ABSTRACT
Feminism’s core tenet that the personal is the political is a reminder to the literary scholar that the personal is the critical as well. Mindful of this, I have written an essay in two parts—the first, memoir; the second, monograph. The halves are linked by the question each asks—what difference race might make in reading Little Women—although each takes a different path toward answering that question. The memoir traces the history of my reading Little Women to show how Little Women, a quintessentially domestic novel, could fuel feminist ambition—nurture a career—but sadly disappoint when read from the perspective of parenthood. In my case, parenthood has meant a heightened and ever present consciousness of the dynamics of race in America.
