Little Women, Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of Little Women.

Did you enjoy reading this section this week? I thought it was fun to get a little bit more information about each of the girls this week. 

At the beginning of this section, Meg attends a fancy party and gets in over her head. I really did not like the way the other girls were treating her. It was ridiculous that they were treating her like she was a person to be pitied just because she didn't have as much money as everyone else. One of the confusing things for me throughout the book is the fact that the March family wasconsidered poor, but from my perspective, it seemed like they had a good amount of money. Maybe they didn't have as much money as everyone else, but they seemed to be comfortable. What do you think? Do you think the people around them were more in the upper crust, and the March family was more of a middle class family? What did you think of Laurie and Meg in this section? He was very brotherly towards her. I felt like he was really trying to protect her, and he wanted her to make good decisions. 

Another very exciting thing in this section was the fact that Jo had one of her stories published in the newspaper. I thought it was interesting that she was so proud to have published because she hoped it would lead to her being able to support herself and help her sisters. Do you think she believes that if she is a good enough writer, she can stop her sisters from marrying and leaving the house? She seems to hope that no one will leave the family. She definitely didn't like the fact that Mr. Brooke has a crush on Meg. Do you think, considering the time period, that Jo would be able to fully support herself without the help of a man? Is that an attainable dream for her? Do you think it's fair that she wants all of her sisters to stay with her forever? 

In the last two chapters, Marmee leaves the family to go tend to her ill husband, and the family is thrown into chaos. Jo decides to cut off all of her hair to raise money for the family, and the Laurences come together to help Marmee travel. Mr. Brooke decides to accompany Marmee--do you think he is doing this for Marmee or because he thinks it will make Meg like him more? It seems like his offer to travel with Marmee made Meg very thankful, and I think it made her look at him differently. What did you think of everyone's letters in the last chapter? I thought it was funny how each letter was so different in tone and matched each character so well. Jo's letter was very dramatic, Meg's was serious, and Amy's was mostly about herself. I liked Mr. Laurence's letter the best. He is so kind. I'm glad the March women have him around. 

What do you think will happen to Mr. March? It seems that he's getting better, but do you think this sickness will be the thing that brings him home? What do you think will happen with Mr. Brooke and Meg? How long do you think it will take Jo to grow her hair out? 

What parts of this section did you enjoy the most? Did you have a favorite chapter or scene that I didn't mention? 

Did you know that you can visit Louisa May Alcott's house? Check out the website to learn more and check out the Digital Discoveries page to see some artifacts from the house. Does it look like a place you would like to visit? 

Check out the video link before you go to see how well the stars of the latest movie version know the characters from the book!

I hope you'll join us next week as we finish the book! I can't wait to hear from you in the comments section.