Oh how I adore Little Women 🥰 It’s enjoyable to read any time but there’s something particularly special about reading it during the holiday season. Whether you’ve read this beloved story before or this is your first time, I’m so looking forward to hearing your thoughts and insights. You’ll find discussion questions below and can respond via the comment box at the bottom of this page. Feel free to respond to as many as you’d like!
Discussion Questions:
1. You know I must ask! Which March sister do you relate to most and why?
2. Although the narrator is able to offer insight from each of the main characters, Jo’s voice rings above the others throughout the pages. How do you think the novel would differ if a sister other than Jo was the central character?
3. How did you feel about the scene in which Amy sets Jo’s book on fire? Do you sympathize with Amy’s perspective?
4. Do you have a favorite quote from this first part of the book?
5. Is there a relationship in the book you relate to most? Whether it’s amongst the sisters, between Jo and Laurie, etc.?
6. Which edition of Little Women are you reading? Do you have a favorite edition?
7. Feel free to share any other thoughts you have!
2. Although the narrator is able to offer insight from each of the main characters, Jo’s voice rings above the others throughout the pages. How do you think the novel would differ if a sister other than Jo was the central character?
3. How did you feel about the scene in which Amy sets Jo’s book on fire? Do you sympathize with Amy’s perspective?
4. Do you have a favorite quote from this first part of the book?
5. Is there a relationship in the book you relate to most? Whether it’s amongst the sisters, between Jo and Laurie, etc.?
6. Which edition of Little Women are you reading? Do you have a favorite edition?
7. Feel free to share any other thoughts you have!
ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΗ ΡΩΞΑΝΑ says
Good evening everyone!!
“Little Women” is one of my favourite books, not only in Christmas season but all the year. This book i received as a gift in the kindergarten in the Christmas celebration.
1)I like all the March sisters, but i think most Jo. As Jo does, i like books very much, especially literary books, i am a “bookworm” (generally all in my family live books, and my three brothers too and my parents).
3)I didn’t like the gesture of Amy’s. I think she wanted to “take revenge” on her sister, destroyinh her something she loved very much.
5)In the book i like the relationship the four sisters have between them. I have also three brothers and i think that the relationship between sisters and brothers is the most important..
6)I have read this book in greek (my matrimony language), english and spanish language. I have the one from Puffin Classics in the green hardware cover in english language (the one you give as a gift now), in greek also hardware editions (which included “Little Women”, “Little Women Women are married”, “Jo’s boys”, “The goddaughter of Dr. Mars”-these books my grandmother owned and she gifted to me) and also the one hardware book i received as a gift in kindergarten, also a spanish book.
Enjoy the book!!
Jane Armour says
1. Perhaps it is because I am the youngest (with just one older sister), but I identify with Amy. She has an eye for and appreciation of beauty, as do I. She can come across as vain and vindictive in the first portion, but she grows into a loving woman who loves her family as well as things and places of beauty.
2. I believe Meg’s perspective would center more around domesticity and a desire for love and a home of her own. Beth would show the tender bonds of one who most loves home and family, as she is so naturally timid. Amy would show us a story of one with a deep longing for both beauty, security and love.
3.While I can sympathize with Amy’s perspective, setting Jo’s book on fire was too vengeful and rash an act for my taste. I might have been tempted to hide Jo’s manuscript, but I do not think I could have actually burned it.
4. One thing Beth says in the very first few pages when the girls are starting to grumble, is “Birds in the little nests agree”. I have always loved this and think of it often.
5. I am most fond of Jo’s relationship with Beth. In spite of all her “boyish ways”, Jo loves Beth and cares tenderly for her as Beth’s health fails and she gradually fades away.
6. My favorite edition is one I have had for decades-a Junior Illustrated Classic. It is unabridged with a beautiful cover of the girls gathered around Marmee as she plays the piano. The chapters have pen and ink sketches scattered throughout.
Karen Werth says
I am a few days late joining this discussion.” Little Women” is one of my favorite books and I have read it three times at different stages of my life and I always come away with the same warm feelings. My edition is from 1947 and is a beautiful copy. I’ve seen most of the movies and TV productions and my favorite is the 1994 production staring Winona Ryder. I am the mother of three daughters and four granddaughters so I am drawn to the mother daughter relationships, plus my daughters and granddaughters all share the same feelings about the book. My granddaughter’s favorite is the most recent movie staring Saoirse Ronan. I love all the characters, but my favorites are Jo and Marmee. Each character plays a special part, but it is Jo who holds them together as sisters and Marmee who holds them together as a family The story draws the reader into the family and the time period. As for Amy burning Jo’s manuscript, it may have been a bit of a drastic childish outburst, but it did lead to a powerful example of sisterhood and forgiveness. Last month you had us reading the book” Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters” by Anne Boyd Rioux. The book covered a lot of information and I thought the section on how some people today criticize Alcott for not having Jo more of a feminist which is unfair, in my opinion, to judge a female character in a book written in 1868 by today’s standards as the role of women in society then was so different. Considering the time period Alcott had Jo married, but equal to her husband, she was a mother, but worked and founded a school. That was a bold move on Alcott’s part as that certainly wasn’t the norm for women then. My favorite quote from the first half of this book are the opening lines. How delightful to read what others have written about the book and such a great way to have an online discussion. Thank you Hayley.
Hannah Whittaker says
1). Meg is the sister I relate to most. The relationship I had with a sister 3 years older was always strained, and I found myself having to be diplomatic with her and often times a peacemaker within the family. (Thankfully, things have improved with the years!). Also, I am very much a homebody, with no talent for Amy’s art, Beth’s music or certainly for Jo’s writing!
2). I believe it is because of Jo’s writing that we get a more observant and well rounded view of the March family life. Each of the other girls would have different slants on events that would have perhaps not been as realistic or accurate.
3). The first time I read Little Women, in 2018, I was pretty startled that Amy would actually go to such lengths to get back at Jo by burning her book, but then I thought perhaps if she had just hidden the book, it certainly would not have been as dramatic, and the eventual forgiveness less meaningful.
4). Opening sentences are important to me and Little Women does not disappoint:
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,”. I also love the paragraph in Chapter 4, Burdens, that begins “There are many Beths in the world…”. Where Alcott gives credit to the shy and quiet of this world.
5). I really like the relationship that grows between Mr Lawrence and the girls to the point that they include him as family. As a teen, I found myself befriending a much older family member and I treasure all the memories of our times together.
6). My lone edition of Little Women is by Wordsworth, Collector’s Edition. It matches the copy of Anne of Green Gables that my daughter-in-law gave me earlier this year for my 75th birthday! One is never too old to read great stories!
7). One of my daughters has moved to Sudbury, MA, and I look forward to visiting Orchard House next year!!
Hannah Whittaker says
Watching Little Women with you, Haley, and others was fun!!
So many wonderful insights.
Thank you!
Jennifer Corkern says
Hello! These are great discussion questions. I’m still re-reading the book, so I’ll defer answering until I’m finished. I read it last when I was 11 (stayed up all night to finish it!)
I do have a question- Beth does not die in my edition (Puffin in full bloom). She recovers from scarlet fever. Is this just the edition or am I remembering this part wrong? I know the movies have her die, but I thought the book did as well.
Megan says
It must just be that edition. She recovers from the Scarlet Fever, but she’s never the same again. She does end up passing away later on in the book while Amy is abroad, and Jo does come home to be with her in her last days. Hopefully that helps!
Megan says
1. I relate a little bit to each of the sisters, but mainly to Meg. I always tend to care about what other people think of me and their opinions of me. That’s something I struggle with…being a people pleaser. And Meg was this people/society pleaser, so to speak.
2. If the narrator had been anyone but Jo, I feel that maybe the narrator might not be as reliable. They might’ve focused on more of their personal story instead of each of the sisters’ stories equally.
3. When Amy sets Jo’s book on fire, I get so mad at Amy. But then I also feel like Jo’s reaction is way over the top. I’m mixed on this.
4. My favorite quote from the first part of the book is: “Our burdens are here, our road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the guide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peace which is a true Celestial City. Now, my little pilgrims, suppose you begin again, not in play, but in earnest, and see how far on you can get before Father comes home.”
5. The relationship I relate to the most is Marmee and her little women, as I have two daughters.