What if Jo March married Laurie?

By Anushka

WHAT IF JO MARRIED LAURIE 

“I have loved you ever since I’ve known you jo I couldn’t help it”- Laurie 

I am sure most of the people who clicked to read the article have read or seen the Little Women. So almost all of us have experienced the betrayal and heartbreak of Jo and Laurie not ending up together. The question of what if has always lurked in all our hearts, what if they had ended up together. What if Jo had not said no…What if Jo and Laurie had married. The crushing sense of disappointment and the inner cupid of ours always had the urge to go into the story itself and physically slap the sense into the two of them and scream ‘ YOU ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER YOU IDIOTS!’ ( No? Just me ? well uhm.. Moving on). So let's finally acknowledge the elephant in the room. What if Jo and Laurie had married? Well even though it pains me to admit it, they both would have ended up destroying each other.

                                                               “You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and  the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.” 

                                                                                                                                      -Beth’s secret

Jo and Laurie were never meant to end up together, it isn’t because they didn't love each other but because their outlooks on life were too different to begin with. Jo had always strived to become independent, to earn her name and respect in the society by standing on her own two feet. She was tired of the way women were perceived in the society and how all their purpose in life was narrowed down to getting married. For her love was not something she would give any importance to and would be happy even without it. Laurie on the other hand was an idealist. His outlook towards life is very impractical and childlike. When Jo initially rejects his proposal, Laurie is forced to deal with the harsh reality of life instead of running away from it. Laurie meeting Amy in Paris helps in the personal growth of his character as he seems to realise the practicality of life and understand the responsibilities he has to hold. 

Thus if in any universe, Jo ends up marrying Laurie, it would not be out of love, rather it would be due to societal expectations. Jo did love Laurie but just not in the way Laurie loved Jo. If they had ended up marrying, first it would be happily ever after but as time would pass, resentment would kick in. Jo would end up seeing the marriage as a prison rather than a paradise because for Jo, love wasn’t freedom but rather a set of shackles that would hold her down and she would end up hating Laurie for it. Laurie would end up resenting Jo because of her inability to reciprocate the love he has for her. He would also end up realising that his idealistic expectations of their marriage would not quite be the same as reality of the marriage.