Resumo de Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Little women take its readers to an exotic tour of their
inner psychology when they were passing through a crucial
phase; innocence of childhood had met the hard reality of
grown-up world.

The opening of the novel finds the girls Meg, Jo, Beth and
Amy the lovely sisters, a little disturbed. Their father
has gone to war and financial position is less than
comfortable. But the girl doesn?t want their mother unhappy
and all of them decide to purchase a Christmas gift for Ma
rather than one for each other. The next day they are
pleasantly surprised to have a gift for their own?the token
of love of their mother and some fancy foods gifted by
their old neighbor Mr. Laurence.

Born of the same parents and brought up with equal
attention and love, girls nevertheless have distinctly
different priorities of life. Meg looks forward to a
romantic married life and dreams of being a queen in social
balls and gatherings.
Material things don?t enchant Jo much and she aspires to be
a writer. Beth has a delicate soul that finds happiness in
helping others and she nurses a child contacted with yellow
fever ignoring the health risk on her. Amy, the ambitious
young lady is constantly worried about her looks and is
determined to marry a wealthy man. But none give more
importance to their respective ambition than the happiness
of her family. So compromises come voluntarily.

To assist in family finance, the two elder girls work: Meg
as governess and Jo cares for the rich old acidic woman
aunt March. After some unsuccessful attempt to hog
limelight at social balls young Meg finally falls in love
with poor Mr. Brooke. The bullying Mrs. March tries to
dissuade her from marrying the man using the leverage of
her property. But the middle class parents have inculcated
self-respect in their daughter and Meg resists the move
successfully She gets her romantic husband though unwanted
burden of financial hardship troubles the relationship
sporadically.

At New Year party Jo meets young Laurie?their kind
neighbors grandson and strikes an instant friendship with
the boy. She with her natural intelligence sets him at ease
and sensitive shy boy feels confident in her company. They
take long strolls at riverside and exchange their views and
ideas. She tries injecting some dynamism in the boy and he
falls in love with her.
Laurie the wealthy young man had drawn Amy?s attention
too. She was jealous of the intimacy between Jo and Laurie.
Her jealousy took a destructive expression one day. Amy
burns her sister?s favorite book: her first manuscript of
creative writing to take revenge on Jo. Jo had refused to
allow her in the river walk activities

The fragile Beth ?who feels shy of expressing her musical
talent in public and plays piano secretly, delivers the
family the ultimate shock. Weakened by an earlier attack of
yellow fever she loses her stamina to some unknown disease
and silently prepares herself for death. But even in the
face of that ultimate tragedy the self-sacrificing girl
worries constantly about her beloved ones who would have
to live with her memory. Jo misreads her worry as
infatuation for Laurie and take herself away from him to
create a chance for her sister. Beth dies in her mothers
lap creating a permanent vacuum in Jo.

Jo had taken herself away from Laurie for Beth but the
young man couldn?t get over her. He proposes to Jo and
rejection turns him to a dejected soul. Amy steps in
between. Following her dream to excel in society, she had
groomed herself to an artistic young lady and was got
appreciated finally by Laurie..Lauries broken heart finds
a shelter in her and the two get married.

Jo strikes a literary career and found a soul mate in a
elder man--her professor Mr.Bhaer. True to her style , she
doesn?t calculate him on the basis of financial and
social standing and acccepts him as he is---an once married
widower.

It is a story of love and sacrifice that reflects the
family values of nineteenth century Europe and America. The
writer did not have to imagine the incidents-she had three
interesting sisters in real life ?like the heroine of her
story ?Jo.

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