Little Women by Louisa May Alcott | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Louisa May Alcott was an American short story writer, novelist, and poet. She was born on November 29, 1832, and died on March 6, 1888. Her parents were transcendentalists and she recognized herself as an abolitionist and feminist who took an active part in social reform movements involving temperance and women’s suffrage. Her best-known work is the coming-of-age novel ‘Little Women’ which was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. In 1880, the two volumes were published as a single novel titled Little Women. Before that she she sometimes used pen names such as A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.

The novel ‘Little Women’ is semi-autobiographical as it is hugely based on the life of the author Louisa May Alcott and her three sisters Abigail May Alcott, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott. The subtitle of Little Women is Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and it tells about the four sisters and their struggles as they grow up from their childhood towards womanhood. The title suggests that the four sisters are surpassing their ‘childhood innocence’ while they are preparing themselves to face the inescapable woman problems that become more serious because of the biased society of that time when women in general were considered inferior or little as compared to men.

Characters of Little Women:

Meg or Margaret is the eldest of the four March sisters. She is 16 years old beautiful girl who takes care of her younger sisters and household when her mother is absent. She hopes to conquer her vanity and do her work cheerfully. Jo or Josephine is the second oldest March sister. She is a 15 years old strong, willful tomboyish girl who is very creative and smart. The character of Jo is loosely based on the author Louisa May Alcott herself. Jo loves literature. She writes short stories and composes plays for her sisters to perform. She goes to New York to pursue her literary career where she meets Frederick Baehar, a German professor. Jo is against marriage as she thinks it would break up her family and separate her from the sisters whom she adores. Beth or Elizabeth is the third March sister. She is a 13-year-old, quiet, selfless, shy girl, who only wishes to be at home with her family. She loves music and plays the piano. She succumbs to the scarlet fever and dies. Amy is the youngest of the March sisters and is loved by all the family members. She is 12 years old girl who is very creative and is interested in arts. Margaret ‘Marmee’ March is the mother of the March sisters who is the head of the family while her husband is away. She engages in charitable works and lovingly guides her girls' morals and their characters. Mr. March is the Father of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. During the civil war, he serves as a chaplain for the Union Army. He is a good man, but very unworldly. Mr. Laurence, or Grandfather is the wealthy neighbor of the March family who was a good friend of Marmee’s father. He cares for all the March sisters and especially likes Beth, whom he gifts a piano. Laurie or Theodore Laurence is Mr. Laurence’s grandnephew who has lost his parents. He develops a brotherly relationship with March sisters and becomes especially close to Jo who calls him Teddy. Later on, Laurie proposes to Jo to marry him but she rejects him because she feels that Beth loves Laurie. Laurie then marries Amy. John Brooke is Laurie’s tutor. He accompanies Mrs. March to Washington when Mr. March is sick, and he woos and marries Meg. Aunt March is Mr. March’s aunt. Rather old and cranky, she first has Jo as her companion, then Amy. She disapproves of how the girls are raised. However, she loves all the March sisters and is very generous towards them.

Summary of Little Women:

The story begins at Christmastime in 1860. The March family is living in Concord, Massachusetts. Mr. March is a philosopher and teacher. He is a good man but unworldly. While trying to help a friend, he lost all his property and that further weakened the financial situation of the March family. Mr. Marrch volunteered to serve in the Union Army as a chaplain, leaving his wife and daughters to fend for themselves in his absence. Mrs. March is a strong-willed woman who is patient with poverty and advises her girls to maintain a healthy balance of work and play. She urges her daughters to be pious and marry good, kind men. Meg is the eldest daughter and is a motherly figure for her younger sisters. Jo is the second sister who is tomboyish and rash in her nature. She is completely devoted to her family and adores her sister. Beth is an elegant 13 years old girl, frail but pious. Amy is 12 years old and she is the youngest March sister who is loved by all.

The four sisters are discussing buying Christmas gifts for themselves. Soon, they decide that they should buy a gift for Marmee, their hard-working mother.

On Christmas morning, the four sisters wake up and find a copy of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan under the pillow of each of them. It is their Christmas present. All four sisters accept the gift cheerfully and decide to read a little from their books each day and put the morals they learn into practice. The girls promise to improve their characters so that they may surprise their father when he returns. The March sisters notice the poor Hummel family living in their neighborhood. They are poor German immigrants who live near the Marches. The girls cheerfully decide to give away their Christmas dinner and Beth goes to the house of the Hummel Family to offer the dinner as a gift for the Hummel family. Later on, Mr. Laurence, the wealthy old neighbor of the March family decides to reward their charity by sending a feast for the March family. Mr. Laurence never met the March sisters but he used to be a good friend of Marmee’s father.

Meg’s wealthy friend Sally Gardiner invites Meg and Jo for the New Year’s party where Jo meets Laurie, the nephew of Mr. Laurence, and becomes a friend of his. Meg sprains her leg while dancing at the party and Laurie helps her and escorts the girls to their home. Laurie becomes a close friend, a brotherly figure for all the four March sisters. One day, Jo learns that Laurie is sick and she decides to visit him at Mr. Laurence’s home. Jo finds the Laurence villa very beautiful but she criticizes a painting on the wall in front of Mr. Laurence. The painting was made by Mr. Laurence herself but he doesn’t get angry with Jo, rather finds her honest and straightforward. He makes a bond with Jo and then he befriends all the March sisters. He especially likes Beth and presents her with the piano of her deceased daughter. As school starts, Meg, Jo, and Amy get busy with their education while Beth avoids going to school because she is too shy. Amy takes some pickled limes to the school and is caught by the headmaster who punishes her. After returning home, Amy complains about the corporal punishment she got at the school and Marmee decides to stop sending Amy to school. Being left out, Amy gets frustrated and burns down Jo’s school books. Jo gets too angry and when Amy goes ice-skating, she decides not to save her when she tumbles upon and falls down on water. Jo realizes that her anger and violent behavior is a problem. Meanwhile, Meg decides to attend Annie Moffat's party and lets the wealthy girls dress her up. Meg realizes she let vanity overtake her. While at the party, she hears that people think she intends to marry Laurie for his money. She decides to make her distance from Laurie. Laurie continues to make strong friendships with all the four March sisters and soon joins the Pickwick Club whose head is Meg. The girls start feeling lazy and one day, they decide not to do the work assigned to them. In response, Marmee too decides not to do her own work and the girls realize the importance of productivity. Laurie helps the girls in deciding their goals. Jo expresses her interest in literature and starts submitting stories to a newspaper. Meg starts tending to old Aunt March. One day, Meg complains that one of her gloves is missing. Laurie reveals that his private tutor Mr. John Brooke has feelings for Meg and has her missing glove.

The March family gets a telegram that while serving the Union Army, Mr. March has gotten ill. Marmee decides to go and nurse him but she has no money to go. Jo decides to sell her beautiful long hair to arrange money for Marmee’s travel. Mrs. March leaves, and the family sends letters to keep each other updated. The Hummel family continues to suffer poverty and the youngest son of Mr. Hummel gets severely ill. Beth visits the Hummel family to see the ill child who dies in her arms. Beth is devastated. She catches scarlet fever from the Hummel family and falls severely ill. When Marmee learns this, she returns to nurse Beth. Jo tells Mrs. March that Mr. Brooke has Meg's glove, and Mrs. March tells Jo she already knows about Mr. Brooke's feelings. Marmee says that she already knows about Mr. Brooke’s feelings. While Marmee is willing to let Mr. Brooke marry her daughter Meg, Aunt March is against this marriage and declares that if Meg marries, Mr. Brooke, she will cut her off her inheritance. Meg realizes that she too loves Mr. Brooke but decides not to marry at present.

Three years have passed, Meg has developed her homemaking skills, Jo has continued writing and caring for Beth, Beth is still sickly, Amy now tends to Aunt March, and Laurie is away at college. Meg is 19 years old now and she decides to marry Mr. Brooke and settle with him. Jo receives positive criticism for her stories and she takes Beth to the sea to help build her strength. Amy too develops her artistic skills and invites her art class for a party. She insists Jo help her in making social calls but the party fails because of heavy rainfall. Meg realizes the hardship of married life and finds it difficult to balance her duties. She soon gives birth to twins, Demi and Daisy. Aunt Carrol is planning a trip to Paris and Jo wishes to accompany her. However, Amy gets to go to Paris instead of Jo because their Aunt Carroll prefers Amy’s ladylike behavior as a companion.

Jo realizes that Laurie is in love with her and she also feels that Beth is in love with Laurie. To escape Laurie’s affection for her, Jo moves to New York to give Beth a chance to win his affection. There Jo meets Professor Bhaer, a poor German language instructor. Jo in New York begins writing adult stories anonymously to earn some extra income. Professor Bhaer discovers that Jo is writing sensational stories and discourages her from doing so. Jo takes his advice and finds a more straightforward writing style. She realizes that she has soft feelings for Professor Bhaer. When Jo returns home, Laurie proposes to her, but she turns him down as she still feels that Beth is in love with him. Beth says she knows she is fated to die young and she soon succumbs to the Scarlet fever that she caught from the Hummel family.

Meanwhile, Laurie visits Paris and comes close to Amy during Christmas. They marry and return home on the night before Jo’s 25th birthday. Jo begins to hope that Professor Bhaer will come for her. He does and expresses his feelings for Jo and she accepts. They get married a year later. Amy and Laurie have a daughter named Beth, who is sickly. Five years pass. Jo and Bhaer are married, they have two boys, and they inherit Aunt March’s house when she dies. Jo and Bhaer turn it into a school called Plumfield.

The March family decide to gather and celebrate the 60th birthday of Marmee. The entire March family gathers in the apple orchard and reflects on how blessed they are to have each other. Marmeereflects that there is no greater happiness than to experience the love she has for her family.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!