Little Women Little Women was written in 1868-1869, the setting is New England in the 19th Century during and after the Civil War. The story begins at Christmas time. The girl’s father is away in the war. It is Christmas and there are memories of better times. But this Christmas their father is in the war and they have no means of support and very little money. There will be no presents and the beautiful breakfast they had put together is given away to a family who has no food. It is not a happy time for the sisters and their mother, who they call Marmee. The main characters are the March sisters. The oldest sister is Meg. She is kind, responsible and very moral. She watches out for her younger sisters and makes sure they do not act inappropriately. She is very aware of social expectations for them as young women of the time. Josephine March is the second oldest sister and is referred to as Jo. She is the protagonist of the novel and her character is probably based on the author, Louisa May Alcott herself. Jo has a temper and is outspoken. She is very intelligent and wants to be a writer. Beth is the third sister and is very shy and reserved. She has a very caring and tender personality and loves to play the piano. Amy is the youngest sister. She is very beautiful and artistic and dreams of marrying a wealthy man who will take care of her. Her character serves as a foil for Jo’s character. Amy wishes and dreams of marrying a wealthy man and being taken care of while Jo on the other hand is very independent and wants to have a career as a writer and be who she is in her own right. The young man who comes to live with his grandfather who lives next door to the March sisters is Laurie Laurence. His real name is Theodore Laurence and he becomes like a brother to the Marches. He is charming, handsome, and clever and has a sincere caring for the sisters. He loves Jo first and actually proposes to her but she turns him down because she is not romantically in love with him. The March sister’s mother is Marmee. She works hard to maintain stability in the family and to be both mother and father to the girls while their father is in the war. Her family has lost their fortune but she still ministers to the poor and sick. She expects a level of social conscience from her daughters and Beth with her tender heart follows her lead without reservation also ministers to the less fortunate with horrible consequences when she catches scarlet fever from the child of the poor family she looks after while her mother is away. The girls’ father Mr. March and Marmee’s husband serves in the union army as a chaplain. He is injured in the war and Marmee has to go and be with him and nurse him back to health. While she is away doing this a lot of what is in the story takes place with her daughters’. Some of the other characters are Mr. Brooke, Laurie’s tutor. He is poor but an honest person who falls in love with Meg. Jo has a very hard time accepting this relationship, she does not want to lose her sister. Frederick Bhaer is a respected professor in his home country (Germany) but after immigrating to this country finds his heavy accent is a detriment to earning a decent wage. Mr. Bhaer lives in New York and meets Jo when she moves there to work at being a writer. They both live at the same boarding house. And there is Hannah the March’s loyal servant. She loves the girls and their mother and look after them with her whole heart and soul. When Beth becomes ill she nurses her until she passes away. The girls have an aunt referred to as Aunt March. She is a crotchety and difficult old woman. She has a big house and wealth that she uses at times to manipulate the girls to do her bidding. She takes Amy to Europe with her when Jo had thought she would invite her. There Amy meets eligible young men and studies art. Aunt March does have a loyalty to the young women and when she passes away they inherit what she owns. Now that all the main characters have been introduced the plot of the story focuses on the March sisters growing up in Concord, Massachusetts during and after the Civil War. With their father away serving in the military the girls and their mother along with the housekeeper live a life of poverty but not without the essentials. They do have family love and unity and a sense of learning. This learning is shared in the plays the girls put on for entertainment and when it is decided to homeschool Amy when she is mistreated by her teacher. I loved this about the story; I loved the creativity and the way it allowed them to develop their talents. The love of the language and the art of using it in writing by Jo to write the story of her family was inspiring. She wrote the story in response to the loss of Beth. It was her way of expressing her grief and in a way to share her family and the role each one had. Beth did not get to have a grown up life but she was real in Little Women and she had a place in their lives. The theme is now one of conclusion with all the sisters becoming adults and finding their mates who they marry and begin another part of their lives. Meg marries Laurie’s tutor Mr. Brooke and has twins. Jo helps her take care of the babies when she returns from New York a little broken hearted about Mr. Bhaer. She did not feel he understood her writings after she had asked him to read and give her feedback. His feedback was honest and he told her to write about what she knew and he thought she was not doing that in her writings. She was writing under a male name and he thought she should write as herself. Amy meets up with Laurie in Europe where she is traveling with Aunt March. Beth passes away and Amy is not able to travel home to be with family. Jo write to Laurie and tells him the news of Beth and that Amy is in Europe and not able to be at home with family. Laurie goes to Amy to comfort her and they end up falling in love but not before there is resolution of his past feelings for Jo. When the do come home as husband and wife Jo is very happy for them and says it is natural for him to be her brother now. This is a falling action and resolution in the book. Amy marries her wealthy husband who she does love and Jo gives them her sincere blessings. There is never a thought that there is anything but genuine caring for all characters. Last but not least Mr. Bhaer reinters Jo’s life at about this time. He has read her book Little Women and brings an edited printed copy of it. There is some confusion when he thinks Jo may have married Laurie but she goes after him and clears it up. He offers himself to her and she accepts. She has found her romantic love. In conclusion the characters and their lives were presented in a creative and meaningful dialogue that is envious. The idea that family unity can bring individuals thru life hardships was heartening.

• Biographical Sketch: Robin Swicord was born in 1952 and is an American screenwriter and film director. She wrote the screenplay for the film Memoirs of a Geisha, based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Golden. Her other screenplay credits include Little Women, Practical Magic, Matilda, the Perez family, and Shaq. Her directorial debut was with the 1993 short film The Red Coat, for which she also wrote the screenplay. Swicord wrote the screenplay for Karen Joy Fowler’s 204 novel The Jane Austen Book Club and directed the film, which was released in the United States on September 21, 2007. She also collaborated with Eric Roth on the screen adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Swicord was born in Columbia, South Carolina. She is married to screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, son of director Elia Kazan. Their daughter is actress Zoe Kazan.