100 Fun Facts About Little Women

When Father falls ill in Washington, what does Jo sell to help pay for the trip?

Her hair, called her one beauty, fetched $25 for the trip, and Jo laughed it off to the family, then sobbed into her pillow that night while Meg comforted her.

What happens to Beth's canary during the girls' week without chores?

He starves because Beth forgot to feed him, and after his funeral the girls admit Marmee was right that all play and no work turns out badly.

What is the second volume of Little Women called in the United Kingdom?

Good Wives, the British title for Part Two, suits a volume that opens with Meg's wedding and ends with Jo, Meg and Amy all married.

What happens to Amy soon after she burns Jo's manuscript?

She falls through the ice while trailing an angry Jo on a skating trip, and after Jo and Laurie pull her out, Jo confesses her temper to Marmee, who admits she once had one too.

The March girls' secret Pickwick Club takes its name from a novel by which author?

Charles Dickens supplied the club's name and the members' aliases, and when Jo revealed Laurie hiding in the closet, he joined and built a post office in the hedge.

At the start of Little Women, where is Mr. March?

Serving as a chaplain in the Union Army, Mr. March writes asking his girls to conquer their faults so he can come home fonder and prouder than ever of his little women.

Why does Jo avoid dancing at the Gardiners' New Year's Eve party?

Her dress is scorched at the back from standing too near the fire, so Jo hides in a curtained recess, where she meets the shy Laurence boy from next door.

What secret about Meg's missing glove does Laurie tell Jo?

Mr. Brooke has it, Laurie reveals, expecting Jo to find it romantic, but she is disgusted and wishes he hadn't told her, since it means someone might take Meg away.

What are the names of Meg and John's twins?

Daisy and Demi so absorbed Meg that John began spending evenings out, until Marmee urged her to let him share in raising Demi and to make home a place he wanted to be.

What illness does Beth catch from the Hummel family?

Scarlet fever reached Beth when she went to the Hummels after Meg and Jo put it off, and the baby died in her lap; she recovered but was never as healthy again.

While staying with Aunt March during Beth's illness, what does Amy write?

Her will, witnessed by Laurie, got a codicil once Amy asked about adding postscripts: all her curls were to be cut off and shared among her friends.

What does Amy tell Laurie that Rome taught her about her painting?

Talent isn't genius, Amy decided in Rome, and the idea stuck with Laurie, who later tore up his own music sheets, admitting she was right about him too.

What does Jo do when Laurie proposes?

Declines, telling Laurie she has tried to love him that way but cannot, so his grandfather takes the heartbroken young man abroad to help him recover.

What does Jo write anonymously in New York for extra money?

Professor Bhaer's disapproval persuades her to give up the genre.

What subject does a fellow boarder teach Jo in New York?

German was the bargain: when Professor Bhaer found Jo secretly mending his clothes, he insisted on repaying her with lessons, and four lessons in she stuck fast in grammar.

What does Aunt March leave Jo when she dies?

Her estate, Plumfield, became a school, with Friedrich to teach, Jo to mother the pupils, and Mr. Laurence paying the way for the poorest ones.

What is the name of Laurie and Amy's daughter?

Elizabeth 'Bess', named for her late aunt Beth, was so fragile that the fear of losing her drew Amy and Laurie even closer together.

Which allegory do the March girls constantly reference and 'play'?

The Pilgrim's Progress was the girls' childhood game, with bundles for burdens and the housetop as the Celestial City, and Marmee has them play it again in earnest against their faults.

Which Alcott novel is the last about the March family?

Jo's Boys closes the March story with Jo a famous author, worn out by the fans who write for autographs and walk into her house uninvited.

Which publisher urged Alcott to write 'a girl's book'?

Thomas Niles pressed Alcott for a girls' book though she doubted she knew enough about girls, and she finally agreed to try, drawing the Marches from her own family.

In which Massachusetts home did Louisa May Alcott write Little Women?

Orchard House is where Alcott dashed off Part One within three months, writing in her bedroom at a shelf desk her father had built for her.

Which member of the Alcott family illustrated the first edition of Little Women?

May, who inspired Amy, struggled with those first pictures, made before she studied art in Europe, but she later improved and found real success as an artist.

Which real person was Meg based on?

Anna's husband John Bridge Pratt was the model for John Brooke.

Just before Professor Bhaer proposes, what reason does Jo give for crying?

He is going away to teach out West, Jo sobs in the rain, and the delighted Professor answers that he has nothing but love to give, proposing right there under his umbrella.

Why does Aunt Carrol take Amy abroad, not Jo?

Jo dislikes favors, she declared, saying they made her feel like a slave, and that remark plus her scorn for French cost her the trip, which went to the more docile Amy.

Who played Jo in George Cukor's 1933 film of Little Women?

Katharine Hepburn had the costume designer copy one of Jo's dresses from a dress her own grandmother wore in an old photograph.

Who played Amy in the 1949 colour film of Little Women?

Elizabeth Taylor played Amy, who in this version is several years older than Beth, though in the novel Beth is thirteen and Amy only twelve.

Who played Jo in the 1994 film of Little Women?

Winona Ryder was the studio's condition: Columbia said it would consider the film only if she played Jo.

Which two actresses shared the role of Amy in the 1994 film of Little Women?

Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis shared Amy after the filmmakers weighed one actress for both ages and decided a child turning adult didn't work.

Who played Laurie in the 1994 film of Little Women?

Christian Bale was cast as Laurie on the recommendation of the actress who played Jo.

Who wrote and directed the 2019 film of Little Women?

Greta Gerwig was hired in 2016 only to write the screenplay, and two years later she was announced as the film's director too.

Who played Jo in the 2019 film of Little Women?

Saoirse Ronan's Jo ends the film haggling with her publisher for copyright and royalties, a finish that swaps the novel's focus on love and marriage for power in art and commerce.

Which Oscar did the 2019 film of Little Women win?

Best Costume Design went to Jacqueline Durran, who had Jo and Laurie share waistcoats on purpose to show how closely the two friends identified with each other.

Who played Aunt March in the 2019 film of Little Women?

Meryl Streep's Aunt March takes Amy to Europe in this version, a trip that the novel gives to Aunt Carrol instead.

What gossip about Marmee does Meg overhear at the Moffats'?

Matchmaking plans, the gossips said, to marry Meg to rich young Laurie, yet Marmee later told Meg she would rather see her girls poor men's wives, if happy, than queens without self-respect.

Who played Jo in the BBC's 2017 Little Women?

Maya Hawke quit Juilliard to take Jo, her screen debut, and later found fame as Robin Buckley in Stranger Things.

Who starred as Jo in the 2005 Broadway musical of Little Women?

Sutton Foster was worth the wait: the producers pushed the show's tryout back from early 2004 to the autumn because she wasn't free any sooner.

What is the name of the March family's only servant?

Hannah Mullet was the first to recover when the telegram about Father came, setting everyone to work, since for her work cured most troubles.

What gift does Mr. Laurence give Beth?

A piano that had belonged to his late granddaughter, and shy Beth was so moved that she went next door, put her arms round his neck and kissed him.

When Meg's jelly fails, what does her husband do?

He brings a friend home to dinner unannounced, as Meg had often told him he could, and the ruined day ends in the couple's first real quarrel.

Who played Laurie in the 2019 film of Little Women?

Timothée Chalamet styled Laurie himself: the costume designer handed him period pieces and let him decide which to wear and how.

What illness strikes Mr. March in Washington, drawing Marmee away from home?

Pneumonia laid Mr. March low, and Mr. Laurence offered to escort Marmee to Washington himself, but she would not hear of the old gentleman making the long journey.

What nickname does Jo alone use for her friend Laurie?

Teddy was Jo's name for Laurie alone, and years later it became the name of her own youngest son as well.

Who played Marmee in the 1994 film of Little Women?

Susan Sarandon had a strict rule about not leaving her young children, but the production worked it out, and her daughter was with her on the set.

Amy's teacher Mr. Davis punishes her for bringing what to school?

Pickled limes were the school craze, and after Mr. Davis made Amy throw hers away and struck her palm, Marmee took her out of that school.

Which future star played Beth in the 1994 film of Little Women?

Claire Danes's wig caught fire as the sisters carried candles up the stairs, and the actress playing Jo slapped the flames out.

Who directed the 1994 film of Little Women?

Gillian Armstrong first said no, finding it too close to her My Brilliant Career, another period story of a girl who becomes a writer, until the producer talked her round.

In Little Women, which rich English friend of Laurie's does Amy refuse to marry?

Fred Vaughn was the rich suitor Amy had planned to accept, but Laurie's disappointment and her own misgivings led her, to her own surprise, to refuse him.

What does Jo's $100 story prize pay for?

A seaside trip for Beth and Marmee, though Father told Jo to aim higher and never mind the money; Beth came home much better and Marmee felt ten years younger.

In Little Women, Laurie's father displeased Mr. Laurence by marrying whom?

An Italian musician was Laurie's mother, and his gift for music reminded Mr. Laurence of her, so the old man feared the boy might want to be a musician too.

In Little Women, what does Amy March wear on her nose overnight, hoping to improve its shape?

A clothespin, the kind artists use to hold paper on drawing boards, is her cure for a flat nose she blames on Jo, who dropped her into the coal hod as a baby.

At Jo's disastrous dinner in Little Women, what has she sprinkled over the strawberries by mistake?

Salt went on instead of sugar, and the cream that came with the fruit had turned sour. Laurie ate his helping manfully while Amy choked and fled the table.

In Little Women, which part of herself does the artistic Amy get stuck in a pan of hardened plaster?

Her foot sets fast when the plaster hardens quicker than expected, and Jo laughs so hard while digging her out that the knife slips and cuts it.

In Little Women, Jo and Professor Bhaer become engaged in the rain while sharing what?

An umbrella, old and blue, shelters the pair as he proposes, and the chapter is named for it. He cannot kneel because of the mud, and both his hands are full of parcels.

Little Women author Louisa May Alcott was the first woman in her Massachusetts town to do what?

She was the first to register to vote there, for a school board election in 1879, and was disappointed when few of her neighbours followed her to the polls.

Before writing Little Women, Louisa May Alcott spent part of the American Civil War in which role?

A nurse at a Georgetown hospital, she had wanted to enlist as a soldier. Her time there became Hospital Sketches, the book that first won her critical success.

The title Little Women repeats a phrase from which piece of writing read aloud in chapter one?

A letter home from Mr. March hopes he will come back fonder and prouder than ever of his little women, a line that leaves all four girls in tears.

In Friends, which character agrees to read Little Women while Rachel reads The Shining?

Joey takes on Alcott's novel in the third-season episode The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends, which first aired in January 1997.

In Little Women, how did Mr. March lose the family's money before the story begins?

Trying to help a friend in trouble cost him his property, so the two eldest girls begged to be allowed to earn something toward their own keep.

On Christmas morning in Little Women, what do the March sisters carry to a poor family nearby?

Their breakfast goes to a mother with a newborn and six children huddled in one bed, and the four girls content themselves with bread and milk.

In Little Women, which Christmas present for her mother does Amy swap for a bigger, costlier one?

A bottle of cologne was her choice because a small one left money for drawing pencils. Ashamed of that, she spends everything she has on a handsome large flask.

In Little Women, what does Meg suffer at a New Year's Eve dance because of her tight high heels?

A sprained ankle strands her at the party until Laurie offers his grandfather's carriage, and he rides outside on the box so that she can rest it.

In Little Women, Amy burns Jo's manuscript in revenge for being left out of an outing to where?

The theatre outing was Laurie's treat for Meg and Jo, a fairy play called The Seven Castles of the Diamond Lake, and Amy was told she was not invited.

In Little Women, what kind of animal is Scrabble, who shares the garret where Jo writes?

A rat with literary tastes, Scrabble eats the pages of any book left within reach, so Jo shuts her papers in an old tin kitchen hung on the wall.

In Little Women, what does Laurie set up in the hedge after joining the sisters' secret club?

A post office made from an old martin house lets the two households trade books, bundles and messages, and gingerbread, garden seeds and puppies go by it too.

At Camp Laurence in Little Women, Jo beats a cheating English guest at which lawn game?

Croquet turns tense when the guest nudges his ball through a wicket with his toe. Jo keeps her cool and later wins the game with a clever stroke.

In Little Women, which career does old Mr. Laurence plan for Laurie, who would rather make music?

India merchant was the old man's own trade, and Laurie says he hates the tea, silk and spices the family's ships bring and would rather be shot.

At the start of Little Women, sixteen-year-old Meg helps support her family by working as what?

A governess to the King children, she finds the work hard to bear because every day she sees the ball gowns, bouquets and gaiety her own family can no longer afford.

In Little Women, which keepsake does Aunt March give Amy for behaving well during Beth's illness?

A turquoise ring, too big for her finger, comes with a guard to hold it on. Amy asks leave to wear it as a reminder not to be selfish.

In Little Women, which prank does Laurie play on Meg to punish Jo for keeping a secret from him?

Forged love notes signed with John Brooke's name fool Meg into sending an answer, until Jo studies the pair and sees that one hand wrote both.

In Little Women, what name is given to the small brown house where Meg and John begin married life?

The Dovecote was Laurie's name for it, because the gentle lovers went on like a pair of turtledoves. Its dining room is so small that six people are a tight fit.

In Little Women, which purchase for Amy's lunch party spills out of her basket on the omnibus?

A lobster, in all its vulgar size, is exposed to one of Laurie's most elegant college friends when an old lady upsets the basket on her way out.

In Little Women, which New York paper, edited by Mr. Dashwood, pays Jo for her writing?

The Weekly Volcano accepts her tale only after Dashwood strikes out every moral reflection she had put in as ballast, and he holds that morals don't sell.

In Little Women, whose works does Professor Bhaer give Jo as a New Year's present in New York?

William Shakespeare, in a volume Bhaer prized on his own shelf, comes with advice: read him well, and his study of character will help her paint it with her pen.

In Little Women, what are Amy and Laurie doing together at the moment she accepts his proposal?

Rowing a boat with an oar each, they keep such good time that Laurie asks whether they might always pull together, and Amy says yes.

In Little Women, in which European city do Amy and Laurie quietly marry before sailing home?

Paris hosts the quiet ceremony at the American consul's, arranged because Amy's aunt would not let her travel back with Laurie and his grandfather unchaperoned.

The final chapter of Little Women gathers the whole family for which yearly autumn outing?

Apple picking doubles as a party for Marmee as she turns sixty, with her husband, three daughters, their husbands and five grandchildren around her.

In Little Women, Laurie says he dropped his first name because schoolboys twisted it into what?

Dora was the taunt, so he made his schoolmates say Laurie instead, and when Jo asks how he managed it he tells her he thrashed them.

In Little Women, which fault does Marmee tell Jo she has spent forty years trying to cure?

Her temper still rises nearly every day, she admits, but she has learned not to show it, a confession that does Jo more good than the wisest lecture.

In Little Women, John Brooke first appears in the story holding which job in the Laurence household?

Tutor to Laurie, he says he will turn soldier once his pupil is off to college, and he later serves a year in the war and comes home wounded.

Which Louisa May Alcott sequel follows Jo March and her husband as they run a school together?

Little Men, published in 1871, shows lessons learned through nature and experience, an approach that reflects the teaching ideals of Bronson Alcott.

When Little Women author Louisa May Alcott was a child, her family acted as station masters on what?

The Underground Railroad made their home a refuge for people escaping slavery, and Alcott traced her own abolitionism back to her childhood.

A 2022 television drama called Little Women, about three poor sisters, was made in which country?

South Korea produced it for the cable network tvN, with a thriller plot: a friend believed dead leaves one sister a fortune, and the country's richest family will do anything to stop them.

As a girl, Little Women author Louisa May Alcott had biology lessons from which naturalist?

Henry David Thoreau also taught her Native American history, and he is counted among the men who inspired the character of Professor Bhaer.

In Little Women, which handmade gift does shy Beth smuggle onto Mr. Laurence's study table?

Embroidered slippers, worked with pansies on a deep purple ground, are her thanks for the hours of music he lets her enjoy at the big house.

In Little Women, what does Jo toss at an upstairs window to make the lonely Laurie look out?

A snowball brings him to the window, where he says a bad cold has kept him shut up for a week, and the visit that follows starts their friendship.

Before coming to live with his grandfather in Little Women, Laurie went to school in which country?

Switzerland was where he boarded, at Vevay, in a school whose pupils never wore hats and spent their holidays on walking tours with the teachers.

Who played Jo in MGM's 1949 Technicolor film of Little Women, opposite Peter Lawford as Laurie?

June Allyson led the cast for producer and director Mervyn LeRoy, with Janet Leigh as Meg and Margaret O'Brien as Beth.

On her first visit to the ailing Laurie in Little Women, Jo brings Beth's kittens and which dessert?

Blancmange made by Meg comes ringed with green leaves and the red flowers of Amy's pet geranium, and Laurie says it looks too pretty to eat.

In Little Women, old Mr. Laurence overhears Jo judging his character while she studies which object?

His portrait shows kind eyes and a grim mouth, she declares, and he is less handsome than her own grandfather. The real man behind her turns out to have a sly twinkle.

Louisa May Alcott partly based Laurie in Little Women on a young émigré friend from which country?

Poland was the homeland of Ladislas Wisniewski, a young revolutionary she met on a European tour; he taught her French and she taught him English.

Under which pen name did Little Women author Louisa May Alcott publish lurid tales for adults?

A. M. Barnard signed thrillers such as Behind a Mask and A Marble Woman; the sensation stories paid well, and the pen name kept them apart from her own.

As a child, Little Women author Louisa May Alcott lived on which utopian farm commune?

Fruitlands, co-founded by Bronson Alcott, lasted only seven months because the farming proved too hard, and she later wrote it up in Transcendental Wild Oats.

In Little Women, which Camp Laurence game has each player carry on a shared tale in turn?

Rigmarole has each teller stop at an exciting point for the next to take over, and the group's tale wanders from a knight to a mermaid at the bottom of the sea.

Little Women author Louisa May Alcott shared what with her father, who died two days before her?

A birthday on November 29 joined them, 33 years apart, and she died of a stroke in Boston two days after his death in March 1888.

In Little Women, what is the title of the first tale Jo sees printed in a newspaper?

The Rival Painters earns her nothing, because the editor does not pay beginners, and she reads it aloud to the family before admitting who wrote it.

In the opening chapter of Little Women, which habit of Jo's is scolded as too boyish?

Whistling with her hands in her pockets is her answer to a complaint about her slang, and she says that being boyish is exactly why she does it.

Mark Adamo's 1998 version of Little Women, commissioned by a Houston company, takes which form?

An opera with words and music both by Adamo, it began as a small studio production and did so well that the company brought it back on its main stage in 2000.

Tales of Little Women, a 1987 animated television series of the novel, came from which country?

Japan's Nippon Animation made it for the World Masterpiece Theater strand, with contributions from artists later well known at Studio Ghibli.

At the start of Little Women, Jo earns money in which role for her wealthy, lame great-aunt?

Her companion is a trying job, but the old lady's house holds a large library of fine books, left to dust and spiders, that Jo counts as the real attraction.