Chapters 1 and 2

NOTE: Page numbers refer to the Barnes & Noble Classics paperback edition.

Background Information/Vocabulary:

•  If you're curious about Pilgrim's Progress, the book the March girls used to act out, you can find it here.  (Despite my love for Little Women, I've never been able to make myself read all of Pilgrim's Progress, but it's there if you want it.)  There are many references to Pilgrim's Progress throughout Little Women, including a number of the chapter titles.  It's basically an allegory for how to live a Christian life.
• "thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was."  (p. 11) Their father is off working as a chaplain in the Union (Northern) army during the Civil War.

• A general note about Amy--when she uses words that are put in italics, it often means she is misusing a word, or making one up entirely.  Her attempts to use vocabulary she doesn't understand are part of her wish to live a fancier life than the one she has.  So, for example, "statirical" (for "satirical", although that word doesn't quite fit here either) and "vocabilary" (for "vocabulary") are Amy-isms. (p. 12)
   
• Wearing your hair "up" (p.13)--in a net like Jo's, or pinned/braided/etc--was a sign of young womanhood.  Younger girls wore their hair down.  You'll see other age markers, but essentially, the things that marked you as a woman also marked you as suitable for marriage (or at least for thinking about it.)  The Marches seem not to believe in marrying off their teenage daughters at such a young age, but getting married at 17 or 18 wasn't unusual, and some girls married even younger. 

• "Simper" (p. 17)--to do something in an artificially fancy or delicate way
   
• Hannah, the March family's servant, speaks in dialect.  So here, "creeter" means "creature" (but really means a person), "vittles" means "victuals" (food), and "firin'" means the materials to build a fire.  (p. 22)

• "foil" (p. 25)--a thin sword, used for fencing (not real fighting)
  
• "slashed doublet" (p. 25)--a type of jacket.  See photo below.
  
• "dress circle" (p. 25)--a seating area in a theater (in this case, where the audience sat for the Marches' show.)

• Remember that, in the days before freezers or supermarkets or electric ice cream makers, ice cream was a much bigger deal!  Ditto giant bouquets of flowers in Massachusetts at Christmas--flowers would have been very expensive, or else come from your own personal greenhouse, which not many people could have afforded.  In other words, this table is laid out in a VERY expensive manner. (p. 29)

• When the March girls talk about getting to know Theodore Laurence, they are referencing rules of polite society that indicate that people must be formally introduced before striking up a friendship.  Despite the Marches' relative poverty, they had money in the past and are clearly a genteel (high-class) family, so these rules would be important to them.  The exception, as usual, is Jo, who hates the social conventions that keep her in dresses with her hair up, acting as prim and proper as she can bear.  (p. 30)

My Noticings:

•  These first four lines of dialogue really set up the March sisters nicely.  Jo is "grumbling" and lying on the rug: nothing fancy about her.  Meg is lamenting the state of her dress.  Amy is jealous of her peers who have more "pretty things."  Beth is happy with what she has: a family.  Things will go on pretty much in this vein for the next few hundred pages.

• The chapter goes on and on like this: the things the girls want for Christmas, their hardships, the things they resolve to buy for their mother, the chores they do when their mother gets home--all of these show, in turn, what each girl is like.  By the end of the chapter we have quite a good idea of who's who.

• Ok, so, with a little attention to detail and logistics, given that there are only four actors, you can parse out who plays which roles in this extremely convoluted play that Jo wrote.  Here's what I think I've figured out: Roderigo=Jo.  Hagar=Meg.  Spirit=Amy. Imp=Beth. Zara=Amy.  Don Pedro=Meg.  Retainer/servant=Beth.  Fernando=Amy.  Hugo=Jo.

Final Thoughts:

This is a pretty solid introduction to the March girls and their mother; the men of the piece have been mentioned but not yet introduced (and in fact, it will be AGES till Mr. March actually makes an appearance.)  Jo's play is pretty goofy but not a bad effort for a play written by a fifteen-year-old and performed in a living room.

Question for readers:

Which March sister is your favorite so far?  Which one do you identify with the most closely in the first two chapters?  Why?