1、.AuthorCharacter ListPlotThemes.Birthday:November 29,1832Died:March 6,1888(aged 55)Birthplace:Germantown,Pennsylvania She was the second daughterShe never married or had a family of her own.Her FamilyHer WorksExperiences.Poems(56)-Sunlight(in 1852)Plays(11)-The Prince and the Peasant Short Stories(2
2、52)teenager Short Stories(157)-The Accident Back Window Adult Short Stories(66)-Fate in a Fan Other Short Stories(29)-Anna Novels(18)-Little Women Little MenCollective Works(24)Other Works(25)-Happy Women .She was a tomboy and she had an unladylike temperShe received the majority of her schooling fr
3、om her father.She also received some instruction from writers and educators such as Ralph Waldo Emerson Poverty made it necessary for Louise to go to work at an early age as an occasional teacher,seamstress,governess,domestic helper,and writer,Louise also produced wholesome stories for children,and
4、she did not return to creating works for adults.When the Civil War broke out in 1861,Alcott had an urge to go and fight in it.She supported the Northern side of the conflict because she was against slavery.Alcott was devoted to her parents and her sisters.Alcott caught pneumonia（肺炎）while working as
5、a nurse in the Civil War.She suffered a lot.Her father failed to provide enough money to support his family,and their poverty was so dire that in twenty years,they moved twenty times.Her sister Lizzie died at age 21,worse still,her little brother died in infancy.Josephine March pThe protagonist of t
6、he novel,and the second-oldest March sister.Jo wants to be a writer.pJo has a temper and a quick tongue.p She is a tomboy,and reacts with impatience to the many limitations placed on women and girls.p She hates romance in her real life,and wants nothing more than to hold her family together.Meg Marc
7、h pThe oldest March sister.p Responsible and kind,Meg mothers her younger sisters.p She has a small weakness for luxury and leisure,but the greater part of her is gentle and loving.Beth March p The third March daughter.Beth is very quiet and very virtuous,and she does nothing but try to please other
8、s.She adores music and plays the piano very well.Amy March pThe youngest March girl.Amy is an artist who adores visual beauty and has a weakness for pretty possessions.pShe is given to pouting,fits of temper,and vanity;but she does attempt to improve herself.pShe gets what she wants in the end:popul
9、arity,the trip to Europe,and Laurie.Laurie Laurence p The rich boy who lives next door to the Marches.Laurie,becomes like a son and brother to the Marches.pHe is charming,clever,and has a good heart.pLaurie struggles with his grandfathers expectations of him.He is not manly enough for his grandfathe
10、r because he does not want to enter the business world.Marmee-The March girls mother.Marmee is the moral role model for her girls.She counsels them through all of their problems and works hard but happily while her husband is at war.Mr.March-The March girls father and Marmees husband.He serves in th
11、e Union army as a chaplain.When he returns home,he continues acting as a minister to a nearby parish.Mr.Brooke-Lauries tutor.Mr.Brooke is poor but virtuous.Frederick Bhaer-A respected professor in Germany who becomes an impoverished language instructor in America.Mr.Bhaer lives in New York,where he
12、meets Jo.He is kind and fatherly.Aunt March-A rich widow and one of the March girls aunts.Although crotchety and difficult,Aunt March loves her nieces and wants the best for them.The story begins on Christmas Eve.Marmee comes home with a letter from Mr.March,the girls father,who is serving as a Unio
13、n chaplain in the Civil War.The letter inspires the girls to bear their burdens more cheerfully and not to complain about their poverty.On Christmas morning,Marmee encourages them to give away their breakfast to a poor family,the Hummels.Their elderly wealthy neighbor,Mr.Laurence,whom the girls have
14、 never met,rewards their charitable activities by sending over a feast.Soon,Meg and Jo are invited to attend a New Years Partythere meets Laurie,.One dark day,the family receives a telegram saying that Mr.March is sick in the hospital in Washington,D.C.Marmee goes to tend to him,and Jo sells her hai
15、r to help finance the trip.Beth goes to visit the Hummels,and contracts scarlet fever from the Hummel baby.Beth teeters on the brink of death until Marmee returns.Meanwhile,Amy spends time at Aunt Marchs house in order to escape the disease.Beth recovers,though not completely.Three years pass,Mr.Mar
16、ch is home from the war,Meg marries and moves into a new home with Mr.Brooke who is Lauries tutor.Amy gets to go to Paris for study instead of Jo,because Amys good behavior wins her Aunts praise.Then Jo moves to New York.There meets Professor Bhaer,a poor German language instructor.Since Amy is ill
17、seriously,Jo returns home,Laurie proposes to her,but she turns him down.Beth soon dies.Amy and Laurie reunite in France,and they fall in love.They marry and return home.Professor Bhaer comes for Jo,they marry later.The novel ends with the family happily gathered together,each sister thankful for her
18、 blessings and for each other.Womens Struggle Between Familial Duty and Personal GrowthIn the novel,an emphasis on domestic duties and family detracts from various womens abilities to attend to their own personal growth.The Danger of Gender StereotypingLittle Women questions the validity of gender s
19、tereotypes,both male and female.Alcott bestows the highest esteem upon Jo and Laurie,who,in their refusal to embody gender stereotypes,willing to be themselves.The Necessity of WorkThe novel demonstrates the importance of the Puritan work ethic,which dictates that it is holy to do work.Alcott ultima
20、tely recommends work not as a means to a material end,but rather as a means to the expression of inner goodness and creativity through productivity.The Importance of Being Genuine Alcott emphasized the importance of paying more attention to the inner spiritual self than to temporary,earthly conditions like wealth and impressive appearances,and he incorporates this philosophy into Little Women.
