Who Owns Little Women? Adapting Alcott in the Twenty-First Century

This article will look at a selection of recent adaptations of Little Women to
consider how they are being constantly rewritten to appeal to new audiences
and to take advantage of both the old and new forms of media now available,
with a particular focus on fan fiction. From sequels to modern-day retellings,
via media from novels, to movies and television miniseries, to horror mashups and fan fiction short stories, the desire to return to and reimagine
Alcott’s most successful novel is yet to abate. This article will consider
what is at stake in both writing and reading these different modes of
narrative. In doing so, I will also analyze the question of textual origin and
ask: who owns Little Women?