Louisa May Alcott's
Behind a Mask is hardly what we expect from the author of
Little Women. Gone are the sweet, faithful sisters, and in their place is callous, malicious, selfish Jean Muire. Louisa May Alcott admits that her heart is in the lurid stories, and we can understand why. Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth were all wonderful characters, Miss Muire is nevertheless remarkably engaging. We know that she's up to no good from day 1, but we are so fascinated by her techniques and tricks that we cannot help wanting to read further. But are her moments of reveal meant to truly give us a view into the insight of the character? Or is Jean wearing another mask, intending to hide from us, her audience, her true form? Were the letters her own true sentiments, or was she putting on a mask of indifference and bravado to impress her friend?
Not only this, but masks are by nature fragile and temporary. At what point after fateful marriage to Sir John is she forced to reveal her true self from behind the mask of the fresh 19-year-old girl? I couldn't help but think that this was the flaw in her plan to seek marriage through false identity.
Finally, I wonder if the family recieved the comeuppance that they did because of their lack of masks. Not that they should be a chamelone like Jean, but their thoughts and expressions are clear as day, good and bad.
Does this make them less sympathetic to you?
These are good questions, Fawn. We do read along because we want to see how she hoodwinks the family. Alcott seems to suggest that their own faults make Jean's manipulations easy.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sir John doesn't see all that well, perhaps, which is why he wants a reader, so maybe her false age won't be revealed to him.
...look at what happened to KISS when they took their masks off O_o. Everybody begged them to put them back on because they were out-staged by their own outfits. The masks became more than representative.
ReplyDelete--Mike Molder
I like your thought that perhaps the letters were just bragging to a friend while she truly harbored real feelings for the family. I think my hope of this is squashed somewhat by her marrying Sir John for the title at the end. I mean, if she really did care for the family then wouldn't she have just skipped town or confessed when she saw the end approaching?
ReplyDelete~Ruth Nelson