These movies are heartwarming cinematic versions of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women . This film shows the very mild effects of the Civil War on the Union home front, the coming of age of four sisters, the ravages of scarlet fever in the days before antibiotics, and the difficulties of a female writer in the Nineteenth Century. Jo is a role model for a courageous young woman determined to develop her talent. The mother is a role model for a competent and caring woman who takes over when her husband is called away to war and who nurtures everyone around her. Little Women can also be used as a platform to discuss the American Transcendentalists.
Scarlet fever is a highly infectious disease caused by a strain of the streptococcus bacterium.
It gains entrance to the body through the nose or mouth by exposure to droplets from the coughing or sneezing of infected individuals. It can also be spread through direct contact or from using infected utensils. Scarlet fever usually strikes children between the ages of two and ten. Before the advent of antibiotics scarlet fever was often fatal. It was viewed with alarm by public health officials.