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Journalism of Courage
More than 150 years after it was first published, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868) remains a subject of debate: is it a relic of domestic oppression or a manifesto of female empowerment?
Little Women is the story of four sisters who grapple with poverty, ambition, personal loss, romantic entanglements, and expectations of womanhood in the 19th century. The novel is set during the turbulence of the American Civil War (1861-1865) between the United States (the Union) and the Confederate States of America.
Some critics dismiss it as a “domestic” novel, arguing that the March sisters ultimately conform to traditional roles: wives, mothers, and homemakers. Others laud the female ambition despite the limitations on women in those times: Jo wants to be a writer and ends up running a school for boys, and Amy becomes a painter and a woman of the world. For them, Little Women suggests that empowerment can coexist, and does coexist, with tradition.
This edition of Lit in 10 condenses the story into 10 moments that capture the soul of Little Women. Scroll down for a visual retelling of this literary treasure, and do read the original when you can.
The novel opens in a modest home in Concord, Massachusetts, where the four March sisters —Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March— brace themselves for a cold Christmas without gifts and their beloved father, who is serving as a chaplain in the Civil War. Their mother, Marmee, instills in them the values of sacrifice and empathy, and they decide to share their Christmas breakfast with a destitute immigrant family. The girls are caught between the innocence of childhood and the expectations of adulthood. They have big dreams, Meg yearns for elegant clothes, Jo for literary fame, Beth for domestic harmony, and Amy for artistic renown.
Adventurous Jo befriends the boy next door, Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, a wealthy orphan living with his strict grandfather. Their friendship is charged with affection, mischief, and a possibility for romance. Laurie, who has always been alone, is drawn to the warmth of the March household, becomes a surrogate brother to the girls. For Jo, their bond is a lifeline as he is one of the few people who do not condemn her for defiance of gender stereotypes. She shares her stories, dreams and ambition with them. As the two grow up, Laurie fancies himself in love with Jo, and wants their easy companionship to turn into romance.
Meg is invited to spend two weeks with her wealthy friends, a dream come true. However, she finds herself thrust into a performative world of corseted parties, flirtatious suitors, and carefully curated drawing-room conversations. At a lavish ball, she wears borrowed silks and paints her face, temporarily becoming one of the high society girls she has always envied. However, she realises how vanity can erode self-respect. A stern conversation with Marmee reminds her that personal worth must not be measured in gowns. Meg’s journey teaches her to define her own sense of dignity in a world that values women by their marital prospects.
After tending to a destitute German family, Beth contracts scarlet fever. The illness physically weakens her and leaves a lasting shadow on the family. As she recovers slowly in Jo’s care, Beth becomes the novel’s moral compass. Her brush with death is the first intrusion of mortality into the March sisters’ lives. It reveals the depth of their interdependence. Beth’s bravery in the face of suffering inspires Jo’s own moral and emotional growth. Though she survives the fever for the time being, it is clear that she has been greatly weakened. Her convalescence has been transformative for her whole family.
Laurie confesses his love for Jo in an impulsive proposal. But Jo, fiercely independent and uncertain about her capacity for romantic love, turns him down. She has the foresight to see that their passion would eventually combust. She realises that a rejection might jeopardise their friendship, but she refuses to give in to Laurie’s childish infatuation. Rather than compromise for the sake of their friendship, she takes the difficult path and does the right thing. She departs for New York soon after, hoping to realise her ambition in a world where women’s role remains constricted.
The youngest sister Amy is given the chance to travel abroad with their Aunt March. In the art salons of Europe, she trades her childish vanity for ambition, and self-discipline. She studies painting and begins to evolve into a young woman from a precocious, if impetuous girl. When Laurie, now older and wiser, reappears in her life, their companionship blossoms into love.
Beth’s health, never fully restored after her illness, steadily declines. Jo becomes her constant companion. They sit together at the piano, in the garden, in silence. When Beth dies, she leaves behind no legacy of great deeds, only a memory of kindness and love. Upon her death, a devastated Jo funnels her grief into creativity.
In New York, Jo teaches at a boarding house and meets Professor Friedrich Bhaer, a German academic with a gentle disposition and a critical eye. He challenges her to write with truth rather than sensationalism. They learn to respect each other. After Beth’s death, Jo returns to Concord with a renewed purpose. She inherits Aunt March’s estate, Plumfield, and transforms it into a progressive school for orphaned boys.
Meanwhile, Amy and Laurie get married in Europe and return as a couple. Jo is surprised by the match but not embittered. Their union represents a compatibility Jo knew she could not offer Laurie. The three are uncomfortable initially, but not jealous. They begin to repair their bond. Amy, once vain and selfish, now embodies grace and generosity. Laurie, once reckless, has matured. Their nuptials once gain bring happiness and celebration to the house.
Jo’s school, Plumfield, becomes her life’s work. She marries Professor Bhaer despite his poverty. Theirs is a bond of respect and a shared desire to do something meaningful with their lives. Surrounded by children, books, gardens, and music, Jo refines her dreams and expands it to make space for others. She takes Beth’s example and tries to selflessly make the world a better place through service to society.
In the 21st century, where materialism is at an all time high, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women takes us back to simpler times and remind us is important: morals, family and self-respect. It is no wonder that the 19th century classic was adapted for the screen in 2019 by renowned filmmaker Greta Gerwig, whose films, whether Lady Bird or Barbie, reimagine the world through a feminist lens with transgressive protagonists.
In Little Women, Jo, frustrated by the limitations society puts on women yearns to be a boy so that she can be useful to her family. While Jo wants to go out and work rather than pin her hopes on a rich suitor, her sisters forge different paths to empowerment.
Meg, the oldest and prettiest of them all has to make do with a man of modest means, but creative and elegant Amy, the youngest sister, is able to make a match with the wealthy and loveable Laurie despite her family’s humble origins. Beth, otherworldly and grace personified, does not let her debilitating illness embitter her, but makes a mark through her kindness in her short life.
Today, fewer young readers turn to Little Women and many dismiss it as sentimental or “just for girls.” However, it is a recommended read as it offers readers an honest look at ambition, sacrifice, and the quiet courage of ordinary life. Alcott’s story is not only about girls, it is a story where idealism meets hardship. It speaks to anyone trying to make a meaningful life in a changing world. The novel is one of the best examples of the transformative and didactic potential of literature.
(Lit in 10 is a creative series that condenses literary classics into 10 key moments with illustrated frames. It offers an interpretive summary and is not a substitute for reading the original work.)
