannot compromise the quality of her writing for money when it makes her unhappy with her job.

Through the character of Meg in Little Women, Alcott illustrates the struggle for happiness.   Ever since Meg’s teenage years, she values the appealing items her fortunate friends own.  One day, while her husband is at work, she goes shopping with Sally Moffat, one of her wealthy friends.  On their excursion, Meg spots a silk dress.  Even though it costs fifty-dollars, Sally tells her to buy it, so she does, even though she must take twenty-five dollars out of her husband’s account.  As she confesses to John, her husband, what she does behind his back, he remains compassionate.  Meg then tells him “I try to be contended, but it is hard, and I’m tired of being poor” (Little Women 276).  John feels contrite that he cannot provide for her.  After this eruption, she feels remorseful.  Though deeply hurt, John continues to remain gracious.  Furthermore, he has to return a coat that he purchases for himself.   Because of her contrition, Meg no longer has such extravagant desires.  To clarify the struggle for happiness, Alcott uses the character of Meg.

Alcott also explains the struggle for happiness through the characters in The Inheritance.   Lord Arlington and Lord Percy, both very affluent members of society, want to marry Edith, a peasant.  Because of their wealth, Edith has no interest in either of these men.   Edith exclaims “…poor and humble as I am, I should be ill fitted to perform the duties of my high estate” (Inheritance 109).  After Edith rejects Lord Arlington, he comes to her again and proposes to buy her into marrying him.   He asks Edith “…in return for the riches, rank, and titled name I offer, will you give me but your heart?” (117).   He even tells Edith that it would be foolish for her to decline his offer of marriage, as he has significant wealth.  Edith cannot believe what she hears.  Furthermore, Lord Arlington, selfishly, unfairly, and without any right, demands to know to whom she has given her love if she has no room in her heart for him.   This further encourages Edith to reject his, weak, ridiculous, and obtuse, proposal.  Through characterization, Alcott indicates that Lord Arlington does not know how to succeed in the struggle for happiness, but through plot, Alcott shows that Lord Percy may achieve his goal.

Through plot, Alcott shows the struggle for happiness.  Lord Arlington decides that if he cannot have Edith as his bride, that he will at least try to make her happy.  This will give him personal satisfaction.  As a hobby, Edith paints landscapes in the gardens at the mansion where she resides with her wealthy friends.   She realizes that she may earn money by selling some of her artwork.  Edith, aghast, surprised, and astounded, sells her artwork to a buyer who pays her more money for her paintings than what she believes they are worth.  She uses the proceeds to help her less fortunate friends.  Unfortunately, the affluent people with whom Edith lives suspect that she steals the money from them.  They search her room because of this suspicion, and they find money with one of the lady’s markings.   Edith knows that Louis, a boy whom Edith baby-sits, places the money there, but because she has sworn secrecy to Louis’ mother, she cannot defend herself because it will bring harm to Louis.  To make the situation worse, no one will believe that Edith can earn such a substantial amount of money by selling her paintings.  Edith grows more helpless, and her friends grow angrier.  Finally, Lord Percy informs everyone that he sends someone to purchase the pictures from Edith, and he produces her paintings to prove it: “…he placed a book before her, where lay all her delicate drawings carefully preserved” (Inheritence 155).  He remains silent for so long because he feels humble, and he does not want to upset Edith: he fears that she will not appreciate charity from him.  Edith does appreciate his actions, and she accepts his marriage proposal.  Through plot, Alcott creates circumstances for Lord Arlington to struggle to win Edith’s love and obtain future happiness.

Alcott incorporates many symbols in her works to illustrate the struggle for happiness.  In Little Women, a parrot named Polly lives in Aunt March’s house, and a spider crawls into the parrot’s cage.  The parrot then begins to squawk loudly.  The parrot symbolizes Aunt March.  The parrot squawks because of its disgust with the spider.  Similarly, Aunt March hopes Meg will not marry a man as poor as John and prefers her niece to marry someone wealthy.  She even tells Meg that if she marries him, “…not one penny of my money ever goes to you,” (Little Women (223) implying that Meg will need it with a man of such low status.  Thus, John symbolizes the spider.  Aunt March loathes John, just as the parrot disgusts the spider.  Also, Alcott cleverly uses fires as symbols in Little Women.  Jo puts on her scribbling suit, the outfit in which she does all of her writing, and intensely works in the garret, where she frequently writes, at the March house.  Her family asks, “‘Does genius burn, Jo?’” (Little Women 258). Stadler notes that on one level, Jo’s desire to write burns inside of her (qtd. in Stadler 8).  On another level the fire symbolizes the struggles involved with domestic duties (Stadler 8).  Jo burns her silk dress because she stands too close to the hearth of the fireplace.   This domestic fire supports the family by warming them in the cold.  Also, Jo wants to stand so close to that domestic fire because she wants her father to fulfill his duty and provide for the family.  If he does this, she will not have to vicariously support the family.  Also, the fire burns Jo symbolizing the relationship with her father: he criticizes her, trying to mold his daughter into the image he has of a mature woman, rather than allowing his daughter to have her own personality.  If Jo’s genius fire does not have to burn domestically, Jo can write solely for her desire, and she would experience more happiness.   Unfortunately, she must care for her family, and because of that added responsibility, she works harder to obtain joy.  Alcott uses symbolism to clarify the struggle for happiness.

Through irony, Alcott illustrates the struggle for happiness.  Beth is a peculiar member of the March family.  She is eighteen years old, very bashful, and has not grown and matured as her sisters have.  Beth’s sisters grow, as Jason Baker states, “…physically, intellectually, and especially emotionally” (Baker 1).  Her death brings much sorrow to the March family; however, the circumstances after her death allow her sisters to grow and mature even more.  Kim Wells notes that “Beth inspires the others to live through her death” (Wells 14).  Amy and Laurie travel in Europe at the same time, though with different families in distinctive locations.  The March family does not send for Amy to come home during Beth’s illness, as they want her to enjoy her trip.  Laurie contacts Amy in Europe primarily because of the tragic death of her sister.  If the Marches had sent for Amy to come home, she could not have spent time with Laurie in Europe.  The duet then becomes infatuated with each other and they eventually marry. Additionally, during Amy’s younger years, she places much value on material items.   She aims to change her selfish ways; however, she remains selfish as she sets her goal.  Amy states:

I’ve thought a great deal lately about my ‘bundle of naughties,’ and being selfish is the largest one in it; so I’m going to try hard to cure it, if I can.  Beth isn’t selfish, and that’s the reason everyone loves her and feels so bad at the thought of losing her. (Little Women 194). 

Amy aspires for people to remember her when she dies.  She has motivation to change her selfish ways because of a desire she has for herself.  Ironies with Beth and Amy clarify the struggle for happiness.   Alcott also uses irony in The Inheritance.

Through irony in The Inheritance, Alcott shows the struggle for happiness. Edith has no one to take care of her: she explains, “I have no parents.  My father I have never known.  My mother died long years ago…” (Inheritance 93).  In the novel, Edith provides care for many wealthy people.   She watches Lady Hamilton’s son, Louis.   When Louis steals Lady Ida’s money and hides it in Edith’s box, Edith remains silent because she promises not to tell of Louis’ sin; therefore, Edith allows Lady Ida to believe that she takes the money. Additionally, Edith cares for an elderly, poor, dying man.  One morning, while Edith reads, Louis comes to her to help the man because “…no one gives such aid and comfort to the sorrowful and suffering” (91).   Edith comforts the stranger in his last hour by telling him a story from her childhood.  After hearing Edith’s story, the man can die in peace. Edith cannot know what it means to have love from a parent, but in her struggle for happiness, she gives Louis priority over herself, and comforts a dying man.

In her many works, Louisa May Alcott illustrates the struggle for happiness.  Through character, Jo learns that she must include her morals in her stories and never omit them for lucrative purposes, and Meg learns not to have extravagant desires and value the happiness she has with her poor husband. Also through character, Lord Arlington does not have the knowledge to achieve happiness with Edith; however, plot shows that Lord Percy may.  Using symbolism, a parrot and spider show Aunt March’s disgust when Meg marries a man she loves even though he is not wealthy, and fires symbolize Jo’s struggle to provide for the family and her desire to write.  Through irony, even though the March family endures a terrible loss when Beth dies, her death brings happiness to Amy and Laurie.  Additionally, Amy remains selfish as she sets a goal to change her selfish personality.  Also with irony, Edith cares for others, despite the fact that her parents fail to care for her.   In literature, the characters struggle to achieve their happiness.  Sometimes happiness comes easily and sometimes it does not, but people often learn to value what they have, despite their hardships.

Works Cited

Alcott, Louisa May.  The Inheritance.  New York: Knopf, 1988.

Alcott, Louisa May.  Little Women.  New York: Dutton Books, 1997.

Baker, Jason.  Jason Baker’s Alcott Essay.  26 Feb. 2002 <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/enlt214m/ltpaper2.html>.

Durbin, Deborah.  Little Women, Louisa May Alcott: About the Author.  18 Feb. 2002 
<http://xroads.virginia.edu/hyper/ALCOTT?ABOUTLA.html>.

 “Luck of the Draw.”  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Writ. Kathryn Ford.  Perf. Jane Seymour, and Joe Lando.  CBS.  WWJ, Detroit.  5 Mar. 1994.

Price, Victoria.  “Louisa May Alcott.”  Notable American Novelist, Volume 1.  Ed. Carl Rollyson.   Pasadena: Salem Press, Inc., 2000.  1-7.

Stadler, Gustavus.  Louisa May Alcott’s quuer geniuses.  26 Feb. 2002   <http://library.northernlight.com>.

Wells, Kim.  Louisa May Alcott and the Roles of a Lifetime: Chapter Four, Little Women.  26 Feb. 2002  <http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/thesis4.htm>.