INTRODUCTION

• Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–

1888). The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard
House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in
1868 and 1869. The novel follows the lives of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth,
and Amy March – and is loosely based on the author's childhood
experiences with her three sisters. The first volume, Little Women, was
an immediate commercial and critical success, prompting the
composition of the book's second volume, entitled Good Wives, which
was also successful. Both books were first published as a single volume
entitled Little Women in 1880. Alcott followed Little Women with two
sequels, also featuring the March sisters: Little Men (1871) and Jo's
Boys (1886). Little Women was a fiction novel for girls that veered from
the normal writings for children, especially girls, at the time. Little
Women has three major themes:” domesticity, work, and true love. All
of them are interdependent and each is necessary to the achievement of
a heroine’s individual identity.”[1]
INTRODUCTION
OF
CHARACTERS
Margaret "Meg" March Brooke
Sixteen at the opening of the book, Meg is the oldest sister. She is
referred to as a beauty, and is well-mannered. As the oldest, Meg
runs the household when her mother is absent. This includes trying to
keep her sisters from arguing, and they sometimes accuse her of
lecturing them too much.
Meg is employed as a governess for the Kings, a wealthy local family.
Though the March family is poor, their background is what was called
'genteel', and Meg attended some society balls and parties.
Meg marries John Brooke, Laurie's tutor. They had twins, Margaret
"Daisy" and John "Demy" Brooke.
Once Meg and John are married, Meg becomes “dependent” on him and
“isolated in her little cottage with two small children.”[10] Meg is the
complacent daughter who did not “attain Alcott’s ideal womanhood”
of equality. Alcott showed the virtues of democratic domesticity in
Little Women. According to Elbert, “democratic domesticity requires
maturity, strength, and above all a secure identity that Meg lacks.”[10]
 Josephine "Jo" March Bhaer
• The second-oldest of four sisters, Josephine March the boyish one; Mr. March has referred to her
as his "son Jo" in the past, and her best friend, Laurie, sometimes calls her "my dear fellow."
When her father went to volunteer in the Civil War, Jo wanted to fight alongside him. She is
clumsy, blunt, opinionated, and jolly. The tomboy embodied in Jo March “spoke to changing
standards of girlhood. Tomboys first became a major literary type in the 1860s. They not only
were tolerated, but even were admired—up to a point, the point at which girls were expected to
become women.”
• Jo has a hot temper which often leads her into trouble in spite of her good intentions, but with the
help of her own sense of humour, her sister Beth, and her mother, she works on controlling it.
• Jo loves literature, both reading and writing. She composes plays for her sisters to perform and
writes short stories. She initially rejects the idea of marriage and romance, feeling that it would
break up her family and separate her from the sisters she adores. While pursuing a literary career
in New York City, she met and began to love Friederich Bhaer, a German professor, as an equal
partner. “They decide to share life’s burdens just as they shared the load of bundles on their
shopping expedition.”[11]
• Jo is the most popular and remembered of all the characters in Little Women. Jo did reject Laurie
to marry Professor Bhaer who “is no schoolgirl’s hero, but Jo believes he is better suited to her
than Laurie. The crucial first point is that the choice is hers, its quirkiness another sign of her
much-prized individuality.”[12] “Bhaer has all the qualities Bronson Alcott lacked: warmth,
intimacy, and a tender capacity for expressing his affection—the feminine attributes Alcott
admired and hoped men could acquire in a rational, feminist world.”[11] Jo writes the first part
of Little Women during the second portion of the novel. According to Elbert, "her narration
signals a successfully completed adolescence.”[3]
 Elizabeth "Beth" March
Beth, thirteen when the story starts, is described as shy, gentle and musical.
As her sisters grow up they begin to leave home, but Beth has no desire
to leave her house or family. She's especially close to Jo: when Beth
develops scarlet fever after visiting the Hummels, Jo does most of the
nursing and rarely leaves her side. Though she recovers, her health is
permanently weakened.
As she grows, Beth begins to realize that her time with her loved ones is
coming to an end. Finally, the family accepts that Beth will not live much
longer. They make a special room for her, filled with all the things she
loves best: her kittens, piano, father's books, Amy's sketches, and her
beloved dolls. She is never idle; she even knits and sews things for the
children that pass under her window on the way to and from school. But
eventually even that becomes too much for her, and she puts down her
sewing needle, saying that it grew "so heavy." Beth's dying has a strong
impact on her sisters, especially Jo, who resolves to live her life with
more consideration and care for everyone.
The main tragedy during Little Women was the death of beloved Beth; her
“self-sacrifice is ultimately the greatest in the novel. She gives up her life
knowing that it has had only private, domestic meaning.”[13]
 Amy Curtis March Laurence
The youngest sister and baby of the family, aged twelve when the story
begins, Amy is interested in art. She is described by the author as a
"regular snow-maiden" with curly golden hair and blue eyes, "pale and
slender" and "always carrying herself" like a very proper young lady. She
is the artist of the family. [14] Often "petted" because she is the youngest,
she can behave in a vain and spoiled way, and throws tantrums when she
is unhappy.
Her relationship with Jo is sometimes strained. When Laurie and Jo go
skating, Amy tags along after them, but she arrives at the lake too late to
hear Laurie's warning about thinning ice. Under Jo's horrified stare, Amy
falls through the ice, and is rescued by Laurie's prompt intervention.
Realizing she might have lost her sister, Jo's anger dissolves and the two
become closer. When Beth is ill with scarlet fever, Amy is sent to stay with
Aunt March as a safety precaution. Aunt March grows fond of her, and
makes the suggestion that Aunt Carroll take Amy with her to Europe.
There she meets up with Laurie, and shortly after Beth dies, they marry.
Later, Amy gives birth to daughter Elizabeth (Bess), named after her
deceased sister. Her daughter appears to have similarities with Beth, as
she is very ill.
 SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL
• Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March are four sisters living with their
mother in New England. Their father is away serving as a chaplain in
the Civil War, and the sisters struggle to support themselves and
keep their household running although the fact that the family
recently lost its fortune. In the process, they become close friends
with their wealthy neighbour, Theodore Laurence, known as
"Laurie."
As the girls grow older, each faces her own personal demons and
moral challenges. Jo, our beloved protagonist, must tame her
tomboyish ways and learn to be more ladylike while pursuing her
ambition to be a great writer. Meg, the oldest, must put aside her
love of wealth and finery in order to follow her heart. Beth, the shy
one, must conquer her bashfulness, while Amy, the youngest, has
to sacrifice her aristocratic pride. The girls are guided in their
personal growth by their mother, "Marmee," and by their religious
faith.
• The family's tight bonds are forever changed when Meg falls in love with John
Brooke, Laurie's tutor. Meg and John marry and begin a home of their own, quickly
populated by twins Daisy and Demi. Another marriage seems imminent when Laurie
reveals to Jo that he has fallen in love with her, but she declares that she cannot care
for him in the same way. Jo goes to New York as the governess for a family friend,
Mrs. Kirke, experiencing the big city and trying her hand as a professional writer.
Meanwhile, Amy travels through Europe with her wealthy Aunt Carroll and cousin Flo,
nurturing her artistic talent. Separately, Laurie goes to Europe accompanied by his
grandfather. He pursues his passion for music and tries to forget Jo.

While in New York, Jo meets German expatriate Professor Bhaer, whose intellect and
strong moral nature spark her interest. Across the Atlantic, Laurie and Amy discover
that they lack the genius to be great artists, but that they make an excellent romantic
pairing. When Beth, who has never been strong, dies young, the sorrow of their loss
solidifies Amy's bond to Laurie. Back in the States, Jo returns home to care for her
bereaved parents and learns to embrace her domestic side.

All the loose ends are tied up as Jo and Professor Bhaer marry and start a boarding
school for boys, while Amy and Laurie marry and use the Laurence family wealth to
support struggling young artists. The Brooke, Bhaer, and Laurence households
flourish, and the novel ends with a birthday party for Marmee, celebrating the
extended March family connections and the progress of Jo's boarding school, Plum
field.
•
 MADE BY
AKANSHA SWAIN
ROLL NO. 4