Who are the Little Women?

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Little Women is the classic 19th century American novel written by Louisa May Alcott. It is about the lives of four young women who grew up during and after the Civil War. The novel deals specifically with the roles of young women, as independent but also deeply rooted in Christianity. Their once wealthy parents show deep affection for their four daughters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March.

At the beginning of the novel, the girls are eagerly awaiting a letter from their father, who acts as Troops Minister for the North. When the letter arrives, Papa March advises the girls to be mature, patient and loving, to be “Little Women” in their actions.

The novel then deals with how each girl follows her own path to becoming a woman. This is a tough journey for some of them, especially for Jo March, who wishes with all her heart that she was born a boy. Her tomboyish ways tend to keep her at odds with social conventions for polite behavior for women. Both she and her older sister Meg work every day to contribute to the family’s small income. Jo looks after her cantankerous old aunt March, while Meg works as a housekeeper and sometimes mourns her family’s fall into poverty.

The youngest Little Women are Beth and Amy. Beth is almost too sweet to be real, and many criticize Little Women as overly sentimental when it comes to her treatment of Beth. Beth is a music lover but shy, and she doesn’t want to leave home. Yet she is Jo’s confidante, and she often points Jo to a softer, “little girl” way of resolving conflicts than her.

For those who love Little Women, Beth’s death in the last part of the novel is the signal to pull out the handkerchiefs and cry. Those who accuse the book of excessive sentimentality find little to commend in Beth’s departure. However, Alcott wrote this part much from his own experience coping with the death of a beloved sister. Thus many are inclined to regard the sentimentality of the book as entirely true to Alcott’s feelings about his personal tragedy.

Jo March is often seen as a semi-autobiographical representation of Alcott. Like Alcott, Jo fulfills her ambition to become a writer. The fact that her parents encourage Jo to make her dreams come true is certainly forward-looking, but the book seems to rest on the idea that a woman is happiest when she is happily married and a mother.
Amy March is the youngest of the Little Women, not even a teenager at the beginning of the novel. She harbors aspirations of becoming a great painter, but instead finds her fulfillment in her marriage to Laurie Lawrence, which occurs near the end of the novel. The marriage is somewhat complex as Laurie first falls in love with Jo, who she sees would never be suitable as a couple. Eventually, Laurie transfers her affections to Amy and Jo marries the German philosopher and teacher, Professor Bhaer.

Little Women has been adapted for stage and multiple films. None of these films stay completely true to the novel. Some go off course while others simply lack the spirit of the rather long but for many, beloved, story.

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