Little Women

by Jessica Bartel

Little Women: How different is the movie from the book

Index

1. Louisa May Alcott

8. important book scenes that didn't get mentioned in the movie

2. Facts about the Novel

3. Characters

4. chronical order of the book

5. historical background

6. chronological order of the movie

7. general differences and particularities of the book and the movie

9. Reviews

10. Movie scenes

11. Conclusion

Louisa May Alcott

2

• coming-of-age novel
• point of view; Third person Omniscient
• Past tense
• written during and after the American Civil War
• it´s a semi-autobiography

Facts about the novel

Characters

Josephine March/ Jo

Elizabeth March/ Beth

Theodore Laurence/ Laurie

Margaret March/ Marmee

Amy Curtis March

Margaret March/ Meg

Christmas

Sisters go back to work and school

spending time at the Laurence´s

Attending a ball

Chronological order of the book

getting to know Laurie and Mr. Laurence

Amy burning Jo`s book

Jo proposing that Laurie joins their acting club

Meg recieves a glove from Mr Brooke

Meg staying with a friend and attending parties

Chronological order of the book

Taking breaks and dealing with chaos at home

Talking about their dreams and how Laurie can`t follow them

Telegram from father and Marmee leaving for a while to take care of him

Beth recovers after becoming dreadfully ill

Jo`s first time giving her manuscript to the newspapers

Beth going to the Hummels

Chronological order of the book

Laurie writing a love letter in the name of Mr Brooke --> got in trouble

Mr.Brookes asking Meg to marry him in a few years

Meg gets married

Mr.March coming back

Three year fowards jump

Chronological order of the book

Amy is more into her art and decides to throw a party with only one person showing up

Meg gets mad because of their money problems

Amy gets to meet Fred Vaughn again and is planning to accept his proposal

Jo enters a writing competition and ends up winning it

Amy working at a fair

Chronological order of the book

Beth is falling in love with Laurie

Jo writes stories for a newsletter in NY

Beth and Jo going to the sea and Beth confessing that she feels like she`ll die soon

Jo meets Bhaer

Laurie confesses his feelings for Jo and gets rejected

Chronological order of the book

Amy and Laurie met up and attended Ball together in France

Death of Beth

Jo gets lonely and misses Beth

Fred Vaughn proposes to Amy

Chronological order of the book

Laurie and Amy staying together in Nice for a month

Laurie, Amy and Mr.Laurence are back home

Jo and Bhaer run into each other

Jo opens a school

Amy and Laurie decide to support people with money

Aunt March passes away

Chronological order of the book

Was written during the American Civil War

Historical background

Jo sells her stories in New York

Amy is in Paris and meets Laurie and talks about the rejection from Jo

Jo attends a play and a party afterward with Friedrich Bhaer

Jo talking to Professor Friedrich Bhear

Meg buys the silk

Chronological order of the book

flashback from 7 years ago and Meg and Jo getting ready for the ball

Jo writing a book in New York and receiving the Shakespeare books from Bhaer

Jo lets Bhaer read her text and not being able to receive his criticism well

Jo and Laurie met formally for the first time

Amy attends a ball with Fred Vaughn and Laurie ruining it and arguing with Amy while being drunk and with multiple female companies

Chronological order of the movie

Jo received the letter about Beth´s condition and returns immediately

getting a surprise breakfast from the Laurence´s

Jo arriving back in Massachusetts and Bhaer asking for her

Flashback to Christmas

The March sisters playing their play in front of an audience

Chronological order of the movie

Holidays are over

Amy got in trouble for sketching her teacher

The Laurences welcome the Marchs and offer them the things they desire

Jo spent time with Aunt March and argued with her about the importance of marriage and her parents

Jo´s first time at the Laurence´s

Chronological order of the movie

Jo arrives and takes a look into the letterbox

Jo gets back into the house

Amy burns Jo´s story

Jo proposing to have Laurie in their acting group and Laurie got chosen after a quick discussion

Jo and Meg going to the theather with Laurie and Mr. Brooke

Chronological order of the movie

Amy tries to get Jo´s forgiveness

Beth woke up to Jo and Jo takes care of her

Beth is playing the Laurences piano for the first time

Amy catching a cold and Jo having a long conversation about her anger and feelings with her mother

Meg is on her way to a ball

Chronological order of the movie

Meg and Mr.Brooke arguing over poverty

The March sisters going to the seaside with Laurie, Mr. Brooke, and Fred Vaughn

Mrs. March helps the country by packing things for the ones at war

Laurie visits Amy while she is drawing and discussing her dreams of an artist and the picture of women in society and Fred Vaughn

Beth and Jo at the seaside

Chronological order of the movie

Marmee receives a letter from the military and quickly makes her way to her husband

Amy and Laurie talked about his grandfather

Beth goes to Mr.Laurence to thank him and he noticed that she has a fever

Jo cuts her hair and sells it to give her mum money for her father and crying afterward

Beth making a pair of slippers to thank Mr.Laurence and visiting the Hummel´s

Chronological order of the movie

Jo reading Beth a story she wrote at the seaside

Aunt March being fond of Amy and promised her a ring

Mr.Brooke telling Meg to take care of Beth and that he´ll look after the kids

Jo taking care of Beth the first time she gets sick

Fred Vaughn proposing and Amy rejecting it

Chronological order of the movie

Beth gets healthy

Beth´s death and her funeral

Jo rejects Lauries proposal

Mr.March comes back

Meg´s and Mr.Brooke´s wedding + Amy gets invited to europe

Chronological order of the movie

Laurie and Amy went back and got married

Jo begins to write Little Women

Bhaer showed up and left after a while

Jo writing a letter and putting it into the mailbox

Aunt March´s death

Chronological order of the movie

Clear seperation of girlhood and adulthood --> Chapter One = girlhood

Not in the chronological book order

Movie

VS

Book

They got closer to Laurie in a different way and met his grandfather in a different situation

The time when they got judged by kat Vaughn because of their poverty

Book scenes that were different from movie scenes or not even displayed

• "A timeless classic that I enjoyed just as much now as I did when I first read it at school"
• " I found myself scanning the book because of its slow plot. There aren´t many exciting events to keep the reader hooked throughout"
• "I was a bit surprised by how Amy and Laurie are written. Having now read the book, I feel that no one has yet truly captured their essences on screen"
• "That feeling when you spend the whole majority of the book desperately longing to be a Jo, but end up realizing you´re actually just a beth
• "Alexa, play "Champagne Problems" by Taylor Swift"
  

Book reviews

• "We enjoyed the movie but some of the editing choices made it difficult to follow the story and to differentiate between the times when the girls were younger teenagers and when they were young adults"
• "This chronological shuffling jolts the story awake and nudges the viewer to pay close attention"
• "Though Alcott`s work has been adapted many times before, Gerwig`s movie could rightfully become the definitive adaption

Movie review

The contrast between the past and the present is very noticeable in those two scenes. As Beth gets to be healthy in the first scene, which is colorful, whereas in the next where Beth passes away everything gets cold and gloomy

Beth´s last christmas

Laurie and Jo dance outside of the ball hall

Both, the book and the movie are something everyone should´ve watched or read at least once. Just to see the sisters growing up together is a very refreshing feeling and might make you think about memories of your childhood