Term Papers on A Long Fatal Love Chase

Term Paper Title	A Long Fatal Love Chase
# of Words	2483
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	9.93

A Long Fatal Love Chase

Louisa May Alcott

     Louisa May Alcott's background influenced her to write the tragedy A Long Fatal Love Chase.  One
important influence on the story was her father's role as a leading transcendentalist (Doner 342).
Transcendentalism states that society is a necessary evil (Clendenning 371).  Simi-larly, Rosamond
Vivian, the main character in the book, states her opinion of society when she says: "Law and custom I
know nothing of, public opinion I despise, and shame and fear I defy…" (8).  In addition to beliefs,
another influence on the story was the many jobs that Alcott held.  Besides being an author, she was also
a nurse and seamstress at one time or another.  By comparison, Rosamond becomes a seamstress to afford
food and board after she runs from Tempest with no money (94).  Later, she joins a convent and becomes a
nurse when a conta-gious fever breaks out in the town (124).  Perhaps the most important influence on the
story is that she was a supporter of the Temperance movement and women!
's suffrage.  Among other things, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the National Woman's
Suffrage Associa-tion believed in equality between men and women (Scott 389).  Likewise, Rosamond, the
pro-tagonist, is a woman who is characterized as fearless, ethical, and competent compared to the male
antagonist Phillip Tempest.  This background, together with a believable plot, convincing
characterization, and important literary devices enables Louisa May Alcott in A Long Fatal Love Chase to
develop the theme that love is a fatal obsession.
     The structure of the novel is cleverly used by Alcott to keep the reader hooked.  The opening
situation is used to describe the circumstances of Rosamond Vivian's and Phillip Tem-pest's lives.  The
first scene portrays Rosamond as a beautiful and restless young woman who is living with her grandfather
in seclusion.  By writing Rosamond's thoughts, "I shall do something desperate if this life is not
changed soon. It gets worse and worse and I often feel as if I'd gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year
of freedom," Alcott is able to show how vulnerable and what easy prey she would make to a man like
Tempest (3).  She also uses the opening scene to give the reader a clear picture of how Tempest thinks
and feels.  It is obvious that he only considers people as entertainment when Alcott writes: "Most men
would have been touched by the inno-cent confessions of the girl [Rosamond], but this man's heart had
grown hard with years of selfishness and he merely enjoyed her as he would h!
ave done a lovely flower, an exciting book, a passionate song" (9).  Following the opening situation, the
generating circumstances are used to show how Rosamond's and Tempest's lives have been changed by being
married and the rea-son that Rosamond decides to run from Tempest.  At first it seems that married life
has changed both of them for the better.  Alcott describes Rosamond's new appearance by writing:
…a year of love and luxury had ripened her youthful beauty into perfect bloom. Grace-ful by nature, art
had little to do for her, and, with a woman's aptitude, she had acquired the polish which society alone
can give…She now showed fair promise of becoming all that a deep and tender heart, an ardent soul and a
gracious nature could make her, once life had tamed and taught her more (43).

Also, for the first time Tempest shows real emotions towards someone besides himself and re-morse for his
past sins when he mutters: "I wish to heaven I had found this girl ten years ago and saved myself from
treachery for which I never can atone" (45).  Though it seems that eve-rything is perfect, the generating
circumstances also show that Tempest's old ways have not completely changed.  When Rosamond hears a noise
while she is sleeping, she wakes up and goes to the head of the stairs and hears voices.  After listening
for a while she finds out that the woman speaking to Tempest is his true wife and she is trying to get
their son, Lito, back from him (88).  Ros...

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