Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Introduction by Susan Cheever Commentary by G. K. Chesterton, Katherine Fullerton Gerould, and Madeleine B. Stern Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read It is no surprise that
Little Women, the adored classic of four devoted sisters, was loosely based on Louisa May Alcott's own life. In fact, Alcott drew from her own personality to create a heroine unlike any seen before: Jo, willful, headstrong, and undoubtedly the backbone of the March family. Follow the sisters from innocent adolescence to sage adulthood, with all the joy and sorrow of life in between, and fall in love with them and this endearing story. Praised by Madeleine Stern as "a book on the American home, and hence universal in its appeal,"
Little Women has been an avidly read tale for generations. This Modern Library edition includes notes that offer more description and insight than those of previous editions.
Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide
Synopsis
Alcott's masterpiece: the eternally loved story of the March family's devotion to one another in turbulent times. This edition includes critical textual notes.
About the Author
Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Pennsylvania and grew up in Concord, Massachusetts. She is best known for her books for children. The daughter of philosopher and reformer Amons Bronson Alcott, she was also a supporter of women’s rights and an abolitionist. Family debts led her to write the autobiographical novel
Little Women (1868). The book was a huge success, followed by
Little Men, An Old-Fashioned Girl, and several other novels.
Susan Cheever is the author of Home Before Dark, Note Found in a Bottle, As Good as I Could Be, and My Name Is Bill. She lives in New York City.
Reading Group Guide
1. In the first two chapters, the girls use John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress as a model for their own journey to becoming "little women." What was Alcott trying to say by using such a strongly philosophical piece of literature as the girls' model?
2. What purpose does Beth's death serve? Was Alcott simply making a sentimental novel even more so, or was this a play on morality and philosophy? Do you think Beth was intended to be a Christ figure?
3. Consider the fact that Beth will never reach sexual maturity or marry. What do you think this says about the institution of marriage and, more important, about womanhood?
4. Consider Jo's writing: While we are treated to citations from "The Pickwick Portfolio" and the family's letters to one another, we are never presented with an excerpt from Jo's many literary works, though the text tells us they are quite successful. Why is this?
5. Do you find it surprising that once Laurie is rejected by Jo, he falls in love with Amy? Do you feel his characterization is complete and he is acting within the "norm" of the personality Alcott has created for him, or does Alcott simply dispose of him once our heroine rejects him?
6. Some critics argue that the characters are masochistic. Meg is the perfect little wife, Amy is the social gold digger, and Beth is the eternally loving and patient woman. Do you believe these characterizations are masochistic? If so, do you think Alcott could have characterized them any other way while maintaining the realism of the society she lived in? And if this is true, what of Jo's character?
7. The last two chapters find Jo setting aside her budding literary career to run a school with her husband. Why do you think Alcott made her strongest feminine figure sacrifice her own life plans for her husband's?
8. Alcott was a student of transcendentalism. How and where does this philosophy affect Alcott's writing, plot, and characterization?
9. Do you believe this is a feminine or a feminist piece of work?