AUTHOR BIO
Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Concord, Massachusetts along with her three sisters in a home with acres of apple trees in her backyard (this would later be the setting used in Little Women.) Louisa grew up as a tomboy, and loved to write. (Alcott Foundation). She got most of her education courtesy of her father, who was a Transcendentalist with very radical ideas (Lewis). Her mother also contributed to her education and taught them Christianity and the value of church.(Goodwin). By the time she was 15, their family was deep into poverty. Louisa wanted to do everything she could to help them out of it, even though she was a woman in a society where women were supposed to work at home. However, Louisa defied this stereotype. Her first book Flower Fables was published when she was 22. Little Women was written when she was 35 living in New England during the Civil War, which is the same setting Little Women takes place in (Goodwin). Many aspects of Little Women elude to Louisa's childhood. Little Women is the story of four girls. Louisa was the second oldest in a family of four daughters, and a lot of the adventures in the book are based off of her own experiences with her sisters. The setting used in Little Women shares many similarities with the house Louisa herself grew up in. Jo, the main character of Little Women, is the second oldest in the March family, and a tomboy. Alcott was also a tomboy growing up, and the second oldest daughter in the family (New York Times). Additionally, in Little Women Jo has a huge passion for writing, just like Alcott obviously did as well.
As an adult, Louisa was a feminist, largely in support of women's rights movements. She was also an abolitionist, in favor of ending slavery. In 1847, their family housed a slave (Goodwin). Throughout her lifetime, Louisa May Alcott wrote over 30 books and series. She wrote throughout her life, but died on March 6, 1888, only 2 days after her father. (Merriam).
This is the Alcott's house, and setting of Little Women.
This is the movie trailer for one of the movie versions of Little Women.
LITERARY INFO
Genre: Historical fiction, 1800s, civil war era
-546 pages-
Style: Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women from a third person omniscient perspective. This allows each of the four girls' thoughts and feelings to be revealed. This helps add to the story because it helps the reader become more in touch with each of the characters and feel more connected to each of them. Throughout the book there is also a lot of foreshadowing. One example of this foreshadowing is when Jo receives a love letter in their postbox: "How they laughed when the secret came out, never dreaming how many love letters that little post office would hold in the years to come" (145). Although Alcott is writing primarily to an audience of younger girls, she uses advanced vocabulary and complex sentences--although some of the vocabulary might have been more commonplace back when the book was written--as opposed to what is used today.
SYNOPSIS Little Women is the story of four girls named Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, who live at home with their mother while their father is off at war. Meg is the eldest daughter and helps her mom take care of the other girls. Beth is the second youngest, and loves music and playing the piano. Beth spends most of her time caring about others instead of herself--she is very quiet but very loving. Jo is the main protagonist of the novel, who hates change and doesn't want to see her other sisters grow up and get married. She is a tomboy that spends much of her time hanging out with Laurie, the boy next door. Writing has always been an ambition of hers as well. Amy, the youngest, always does what people tell her to in order to please them, so she gets what she wants. Amy has always loved art, and looking pretty. Despite their differences, each of these girls support each other during the hard time away from their father. Little Women follows the girls in their daily lives, until they finally grow up to start their lives on their own.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Throughout Little Women, each of the four main characters (the four sisters) develop and change. This character development is key, dictating the entire novel. Louisa May Alcott is able to skillfully craft four very different characters, and have each of them continue to change throughout the novel. JO: Jo is very headstrong and is not afraid to speak her mind at the beginning of the novel. However, as the story goes on she learns to control her rebelliousness. There are also particular decisions she makes at the end of the book that she certainly would never have dreamed of making at the beginning or middle of the story. For most of the book Jo is afraid to let go of her independence, but by the end she ends up letting go of a lot of who she is.
MEG: Meg is a lot like her mother, marmee, in certain aspects. Her mother is very caring and good at teaching her children, and Meg has these same positive traits. However, Meg starts out unable to conquer her love of money and fine things. But by the middle of the book, she has already changed a lot and decides to marry a man because she loves him, not because of the amount of money he has (which is not very much). She finds herself very content.
AMY: Amy is the youngest of the four girls and concerns herself a lot with popularity, looks, and luxury. Amy, although in some aspects is very similar to Jo, is not as headstrong. Instead, she acts the way people want her to in order to get things she wants. As the book goes on, Amy grows older and goes over to Europe to live with her Aunt March. Although she made this decision mainly to benefit herself, she finds herself missing home and writing back. Amy ends up getting less and less involved at home as her life goes on, but certain aspects of her home life come back to her in very unexpected ways at the end.
BETH: Beth is the quietest of the four siblings. She spends most of her time trying to help others and positively impact the lives of her sisters in quiet ways they often do not notice. She usually ends up doing most of the work, and although she isn't overjoyed at the prospect she tries to do the right thing most of the time. One way Beth changes throughout the story is that she realizes that her work does not go unnoticed. Mr. Laurence notices Beth's love for music and gives Beth a piano for Christmas one year. Her sisters and mom are all very proud of her and appreciate her kindness, although they do not realize just how much they love her until later on in the book.
Of the four sisters, Beth and Jo are best friends. In the same way, Meg and Amy are best friends. Although Beth is the most quiet, and Jo is the most outspoken, both want to see the family stay together and don't like change. Meg and Amy are more ready for change and in what the world has to offer. These similarities allow the two girls to bond even closer to each other.
Laurie, the boy next door, is also an important character. Laurie is very talented and intelligent, and loves spending time with the Marches, especially Jo. Laurie and Jo get very close as the story continues. Alcott does not spend quite as much time focusing on him, but he does play a very important role in the story, and allows two very key changes to occur in two of the characters.
In addition to character development, there are lots of themes and symbols apparent throughout the book that Louisa May Alcott uses to tell the story. For example, the girls learn throughout the story that money does not amount to happiness. Meg and Amy especially struggle with the love of money and nice things, but by the end of the story they have learned that there are more important things in life. Another key idea in Little Women is the importance of being yourself. Each of the girls is so very different, but they are still accepted and loved by their family. The four little women go through many different adventures and experiences to learn important life lessons. At one point in the book the girls decide that they are going to stop working because they think they would be happier enjoying themselves and the company of each other. However, not working and neglecting their chores makes them feel guilty, unproductive and uncomfortable, and eventually they begin working again. One interesting aspect of Little Women is the behavior of each girl and how it corresponds to her personality. Jo and Amy are the two more individual, outspoken girls. They are also less proper than their sisters Meg and Beth, both in the way that they act and the way that they speak. Each girl has different goals and dreams for what they want to do with their life, and Alcott crafts each girl into a distinct character very different from any other.
CRITICISM
★★★.5(3.5/5)
I thought this book was alright. Little Women follows Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy as they grow up. I thought it was generally a light-hearted, entertaining story about the four girls' daily lives. However, there were some very sad parts and I found myself getting very frustrated with a couple of the characters' decisions and the outcomes of a few scenarios. One positive aspect to this book is that there are not an overwhelming amount of characters to keep track of. Each character has their own unique personality which made the book fun to read. Of the four sisters, my favorite character was Beth and my least favorite was Amy. I was able to learn a lot about life back during the 1800s also, because much of the book talks about what the sisters do day to day. The only problem I had with this is that the plot moves slowly, and there are certain parts of the book that seem unnecessary to include. Although I enjoyed reading about the girls' encounters, some of them seemed to drag out a bit. Louisa May Alcott's style of writing is similar to other writers who wrote in earlier generations. Reading Little Women made it easy to travel back in time to the Civil War era. I would not recommend this book to someone who is interested in a fast-paced, thrilling adventure, but if you are interested in relaxing in front of the fireplace on a snowy day with a nice book, this would probably be perfect for you.
AUTHOR BIO
Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Concord, Massachusetts along with her three sisters in a home with acres of apple trees in her backyard (this would later be the setting used in Little Women.) Louisa grew up as a tomboy, and loved to write. (Alcott Foundation). She got most of her education courtesy of her father, who was a Transcendentalist with very radical ideas (Lewis). Her mother also contributed to her education and taught them Christianity and the value of church. (Goodwin). By the time she was 15, their family was deep into poverty. Louisa wanted to do everything she could to help them out of it, even though she was a woman in a society where women were supposed to work at home. However, Louisa defied this stereotype. Her first book Flower Fables was published when she was 22. Little Women was written when she was 35 living in New England during the Civil War, which is the same setting Little Women takes place in (Goodwin). Many aspects of Little Women elude to Louisa's childhood. Little Women is the story of four girls. Louisa was the second oldest in a family of four daughters, and a lot of the adventures in the book are based off of her own experiences with her sisters. The setting used in Little Women shares many similarities with the house Louisa herself grew up in. Jo, the main character of Little Women, is the second oldest in the March family, and a tomboy. Alcott was also a tomboy growing up, and the second oldest daughter in the family (New York Times). Additionally, in Little Women Jo has a huge passion for writing, just like Alcott obviously did as well.
As an adult, Louisa was a feminist, largely in support of women's rights movements. She was also an abolitionist, in favor of ending slavery. In 1847, their family housed a slave (Goodwin). Throughout her lifetime, Louisa May Alcott wrote over 30 books and series. She wrote throughout her life, but died on March 6, 1888, only 2 days after her father. (Merriam).
This is the Alcott's house, and setting of Little Women.
This is the movie trailer for one of the movie versions of Little Women.
LITERARY INFO
Genre: Historical fiction, 1800s, civil war era
-546 pages-
Style: Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women from a third person omniscient perspective. This allows each of the four girls' thoughts and feelings to be revealed. This helps add to the story because it helps the reader become more in touch with each of the characters and feel more connected to each of them. Throughout the book there is also a lot of foreshadowing. One example of this foreshadowing is when Jo receives a love letter in their postbox: "How they laughed when the secret came out, never dreaming how many love letters that little post office would hold in the years to come" (145). Although Alcott is writing primarily to an audience of younger girls, she uses advanced vocabulary and complex sentences--although some of the vocabulary might have been more commonplace back when the book was written--as opposed to what is used today.
SYNOPSIS
Little Women is the story of four girls named Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, who live at home with their mother while their father is off at war. Meg is the eldest daughter and helps her mom take care of the other girls. Beth is the second youngest, and loves music and playing the piano. Beth spends most of her time caring about others instead of herself--she is very quiet but very loving. Jo is the main protagonist of the novel, who hates change and doesn't want to see her other sisters grow up and get married. She is a tomboy that spends much of her time hanging out with Laurie, the boy next door. Writing has always been an ambition of hers as well. Amy, the youngest, always does what people tell her to in order to please them, so she gets what she wants. Amy has always loved art, and looking pretty. Despite their differences, each of these girls support each other during the hard time away from their father. Little Women follows the girls in their daily lives, until they finally grow up to start their lives on their own.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Throughout Little Women, each of the four main characters (the four sisters) develop and change. This character development is key, dictating the entire novel. Louisa May Alcott is able to skillfully craft four very different characters, and have each of them continue to change throughout the novel.
JO: Jo is very headstrong and is not afraid to speak her mind at the beginning of the novel. However, as the story goes on she learns to control her rebelliousness. There are also particular decisions she makes at the end of the book that she certainly would never have dreamed of making at the beginning or middle of the story. For most of the book Jo is afraid to let go of her independence, but by the end she ends up letting go of a lot of who she is.
MEG: Meg is a lot like her mother, marmee, in certain aspects. Her mother is very caring and good at teaching her children, and Meg has these same positive traits. However, Meg starts out unable to conquer her love of money and fine things. But by the middle of the book, she has already changed a lot and decides to marry a man because she loves him, not because of the amount of money he has (which is not very much). She finds herself very content.
AMY: Amy is the youngest of the four girls and concerns herself a lot with popularity, looks, and luxury. Amy, although in some aspects is very similar to Jo, is not as headstrong. Instead, she acts the way people want her to in order to get things she wants. As the book goes on, Amy grows older and goes over to Europe to live with her Aunt March. Although she made this decision mainly to benefit herself, she finds herself missing home and writing back. Amy ends up getting less and less involved at home as her life goes on, but certain aspects of her home life come back to her in very unexpected ways at the end.
BETH: Beth is the quietest of the four siblings. She spends most of her time trying to help others and positively impact the lives of her sisters in quiet ways they often do not notice. She usually ends up doing most of the work, and although she isn't overjoyed at the prospect she tries to do the right thing most of the time. One way Beth changes throughout the story is that she realizes that her work does not go unnoticed. Mr. Laurence notices Beth's love for music and gives Beth a piano for Christmas one year. Her sisters and mom are all very proud of her and appreciate her kindness, although they do not realize just how much they love her until later on in the book.
Of the four sisters, Beth and Jo are best friends. In the same way, Meg and Amy are best friends. Although Beth is the most quiet, and Jo is the most outspoken, both want to see the family stay together and don't like change. Meg and Amy are more ready for change and in what the world has to offer. These similarities allow the two girls to bond even closer to each other.
Laurie, the boy next door, is also an important character. Laurie is very talented and intelligent, and loves spending time with the Marches, especially Jo. Laurie and Jo get very close as the story continues. Alcott does not spend quite as much time focusing on him, but he does play a very important role in the story, and allows two very key changes to occur in two of the characters.
In addition to character development, there are lots of themes and symbols apparent throughout the book that Louisa May Alcott uses to tell the story. For example, the girls learn throughout the story that money does not amount to happiness. Meg and Amy especially struggle with the love of money and nice things, but by the end of the story they have learned that there are more important things in life. Another key idea in Little Women is the importance of being yourself. Each of the girls is so very different, but they are still accepted and loved by their family. The four little women go through many different adventures and experiences to learn important life lessons. At one point in the book the girls decide that they are going to stop working because they think they would be happier enjoying themselves and the company of each other. However, not working and neglecting their chores makes them feel guilty, unproductive and uncomfortable, and eventually they begin working again. One interesting aspect of Little Women is the behavior of each girl and how it corresponds to her personality. Jo and Amy are the two more individual, outspoken girls. They are also less proper than their sisters Meg and Beth, both in the way that they act and the way that they speak. Each girl has different goals and dreams for what they want to do with their life, and Alcott crafts each girl into a distinct character very different from any other.
CRITICISM
★★★.5(3.5/5)
I thought this book was alright. Little Women follows Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy as they grow up. I thought it was generally a light-hearted, entertaining story about the four girls' daily lives. However, there were some very sad parts and I found myself getting very frustrated with a couple of the characters' decisions and the outcomes of a few scenarios. One positive aspect to this book is that there are not an overwhelming amount of characters to keep track of. Each character has their own unique personality which made the book fun to read. Of the four sisters, my favorite character was Beth and my least favorite was Amy. I was able to learn a lot about life back during the 1800s also, because much of the book talks about what the sisters do day to day. The only problem I had with this is that the plot moves slowly, and there are certain parts of the book that seem unnecessary to include. Although I enjoyed reading about the girls' encounters, some of them seemed to drag out a bit. Louisa May Alcott's style of writing is similar to other writers who wrote in earlier generations. Reading Little Women made it easy to travel back in time to the Civil War era. I would not recommend this book to someone who is interested in a fast-paced, thrilling adventure, but if you are interested in relaxing in front of the fireplace on a snowy day with a nice book, this would probably be perfect for you.
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, here are some other books you may be interested in
OTHER WIKI PAGES TO CHECK OUT
Little Women- Native's Son - Jane Eyre
SOURCES
**http://www.louisamayalcott.org/louisamaytext.html**
**http://www.online-literature.com/alcott/**
**http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/alco-lou.htm**
**http://www.transcendentalists.com/what.htm**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL7fstVuGd0
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/littlewomen/themes.html
http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/louisamayalcott.html
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times/Louisa_M._Alcott_Dead
PICTURES
http://obit-mag.com/media/image/little%20women.jpg
http://clubeingles.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/alcott-edgar.jpg
http://www.louisamayalcott.org/
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0060264454.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
http://kbagdanov.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/the-secret-garden-harperclassics-006440188x-l.jpg
http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/208527/1/Meg,-Jo,-Beth-$26-Amy.jpg