虽然March家有四个女儿,但整部剧集只有Jo的角色刻画得比较完整,其他几位姐妹就如蜻蜓点水一带而过,但Jo的成长,是我所喜欢的。
在剧集开端四姐妹嬉闹的画面,Jo的天性就显露无疑。当其他姐妹都在讨论圣诞礼物和宴会的时候,只有她趴在地板上,毫不疼惜要穿着去参加圣诞宴会的裙子被压皱,满脑子想的是去外面的世界。”I should have gone away with Father in disguise, signed up as a drummer boy and done my duty as he has.”当其他的姐妹嘲笑她时,她不以为然,”I can’t help that I like boy’s clothes and work and manners. Being born a girl is the most disappointing thing that ever happened to me.”在那样的时代,她渴望做一个男孩,勇敢地去经历外面的世界,而不是被家务琐事纠缠着,或是流连于各种宴会。
四姐妹中,Jo并不是长姐,但是始终尽心去照顾其他姐妹。Amy掉进湖里,她顾不上自己被树枝划伤的手,为自己没有控制好自己的脾气而陷入了自责。直到母亲安慰她,“No one is without their trails”,并鼓励她,“Sometimes, we simply have to do the bravest thing”。
当父亲病重,母亲需前去照料父亲时,她主动担起了照顾家庭的担子,Beth病重期间,她日夜守候在Beth的床边,即便在非常艰难的时候也坚持不写信给母亲,因为她知道,父亲也需要照顾,直到Beth病危。虽然Beth挺过来了,Beth的身体状态每况愈下。在纽约期间,Jo拼命写作,只为了拿到稿费,然后带Beth去海边。即便后来Beth还是走了,但她永远会记得海浪的声音和海风的味道吧。
在Aunt March临走前,Jo去探望Aunt March,老太太又开启了嘲讽模式:“Ordering your elders and fiddling with the sick, you’ve turned into an old maid, Josephine.”但是Jo很坦然地告诉老太太,“I prefer to think of myself as a literary spinster.”她从来没有为自己照顾病重的Beth而后悔,也不觉得自己错过了交际、爱情和婚姻,她只觉得自己的世界太小,小得像是在夹缝里生存,而这并不是她想要的生活。“But mine is small, Aunt March. It’s so small, and so narrow. I feel it closing in on me like walls. I wasn’t meant for a life like this. ”
在阁楼上,Jo和Laurie谈论梦想时,Jo对Laurie道,“If I were a boy and if I were you, I would get on one of those old ships and sail away and never come back until I’d tried my own way.”和安于现状的Laurie不一样,Jo的心里住着一个小男孩,她始终积极探索向外的世界,追求精神的独立和自由,而对于彼时只能蜗居在乡间阁楼的Jo,写作成了她唯一的寄托:“Castles in the air need key. Any sometimes I dare to think that this is mine.”
最后,当Laurie和Amy婚后回来,在阁楼上,Laurie问道:“Now can we go back to being happy, like we were before?”Jo坚定地回答:“Not quite. We were children before, and we aren’t any longer.”所以,即便结局Jo没有和Laurie在一起,我也不觉得遗憾,Laurie自始至终都没有走进Jo的精神世界,且Jo一直在成长,而Laurie始终跟不上她的步伐。
剧里,四姐妹的勇敢和坚强秉承于March夫妇。父亲从前线寄回的信中道:“I know my daughters will fight their bosom enemies bravely, and conquer themselves so beautifully, that when I come back to them, I may be fonder and prouder than ever of my little women.”这一封信也奠定了整部剧的基调,四姐妹就这样在March夫妇的保护和指引下“fight their bosom enemies bravely, and conquer themselves so beautifully”,譬如Jo因自己的脾气产生自我怀疑时母亲的安慰,Amy烧毁Jo的手稿时母亲对Amy的教育,母亲一次次鼓励Beth走出家门去和外面的世界交流,母亲对Meg婚姻的支持,还有父亲对Jo写作的鼓励,“You have to write, Jo. You have to write. Sift down through your heart, through all the pain and grief. There are words there. There’s a woman there. And it’s you.”“Say you were happy once. Say there was laughter. Say what is true.”我想,父亲是懂得写作的真谛的,写作就是探索自己的内心,将心中的悲痛化作欢笑和真理,流淌在纸间,给他人以鼓励和希望。
Beth临终前绣了一幅刺绣,四姐妹,四朵花,其中我只认出了属于Jo的向日葵和属于Meg的白玫瑰,Jo就如向日葵那样,永远迎着光,坚韧,对未来充满希望。Meg一如静静绽放的白玫瑰,纯洁,温柔。那朵蓝色的花朵,我没有识别出来,但是正如Amy,有着蓝色的耀眼,还有枝蔓横生的活泼。而右上角的白色花朵,没有绿叶的陪伴,一如Beth的孤独。
四姐妹虽然不甚完美,毕竟并没有完美的人,但可以一切刚刚好。