Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
Jerusha Abbott, an eighteen year old orphan, faces an uncertain future in the charity home where she has lived all her life. On reaching adulthood, the orphanage can no longer offer shelter to its inmates...
Podcaster
Episoden
Über diesen Podcast
Jerusha Abbott, an eighteen year old orphan, faces an uncertain
future in the charity home where she has lived all her life. On
reaching adulthood, the orphanage can no longer offer shelter to
its inmates. Her anxiety leads her into wild speculation when she
is summoned to the matron's office. But a surprise awaits her. One
of the visitors, a wealthy Trustee of the orphanage, has offered to
fund Jerusha's college education and fulfill her dreams of becoming
a writer. The only condition he makes is that he remain anonymous
and that she write to him regularly about her progress.
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster was first published in 1912. It
follows an epistolatory format and traces the story through a
series of letters exchanged between the youthful heroine, Jerusha
and her mysterious benefactor whom she has privately nicknamed
Daddy-Long-Legs based on a brief glimpse she caught of him once.
The book is a young girl's classic coming-of-age tale, a genre that
includes the Little Women trilogy, the Katy series and the Anne of
Green Gables books. Apart from being a heart-warming story, it also
reflects the author's social concerns and her interest in women's
issues and the suffragette movement. It is in a way a Beauty and
the Beast fairy tale that reflects the transformation of the
characters and their attitudes towards each other and life. Jean
Webster was born in New York into a literary family. Her father,
Charles Webster was Mark Twain's business manager and head of
Twain's publishing company, Charles Webster & Co. Her mother
was a strong, independent woman, Mark Twain's own niece, who came
from a family of forceful matriarchs. However, after initial
success, the publishing business and the relationship with the
famous author deteriorated and the family moved back to their old
home in Fredonia. She began writing columns for local newspapers
while traveling on holiday in Europe and published her first book,
When Patty Went to College in 1903. Daddy-Long-Legs is Webster's
most famous and popular novel and first appeared as a serial in the
Lady's Home Journal. So great was its popularity that Jean Webster
was commissioned to adapt it for stage in 1913. She toured with the
theater company and enjoyed even greater success. Daddy-Long-Legs
dolls became all the rage in that era! She died tragically in
childbirth in 1916. Daddy-Long-Legs has been adapted to film, stage
and television several times all over the world in many different
languages and the century-old story still has the power to keep
readers, young and old, enthralled.
Kommentare (0)