SPOILER DISCUSSION

1. Jo’s marriage discussion happens in a meta-kind of way that shows that she wrote the marriage in the story, but never for sure confirms that Jo herself gets married. You could think t hat, and the movie makes perfect sense and is fine. I know that in the book, she actually does get married so this interpretation is cannon. However, I do know that the book is also autobiographical and that Louisa May Alcott never did get married. Given the lack of wedding, you could look at the “love” scene as an imagining of the scenario in the book Jo wrote, which is fine because the book is based on her sisters and her. The ending with the Professor could be the same if he was a close friend. I might be stretching it, but it’s something I enjoyed and would like to think is intentional.

2. Beth’s death was done in a beautiful way. The way her initial sickness is highlighted over the illness that eventually takes her life does a lot of things thematically that I think don’t get noticed that much. Jo tells Amy when the latter comes married, that there’s no point in being mad because they don’t know how long they have with each other. When Beth is first sick the entire family is drastically worried, rushing to and fro. The mood is frantic. However, her second illness is markedly different. Melancholy with a sense of hope behind it. The family thought they would lose her the first time, but she survived and they had more time with. A chance to build memories and say goodbye. You never know how a moment will go. It’s a beautiful lesson.

Furthermore, when she’s dying Beth tells Jo to keep writing stories about them. The story that Jo writes is about all of her sisters. The scene in the movie juxtaposes both illnesses to demonstrate a lot of ideas. All of these are ways that Beth’s life has been written and re-interpreted. It’s a reminder on how experience and nuance can drastically affect our perception of a situation. This is one of the grander lessons in the movie. It’s the reason Amy marries someone she loves. It’s the reason Laurie moves on past Jo and realizes he’s been around the person who’s best for him the whole time. The more you learn , the more you know, the more nuance you can add to past events, the longer your story can end up being even if it’s over.