LITTLE

WOMEN
By
Matt Buchanan
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 LITTLE WOMEN
A FULL LENGTH PLAY

By Matt Buchanan
Copyright © MMVI by Matt Buchanan
All Rights Reserved
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Publishers, LLC

ISBN: 1-60003-201-X

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 LITTLE WOMEN

LITTLE WOMEN
By Matt Buchanan

SYNOPSIS: Based on the cherished novel by Louisa May Alcott, Little

Women tells the story of the four March Girls, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as they
grow to adulthood in Civil War era New England. The girls endure hardships
and privations, and eventually even a tragic loss, but their courage, their love
for each other, and the strength of their family bond never fade. This
adaptation stays very close to the original text and is especially popular with
those who truly love the book. An evening with sensible Meg, headstrong Jo,
quiet Beth and lively Amy makes a wonderful and moving theatrical
experience for the whole family.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

YOUNG JO*
YOUNG AMY*
YOUNG BETH*
YOUNG MEG*
MARMEE
HANNAH
MRS. GARDINER**
SALLY**
BOY GUEST**
YOUNG LAURIE*
SERVANT**
MR. LAURENCE
JENNY SNOW**
MR. DAVIS**
JOHN BROOKE
AUNT MARCH
MR. MARCH
OLDER AMY*
OLDER MEG*
OLDER LAURIE*
OLDER JO*
LAD**
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

OLDER BETH*
MR. SCOTT**
LOTTY**
MR. DASHWOOD**
PROFESSOR BHAER

*The roles of Amy, Beth, Jo, Meg and Laurie may be divided at intermission
so that one actor plays the character as a child and another as an adult, or
they may be played by the same five actors throughout.

**Indicates ensemble role that may be doubled.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

DIRECTOR’S NOTES
This play is written so that the roles of the four March girls and Laurie can be
played either by five actors throughout, or by five younger actors in Act One
and five older actors in Act Two. Particularly if you are working with student
actors, I strongly urge you to consider the second option. Apart from the
difficulty of playing a fifteen-year-old girl and a married adult in the same
play (let alone a twelve-year-old and a very glamorous adult), some of these
roles, if played by a single actor throughout, are simply enormous. The role of
Jo, in particular, is a powerhouse of a role even if it’s divided. (Plus, of course,
dividing the roles allows you to give twice as many performers the chance to
play really plum parts.) There is, however, one thing to keep in mind if you
decide to cast the play this way. Except for Jo, the older roles—particularly
Meg—are actually smaller roles than the younger ones. In terms of props and
scenery, your watchword should be “simplicity.” The play must flow
smoothly. Many props can be mimed. Others can be carried in pockets in the
actors’ costumes from the beginning of the play, so that they are there when
you need them. In the original production we discovered that the best way to
handle the myriad letters, notes, and clippings that are written, read, or
otherwise manipulated throughout the play was to simply store a supply of
paper and quills on the mantelpiece, to be grabbed as needed. Slates and other
small props were hidden in various spots around the stage as needed so that
they could be picked up without exiting. Anything you can do to facilitate the
smooth flow of the storytelling should be done. There is only one scene of
violence in the play—the schoolroom scene in which Amy is beaten with a
switch on her hand. This scene is most effective if the switch really sounds
painful, but obviously you can’t beat a child for real. In the original production
we solved this problem by making a “slapstick.” Two wooden rulers (or
similar) are taped tightly together at one end, but with a small shim—no
thicker than good card stock—inserted between them a few inches from the
taped end, so that they are not quite parallel, and there is a small space between
them at the untapped end. This will make a quite satisfyingly loud snap even
when struck very lightly against Amy’s hand. (The sound comes from the two
rulers striking against each other, rather than from them striking her hand.

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

COSTUMES

Because the original novel is so well known, this play really must be set in its
proper historical period. Audiences who thrill to see Shakespeare set in the
Jazz age or Sophocles set in a post-apocalyptic future will not tolerate Little
Women in any other period than its own—the mid-nineteenth century. That
said, however, the costumes need not be elaborate. The March girls are not
wealthy, so their clothes are simple, and the narrative structure of the play
means that multiple costume changes are not only unnecessary but practically
impossible. The same is true for Hannah and Marmee. (Aunt March should be
more elegant.) The four girls should have different, more grown-up costumes
for Act II even if the same performers are playing the roles, and all but Beth
should have some kind of outdoor coat or wrap that can be added for outdoor
scenes. Young Jo and Meg must each have something that can be added to the
basic costume to make it dressier for the dance scene. The men can also wear
the same costumes throughout, except that Laurie should have a younger and
an older costume. Laurie and Mr. Laurence are more elegant than the rest, and
Professor Bhaer is perhaps more rumpled. Laurie needs a graduation cap and
gown, and all of the men need outdoor things. The ensemble roles can be
costumed by having a sort of generic female and a generic male costume, to
which small elements can be added to indicate character. Just as the set is
mostly suggested, so can the costumes be, provided the overall effect of period
is maintained.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

SET

It is important that the set for this play be very simple. Even if you have the
resources to build multiple, fully realized sets, resist the impulse. The narrative
structure of the play is such that it can only work if scenes are allowed to flow
freely into one another with no breaks. The basic setting is the living room and
hearth of the March house. All that is needed is a fireplace, a rocking chair or
two, a hearthrug, and a couch that can be set up when Beth is ill. This same
hearth becomes the living room of Aunt March, of the Laurences, and of the
John Brookes after Meg’s marriage, with no physical alteration required.
Various chairs or stools can be moved on and off for such scenes as the
schoolroom and the lecture hall, and a few small tables can become the Brooke
kitchen table, Professor Bhaer’s desk, etc. The rowboat can be improvised
using two low stools or one low bench. In general, the dialogue contains all of
the information the audience will need to locate the various scenes. As a matter
of fact, the play can work with an even simpler set. I have seen it done quite
successfully with nothing but a few chairs and the fireplace that was a built-in
feature of the performance space.

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

PROP LIST

Blue knitted sock Pair of slippers

Tea table with tea things Firewood
Various letters, notes and quills Basket of Christmas gifts
Baskets of food Wooden toy sword
Cauldron Medicine bottles
Laden banquet table Tea cup
Plate of ice Basket of gifts and kittens
Small cabinet piano Bag of limes
Switch Bandages
Various newspapers Telegram
Various trunks and cases Purse of money
Lock of hair Turkey
Handful of newspaper clippings Jelly jars
Hand sewing Twin baby dolls
Newspaper hat Large sketchbook
Writing book Umbrella
Magazine clipping

PREMIERE PRODUCTION

Little Women was premiered at The Montgomery Academy, Montgomery,

AL, in 2003 with the following cast and crew:

Younger Meg ............................................................................. Beth Brantley

Younger Jo ................................................................................ Lillian Wilson
Younger Beth ................................................................................. Sarah Wool
Younger Amy............................................................................. Parker Garrett
Marmee .......................................................................................... Pam Froese
Hannah ...................................................................................... Lauren Sublett
Mrs. Gardiner ....................................................................... Caitlin Ackerman
Sally Gardiner ......................................................................... Katherine Jones
Man at ball ........................................................................... Forrest Flemming
Younger Laurie ................................................................................ Bill Butler
Old Mr. Laurence ...................................................................... Michael Reilly
Mr. Davis ............................................................................. Forrest Flemming
Jenny Snow .......................................................................... Caitlin Ackerman
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 LITTLE WOMEN

Classmates.................................................. Marcie Hobbs, Mary Patton Kyser

John Brooke .......................................................................Jackson McLendon
Aunt March .............................................................................. Blake Coleman
Mr. March ........................................................................ John Burns Paterson
Older Meg ................................................................................ Jessie vanDyke
Older Jo .............................................................................. Mary Patton Kyser
Older Beth ............................................................................... Katherine Jones
Older Amy ................................................................................. Marcie Hobbs
Older Laurie ............................................................................. Tazewell Jones
Lad ........................................................................................ Mike Hollabaugh
Lotty ..................................................................................... Caitlin Ackerman
Mr. Scott .............................................................................. Forrest Flemming
Aunt Carroll ............................................................................... Beth Brantley
Mr. Dashwood....................................................................... Mike Hollabaugh
Prof. Friedrich Bhaer....................................................................R. B. Walker

Director .................................................................................... Matt Buchanan

Stage Manager ............................................................................. Payne Curlin
Props ................................................ Julie Garrett, Gay Curlin, Nan Barganier
Costumes ......................................................................................... Gay Curlin
Makeup .......................................................................... Mary Margaret Kyser
Hair ............................................................ Mary Margaret Kyser, Gay Curlin

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

ACT ONE

AT RISE:
The March hearth. JO enters carrying a blue army sock SHE is knitting.
SHE addresses the audience. As SHE speaks, MEG, BETH and AMY
enter and sit by the fire.

JO: It was cold that December evening, but it was warm beside the
fire in the little house. The four girls who sat around that cheerful
blaze knitting socks for the Soldiers’ Aid should have been content,
but the prospect of the holiday about to take place seemed dismal.
Jo was fifteen, and she was the tomboy and the tartar of the family.
As usual she was the first to say what everyone was thinking. (joins
the others by the fire) Christmas won't be Christmas without any
presents.
AMY: I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things,
and other girls nothing at all.
BETH: We've got Father and Mother, and each other.
JO: We haven't got Father, and we won’t have him for a long time.
MEG: You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents
this Christmas was because it’s going to be a hard winter for
everyone. We ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our
men are suffering so in the army. We can't do much, but we can
make our little sacrifices.
JO: But I don't think the little we’d spend would do any good. We've
each got a dollar, and the army wouldn't be much helped by that. I
agree not to expect anything from Mother or you, but I did want to
buy a book for myself.
BETH: (quietly) I planned to spend mine on new music.
AMY: I shall get a nice box of drawing pencils.
JO: Mother didn't say anything about our money, and she won't want
us to give up everything. Let's each buy what we want, and have a
little fun. I'm sure we work hard enough to earn it.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

MEG: I know I do—teaching those tiresome children nearly all day. (to
audience) Meg, who was sixteen, sometimes wished she could be
a “real lady,” and spend her days “taking tea,” and “paying calls.”
But with Mr. March far away in the army, all the girls had to make
sacrifices. Meg worked as a Governess, and Jo spent her days as
paid companion to their cantankerous Aunt March.
JO: How would you like to be shut up for hours with a fussy old lady?
BETH: It's naughty to fret, but I think washing dishes and keeping
things tidy is the worst work in the world. My hands get so stiff, I
can't practice well at all. (to audience) Beth was the musician of the
family. She was too shy to thrive at school, and did her studies at
home as best she could. With her two older sisters away at their
jobs and little Amy off at school, it fell to Beth to be the homemaker
of the family, but if she complained this once, it was a rarity.
AMY: At least you don't have to go to school with impertinent girls,
who plague you if you don't know your lessons, and laugh at your
dresses, and label your father if he isn't rich.
JO: (laughing) If you mean libel, I'd say so, and not talk about labels
as if Papa was a pickle bottle.
AMY: I know what I mean, and you needn't be satirical about it! (to
audience) Twelve-year-old Amy was the baby of the family, and she
really did her best at school, but she was better at drawing than at
vocabulary, and her schoolmasters always complained that she
filled her primers with pictures of clouds and rabbits.
BETH: (to audience, suiting her actions to her words) The clock struck
six and, having swept up the hearth, Beth put a pair of slippers down
to warm before the fire. Somehow the sight of the old shoes had a
good effect on the girls. Mother was coming, and everyone
brightened to welcome her.
JO: (picks up the slippers and holds them before the fire) These are
quite worn out. Marmee must have a new pair.
BETH: I thought I'd get her some with my dollar.
AMY: No, I shall!
MEG: I'm the oldest—
JO: I'm the man of the family now that Papa is away, and I shall provide
the slippers.
BETH: Let's each get her something, and not get anything for
ourselves.
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

They pause in thought.

MEG: I shall give her a nice pair of gloves.

JO: Army shoes, best to be had!
BETH: Some handkerchiefs, all hemmed.
AMY: I'll get a little bottle of cologne. She likes it, and it won't cost
much, so I'll have some left to buy my pencils.
JO: Let’s let Marmee think we are getting things for ourselves, and
then surprise her. We must go shopping tomorrow afternoon.
There’s so much to do about the play for Christmas night.
MEG: I’m not acting any more after this time. I'm getting too old for
such things.

JO: Ha! You won't stop acting as long as you can trail round in a white
gown with your hair down, and wear gold-paper jewelry. (stalks
around in a parody of elegance and they all laugh) You are the best
actress we've got, and there'll be an end of everything if you quit.
MARMEE: (entering) Glad to find you so merry, my girls. There was
so much to do, getting the boxes ready to go tomorrow, that I didn't
come home to dinner. Has anyone called, Beth? How is your cold,
Meg? Jo, you look tired to death. Come and kiss me, baby. (The
girls rush to hug and kiss MARMEE. SHE addresses the audience
as SHE sits by the fire. The girls scurry around, then join her. MEG
brings on a little tea table.) While making these maternal inquiries,
Mrs. March got her wet things off and her warm slippers on, and
settled down to enjoy the happiest hour of her busy day. The girls
flew about, trying to make things comfortable, each in her own way.
Meg arranged the tea table. Jo brought wood and set chairs,
dropping, over-turning, and clattering everything she touched. Beth
trotted to and fro between parlor and kitchen, quiet and busy, while
Amy gave directions to everyone. (to the girls) I've got a treat for
you.

BETH and AMY clap their hands.

JO: A letter! A letter! Three cheers for Father!

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 LITTLE WOMEN

MARMEE: Yes, a nice long letter. He is well, and he sends all sorts of
loving wishes for Christmas, and a special message to you girls.
JO: (to audience) Letters were all the March women had of their father
that hard winter, but as hard as his absence was to bear, they knew
his trials were much worse. Yet this was a cheerful, hopeful letter,
full of lively descriptions of camp life, marches, and military news,
and only at the end did the writer's heart over-flow with fatherly love
and longing for the little girls at home.
MARMEE: (reading) Give them all my dear love and a kiss. Tell them
I think of them by day, pray for them by night, and find my best
comfort in their affection at all times. A year seems very long to wait
before I see them, but I know they will remember all I said to them,
that they will be loving children to you, do their duty faithfully, and
conquer themselves so beautifully that when I come back to them I
may be fonder and prouder than ever of my little women.
AMY: I am a selfish girl! But I'll truly try to be better, so he won't be
disappointed in me.
MEG: I think too much of my looks and hate to work, but I won't any
more.
JO: I'll try and be what he loves to call me—a “little woman”—and not
be rough and wild, but do my duty here instead of wanting to be
somewhere else.
BETH: (to audience) Beth said nothing, but wiped away her tears with
the blue army sock and began to knit with all her might.

The girls hug MARMEE, yawning, and exit. MARMEE pauses for a
second, reading over some part of the letter to herself, then smiles and
exits, taking the tea table with her. Lighting signals the passage of time.
After a pause, HANNAH enters the kitchen.

HANNAH: When the four girls came downstairs that Christmas

morning they found only old Hannah. She had lived with the family
since Meg was born, and was considered, by them all, more as a
friend than a servant.

The girls enter. MEG carries a basket of gifts.

MEG: Where’s Mother?

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

HANNAH: Goodness only knows. Some poor creature came a-

beggin', and your Ma went straight off to see what was needed.
There never was a woman like her for giving.
JO: Here she comes! Hide the basket, quick!

MARMEE enters in her outdoor things.

GIRLS: Merry Christmas, Marmee! Many of them! (Etc.)

MARMEE: Merry Christmas, little daughters. Come, gather close. I
want to say a word before we sit down. Not far away from here lies
a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children are huddled
into one bed to keep from freezing, because they have no fire. There
is nothing to eat over there. My girls, will you give them your
breakfasts as a Christmas present?

Pause, as they contemplate going hungry.

JO: I'm so glad you came before we started to eat!

BETH: May I go and help carry the things to the poor little children?
AMY: I shall take the cream and the muffins.
MARMEE: (pleased) I thought you'd do it! You shall all go and help
me. (During the following, the girls scramble around putting together
baskets of food, and carry them off. MARMEE addresses the
audience.) It was a very happy breakfast, and when they went
away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not, in all the city,
four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their
breakfast on Christmas morning.

MARMEE exits as JO enters and addresses the audience as the girls

set up for the “performance.” Additional girls may enter and sit in the
“audience.”

JO: The morning charities took so much time that the rest of the day
was devoted to preparations for the evening. Being still too young
to go often to the theater, the girls put their wits to work, and,
necessity being the mother of invention, made whatever they
needed. On Christmas night, a dozen girls piled onto the bed, which
was the dress circle, and the Operatic Tragedy began.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO runs off and almost immediately re-enters as HUGO, the villain.

After sawing the air with her wooden sword for a moment or two, SHE
strikes a pose.

JO/HUGO: What ho, minion! I need thee!

MEG/HAGAR: (enters as HAGAR, the witch, with a “cauldron”) My
lord Hugo! What can’st old Hagar, thy miserable servant, do for
thee?
JO/HUGO: Ah, Hagar, my faithful minion. Hear me well, for I have
need of thee. Can’st thou brew a potion that wilt make the fair Zara
adore me?
MEG/HAGAR: With the greatest ease, master.
(chanting) Hither, hither, from thy home,
Airy sprite, I bid thee come!
Bring me here, with elfin speed,
The fragrant philter which I need.

BETH appears as a lovely FAIRY. SHE is obviously nervous, and

speaks (or sings) quietly.

BETH/FAIRY: Hither I come,

From my airy home,
Afar in the silver moon.
Take the magic spell,
And use it well,
Or its power will vanish soon! (drops a bottle at MEG’s feet and
vanishes)
JO/HUGO: Ah, faithful Hagar! Is that the potion that will win my love’s
heart for me?
MEG/HAGAR: Aye, ‘tis the love potion.
JO/HUGO: Thanks, repulsive crone! But I have further need of thee.
The varlet Roderigo threatens to upset my plans and carry off my
love.
MEG/HAGAR: Ah, there can’st I truly help you, master.
(chanting) Approach now darkly from beyond,
Come from bog and swamp and pond,
Bring to me, with awful haste,
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

Poison—death at slightest taste.

Enter AMY as an Imp. SHE runs frantically around the others several
times, tosses a small bottle into JO’s outstretched hands, and exits.

JO/HUGO: At last! This elixir will free me of mine enemies forever!

Roderigo, prepare to meet thy doom! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! (to audience)
Jo’s sisters considered her a regular Shakespeare for the exciting
stories she wrote. By the time this one was over the girls were
hungry indeed.

A table laden with food is wheeled on by HANNAH and MARMEE.

HANNAH: Just then old Hannah appeared, with Mrs. March's

compliments, and to ask would the ladies walk down to supper. This
was a surprise even to the actors, and when they saw the table,
they looked at one another in rapturous amazement. It was like
Marmee to get up a little treat for them, but anything so fine as this
was unheard of.
AMY: Is it fairies?
BETH: Santa Claus.
MEG: Mother did it.
JO: Aunt March had a good fit and sent the supper.
MARMEE: All wrong. Old Mr. Laurence sent it.
MEG: The Laurence boy's grandfather?! What in the world put such a
thing into his head?
MARMEE: Hannah told one of his servants about your breakfast party.
He knew my father years ago, and he sent me a polite note this
afternoon, saying he hoped I would allow him to express his friendly
feeling toward my children by sending them a few trifles in honor of
the day.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: That boy put it into his head, I know he did! He's a capital fellow,
and I wish we could get acquainted. He looks as if he'd like to know
us but he's bashful, and Meg is so prim she won't let me speak to
him when we pass. (MEG sticks her tongue out at JO, who turns to
address the audience as the others clear away the Christmas
party.) “The Laurence boy,” as the girls had taken to calling him,
was destined to become one of their closest friends, but although
he lived next door, he and the girls were to have their first real
meeting in another place altogether. It began a few days after
Christmas, when Jo and Meg received—
MEG: (excited) An invitation! A regular note of invitation from Mrs.
Gardiner for tomorrow night! (reads) “Mrs. Gardiner would be happy
to see Miss March and Miss Josephine at a little dance on New
Year's Eve.” Marmee says we can go, now what shall we wear?
JO: What's the use of asking that, when you know we shall wear our
poplins, because we haven't got anything else? (to audience) After
various mishaps with her hair and her dress, Meg was ready for the
ball, and by the united exertions of the entire family Jo's hair was
got up and her dress on.

During the above, the family dress MEG and JO for the ball. As the
younger girls, MARMEE and HANNAH exit, MRS. GARDINER, SALLY,
and various other Gardiners and guests, including LAURIE, enter.

MRS. GARDINER: Mrs. Gardiner, a stately old lady, greeted them

kindly and handed them over to Sally, the eldest of her six
daughters. (to MEG and JO) Welcome, my dears. So glad you
could come. Sally will introduce you ‘round.

Dance music.

SALLY: (to her friends) Oh, we all know lovely Meg. And this is her
sister, Josephine.
BOY GUEST: May I have this dance, Meg?

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

They whirl away, joined by most of the others. JO is not asked to dance
and SHE drifts downstage and away from the others. LAURIE drifts in
a similar way and at the end of the following speech they find
themselves together.

JO: (to audience) Meg knew Sallie and was at ease very soon, but Jo
felt as much out of place as a colt in a flower garden. She saw a big
redheaded youth approaching her corner, and, fearing he meant to
dance with her, she slipped into a curtained recess. (to LAURIE)
Dear me, I didn't know anyone was here!
LAURIE: (a little shy) Don't mind me, stay if you like. I only came here
because I don't know many people and felt rather strange at first,
you know.
JO: You live near us, don't you?
LAURIE: Next door. (laughing) I’ve seen you ever so many times. And
how is your cat, Miss March?
JO: Nicely, thank you, Mr. Laurence. But I am not Miss March, I'm only
Jo.
LAURIE: I'm not Mr. Laurence, I'm only Laurie.
JO: Laurie Laurence. What an odd name.
LAURIE: My first name is Theodore, but I don't like it, because the
fellows called me Dora, so I made them say Laurie instead.
JO: I hate my name, too. How did you make the boys stop calling you
Dora?
LAURIE: I thrashed ‘em.
JO: I can't thrash Aunt March, so I suppose I shall have to bear it.
LAURIE: Don't you like to dance, Miss Jo?
JO: I can't, because I told Meg I wouldn't, because—you won't tell?
LAURIE: Never!
JO: Well, I have a bad trick of standing before the fire, and so I burn
my frocks, and I scorched this one, and though it's nicely mended,
it shows.

MEG has left the main body of dancers and stands frantically motioning
to JO.

MEG: Jo! JO!

JO: (to MEG) All right! (to LAURIE) I’m sorry. Will you excuse me?
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 LITTLE WOMEN

HE bows and the two girls withdraw to another corner. LAURIE joins
the main throng of dancers. MEG speaks in a harsh whisper.

MEG: I've sprained my ankle. That stupid high heel turned. I don't
know how I'm ever going to get home.
JO: I knew you'd hurt your feet with those silly shoes. Maybe Mr.
Laurence—
MEG: No! Don't ask or tell anyone.
LAURIE: (entering, to audience) “Can I help you?” said a friendly
voice. And there was Laurie, with a full cup in one hand and a plate
of ice in the other. Jo led the way, and Laurie drew up a little table
and was so obliging that even particular Meg pronounced him a
“nice boy.”
LAURIE: Please let me take you home. It's on my way, you know, and
it’s starting to rain.
JO: It's so early! You can't mean to go yet?
LAURIE: I always go early. I do, truly! (to audience) And that settled
that. Soon “The Laurence boy” would be practically one of the
family.

The dancers exit, leaving JO on one side of the stage and LAURIE on
the other. During the exchange that follows, both actors face front, JO
looking up at an imaginary LAURIE and LAURIE looking down at an
imaginary JO.)

LAURIE: One day, Jo found herself shoveling paths in the wide

expanse of snow between her little house and the Laurence’s
stately mansion. She could see young Laurie gazing from his
window in a forlorn kind of way.
JO: (to herself and the audience) That boy is suffering for society and
fun. His grandpa doesn’t know what's good for him, and keeps him
shut up all alone. He needs a party of jolly boys to play with, or
somebody young and lively. I've a great mind to go and tell the old
gentleman so! (SHE bends down and forms a snowball, and tosses
it at the imaginary LAURIE in his “window.” The real LAURIE “opens
the window” and looks down.) How do you do? Are you sick?

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

LAURIE: (hoarsely) Better, thank you. I've had a bad cold, and been
shut up a week. It's dull as tombs.
JO: Have someone come and see you then.
LAURIE: There isn't anyone I'd like to see. Boys make such a row,
and my head is weak.
JO: Isn't there some nice girl who'd read and amuse you? Girls are
quiet.
LAURIE: Don't know any.
JO: You know us. (stops and covers her mouth, surprised at her own
boldness, but can’t help laughing at herself)
LAURIE: (laughs too) So I do! Will you come, please?
JO: I'm not quiet and nice, but shut the window, like a good boy, and
wait till I come. (to audience) With that, Jo shouldered her broom
and marched into the house. Laurie was in a flutter of excitement at
the idea of having company, and flew about to get ready, brushing
his hair, putting on a fresh collar, and trying to tidy up the room.

JO approaches the “door.” A surprised-looking SERVANT stands

before her, but relaxes at LAURIE’s line, bows her in and exits. JO has
somehow acquired a basket laden with gifts.

LAURIE: All right, show her up. It's Miss Jo!

JO: Here I am, bag and baggage. Mother sent her love, and was glad
if I could do anything for you. Meg wanted me to bring some of her
blancmange. She makes it very nicely. And Beth thought her cats
would be comforting.
LAURIE: Is Beth the rosy one who stays at home most of the time and
sometimes goes out with a little basket?
JO: Yes, that's Beth. She's my girl, and a regular good one she is, too.
LAURIE: The pretty one is Meg, and the little one is Amy, I believe?
JO: Yes, but how—
LAURIE: I often hear you calling to one another, and when I'm alone
up here, I can't help looking over at your house. You always seem
to be having such good times. I beg your pardon for being so rude,
but sometimes you forget to put down the curtain at the window
where the flowers are. And when the lamps are lighted, it's like
looking at a picture to see the fire, and you all around the table with
your mother.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: We'll never draw that curtain any more, and I give you leave to
look as much as you like. I just wish, instead of peeping, you'd come
over and see us. Wouldn't your grandpa let you?
LAURIE: I think he would, if your mother asked him. He's very kind,
though he doesn’t look it, and he lets me do what I like, pretty
much—only he's afraid I might be a bother to strangers.
JO: We’re not strangers, we’re neighbors, and you needn't think you'd
be a bother.
LAURIE: You see, Grandpa lives among his books, and doesn't much
care what happens outside. Mr. Brooke, my tutor, doesn't stay here,
and I have no one to go about with me, so I just stay at home.
JO: That's bad. You ought to make an effort and go visiting
everywhere you’re asked, then you'll have plenty of friends and
pleasant places to go to.
LAURIE: (to audience) Laurie opened his mouth to ask a question, but
remembering just in time that it wasn't manners to make too many
inquiries into people's affairs, he shut it again, and looked
uncomfortable. But Jo liked his good breeding, and didn't mind
having a laugh at Aunt March, so she gave him a lively description
of the fidgety old lady, her fat poodle, and the parrot that talked
Spanish. When she told about the prim old gentleman who came
once to woo Aunt March, and in the middle of a fine speech, how
Poll had tweaked his wig right off, the boy lay back and laughed till
the tears ran down his cheeks. (to JO) Oh! That does me no end of
good. Tell on, please!
JO: Much elated with her success, Jo did “tell on”, all about their plays
and plans, their hopes and fears for Father, and the most interesting
events of the little world in which the sisters lived. Then they got to
talking about books, and to Jo's delight, she found that Laurie loved
them as well as she did.
LAURIE: If you like them so much, come down and see ours.
Grandfather is out, so you needn't be afraid.
JO: I'm not afraid of anything.
LAURIE: I don't believe you are! So come on, then.

HE takes her hand and leads her to another part of the stage, where
SHE looks around her in utter amazement.

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: What richness! Theodore Laurence, you ought to be the happiest

boy in the world.
LAURIE: (shrugs) A fellow can't live on books.

A door slams offstage.

JO: Mercy me! It's your grandpa!

LAURIE: Well, what if it is? You’re not afraid of anything.
SERVANT: (entering) The doctor to see you.
LAURIE: Would you mind if I left you for a minute? I suppose I must
see him.
JO: Don't mind me. I'm happy as a cricket here. (LAURIE and
SERVANT exit. JO addresses the audience.) Laurie went away,
and his guest amused herself in her own way. She was standing
before a fine portrait of the old gentleman when the door opened
again, and without turning, she said, “I'm sure I couldn't be afraid of
him. He's got kind eyes, though his mouth is grim, and he looks as
if he had a tremendous will of his own. He isn't as handsome as my
grandfather, but I like him.”

But it isn’t LAURIE who has entered—it is old MR. LAURENCE himself.
JO jumps when HE speaks.

MR. LAURENCE: Thank you, ma'am. (gives her a moment to recover)

So, you're not afraid of me, hey?
JO: Not much, sir.
MR. LAURENCE: And you don't think me as handsome as your
grandfather?
JO: Not quite, sir.
MR. LAURENCE: And I've got a tremendous will, but you like me in
spite of it?
JO: Yes, I do, sir.
MR. LAURENCE: (takes her under the chin and examines her face
carefully) You've got your grandfather's spirit, if you haven't his face.
He was a fine man, my dear, but what is better, he was a brave and
an honest one, and I was proud to be his friend.
JO: Thank you, sir.
MR. LAURENCE: Think the boy needs cheering up a bit, do you?
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21 21
 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: Yes, sir, he seems a little lonely, and young folks would do him
good perhaps. We are only girls, but we should be glad to help if we
could, for we don't forget the splendid Christmas present.
MR. LAURENCE: Tut, tut, tut! That was the boy's affair. I shall come
and see your mother some fine day. Tell her so. (A bell rings.)
There's the tea bell. Come down and go on being neighborly.

HE offers her his arm and they exit together. As MARMEE enters, SHE
addresses the audience as her daughters enter and surround her.

MARMEE: When all of Jo’s adventures had been told, the family found
themselves eager to go visiting. Mrs. March wanted to talk about
her father with the old man who had not forgotten him. Meg longed
to walk in the conservatory. Beth sighed for the grand piano, and
Amy for the fine pictures and statues. Everyone liked Laurie, and
he privately informed his tutor that the Marches were regularly
splendid girls. He was tired of books, and found people so
interesting now that Mr. Brooke was obliged to make very
unsatisfactory reports.
BETH: (to audience) But Beth, though yearning for the grand piano,
could not pluck up the courage to go to the “Mansion of Bliss,” as
Meg called it. She went once with Jo, but the old gentleman, not
being aware of her infirmity, stared at her so hard from under his
heavy eyebrows, and said, “Hey!” so loud, that she ran away,
declaring she would never go there any more, not even for the dear
piano.

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22 22
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MR. LAURENCE: (to audience, as HE joins them) No persuasions or

enticements could overcome her fear, ‘til the fact came to Mr.
Laurence's ear in some mysterious way (glances at JO, who looks
away innocently) and he set about mending matters. (to MARMEE)
You know, that boy neglects his music now, and the piano suffers
for want of use. Wouldn't some of your girls like to run over and
practice on it now and then, just to keep it in tune, you know,
ma'am? (Though still terrified, BETH involuntarily takes a step
forward. But MR. LAURENCE pretends not to notice.) They needn't
see or speak to anyone—just run in any time. I'm shut up in my
study at the other end of the house, Laurie is out a great deal, and
the servants are never near the drawing room after nine o'clock.
(rising to leave) Please, tell the young ladies what I say, and if they
don't care to come—
BETH: (quietly slips her hand into his, and speaks very softly) Oh sir,
they do care, very much!
MR. LAURENCE: Are you the musical girl?
BETH: I'm Beth. I love it dearly, and I'll come, if you are quite sure
nobody will hear me, and be disturbed.
MR. LAURENCE: Not a soul, my dear. The house is empty half the
day, so come and drum away as much as you like.
BETH: How kind you are, sir!
MR. LAURENCE: (gazes into her face for a moment, then bends and
softly kisses her on the forehead) I had a little girl once, with eyes
like those. God bless you, my dear! (to MARMEE) Good day,
madam. (exits in a great hurry)
BETH: (to audience) After that, the little brown hood slipped through
the hedge nearly every day, and the great drawing room was
haunted by a tuneful spirit that came and went unseen. She never
knew that Mr. Laurence opened his study door to hear the old-
fashioned airs he liked. She never saw Laurie mount guard in the
hall to warn the servants away. (to MARMEE) Mother, I'm going to
make Mr. Laurence a pair of slippers. He is so kind to me, always,
and I must thank him, and I don't know any other way. Can I do it?
MARMEE: Yes, dear. It will please him very much, and be a nice way
of thanking him.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

BETH: (to audience) Beth worked away early and late, with occasional
lifts over the hard parts. Then she wrote a simple note, and with
Laurie's help, got her slippers smuggled onto the study table one
morning, and waited to see what would happen. All day passed, and
part of the next, and she was beginning to fear she had offended
her crotchety friend. On the afternoon of the second day, she went
out to do an errand, and on her return, she saw three, yes, four
heads popping in and out of the parlor windows, and the moment
they saw her, several hands were waved, and several joyful voices
screamed—
MEG: Here's a letter from the old gentleman! Come quick, and read it!

As SHE “returns” to the house, all the family—her sisters, HANNAH

and MARMEE—surround her.

AMY: Oh, Beth, he's sent you—

JO: (claps her hand over AMY’s mouth) Come on! Look there! Look
there!
BETH: Beth did look, and turned pale with delight and surprise, for
there stood a little cabinet piano, with a letter lying on the glossy lid,
directed like a sign board to Miss Elizabeth March. (To JO) For me?
JO: (hugging her) Yes, all for you, my precious! Isn't it splendid of him?
Don't you think he's the dearest old man in the world? Here's the
key in the letter.
BETH: You read it! I can't! Oh, it is too lovely! (buries her head in JO’s
apron)
JO: (reads) “Miss March: Dear Madam—“
AMY: How nice it sounds! I wish someone would write to me like that!
JO: “I have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but never any that
suited me so well as yours. Heartsease is my favorite flower, and
these will always remind me of the gentle giver. I like to pay my
debts, so I know you will allow ‘the old gentleman’ to send you
something which once belonged to the little granddaughter he lost.
With hearty thanks and best wishes, I remain your grateful friend
and humble servant, James Laurence.”
AMY: “Your humble servant.” Think of his writing that to you.
HANNAH: Try it, honey. Let's hear the sound of the baby pianny.

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24 24
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

BETH plays a few bars of a simple tune.

JO: (teasing) You'll have to go and thank him.

BETH: Yes, I guess I'll go now, before I get frightened thinking about
it. (to audience) And, to the utter amazement of the assembled
family, Beth walked deliberately down the garden, through the
hedge, and in at the Laurences' door.

As the family stares, BETH suits her actions to her words.

HANNAH: Well, I wish I may die if it ain't the queerest thing I ever
seen! The pianny has turned her head!
BETH: They would have been still more amazed if they had seen what
Beth did afterward. If you will believe me, she went and knocked at
the study door and when a gruff voice called out, “come in!” she
marched right up to Mr. Laurence and held out her hand, saying, “I
came to thank you, sir, for—“
MR. LAURENCE: But she didn't finish, for he looked so friendly that
she forgot her speech and, only remembering that he had lost the
little girl he loved, she put both arms round his neck and kissed him.
(SHE does.) If the roof of the house had suddenly flown off, the old
gentleman couldn't have been more astonished. But he was so
touched and pleased by that confiding little kiss that all his
crustiness vanished, and Beth ceased to fear him from that
moment. When she went home, he walked with her to her own gate,
shook hands cordially, (HE does) and touched his hat as he
marched back again, looking very stately and erect, like a
handsome, soldierly old gentleman, as he was.

The lights indicate the passage of time. AMY and MEG enter. AMY
addresses the audience.

AMY: Many things changed that year. One early spring morning, little
Amy, who fancied herself quite the fine lady, was feeling sorry for
herself. (to MEG) I wish I had some money.
MEG: Why?
AMY: I'm dreadfully in debt. I owe at least a dozen pickled limes, and
I can't pay them.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

MEG: Are limes the fashion now?

AMY: You see, the girls are always buying them, and unless you want
to be thought mean, you must do it, too. They treat by turns, and
I've had ever so many but haven't returned them, and I must—they
are debts of honor, you know.
MEG: (smiling in amusement) How much will pay them off and restore
your credit?
AMY: A quarter would more than do it, and leave a few cents over for
a treat for you. Don't you like limes?
MEG: Not much. You may have my share. (gives money) Make it last
as long as you can.
AMY: Oh, thank you! It must be so nice to have pocket money! I'll have
a grand feast. I haven't tasted a lime this week. I felt delicate about
taking any, as I couldn't return them. (MEG exits, and several
schoolgirls, including JENNY SNOW, enter and sit down as at
school. MR. DAVIS, the schoolteacher, stands at the head of the
class. AMY addresses the audience.) Next day the rumor that Amy
March had twenty-four delicious limes—she ate one on the way—
circulated through her “set,” and the attentions of her friends
became quite overwhelming. Katy Brown invited her to her next
party on the spot and Jenny Snow, a satirical young lady, who had
basely twitted Amy upon her limeless state, promptly buried the
hatchet and offered to furnish answers to certain appalling sums.
But Amy had not forgotten Miss Snow's cutting remarks and she
instantly crushed her hopes. (to JENNY) You needn't be so polite
all of a sudden, ‘cause you won't get any.
JENNY: (looks daggers at AMY and shoots up her hand) Excuse me,
Mr. Davis, sir, but Amy March has pickled limes in her desk.

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26 26
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MR. DAVIS: (to audience) Now, Mr. Davis had declared limes a
contraband article, and solemnly vowed to publicly ferrule the first
person found breaking the law. This much-enduring man had
succeeded in banishing chewing gum after a long and stormy war,
made a bonfire of confiscated novels and newspapers, suppressed
a private post office, and done all that one man could do to keep
half a hundred rebellious girls in order. Mr. Davis had evidently
taken his coffee too strong that morning, and there was an east
wind, which always affected his neuralgia. To use the expressive
language of a schoolgirl, “He was as nervous as a witch and as
cross as a bear.” The word “limes” was like fire to powder. (to the
class) Young ladies, attention, if you please! (The girls, who have
been shuffling and chatting, are instantly still and attentive.) Miss
March, come to the desk, and bring with you the limes. (SHE moves
to his “desk.”) Now take these disgusting things and throw them out
of the window. (AMY does as instructed. There is a pause after SHE
is through. Then MR. DAVIS clears his throat ominously and
speaks. ) Young ladies, you remember what I said to you a week
ago. I am sorry this has happened, but I never allow my rules to be
infringed, and I never break my word. Miss March, hold out your
hand. (SHE hides both her hands behind her back in horror.) Your
hand, Miss March!

AMY holds out her hand, and, as SHE speaks directly to the audience,
MR. DAVIS administers several sharp blows to the palm of her hand
with a switch.

AMY: Amy set her teeth, (thwack!) threw back her head defiantly,
(thwack!) and bore without flinching (thwack!) the tingling blows on
her little palm. (thwack!) They were neither many nor heavy, but that
made no difference to her. For the first time in her life she had been
struck, and the disgrace was as deep as if he had knocked her
down.
MR. DAVIS: You will now stand on the platform ‘til recess.

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27 27
 LITTLE WOMEN

AMY: During the fifteen minutes that followed, the proud and sensitive
little girl suffered a shame and pain she never forgot. But the smart
of her hand and the ache of her heart were forgotten in the sting of
the thought, “I shall have to tell at home, and they will be so
disappointed in me!”
MR. DAVIS: You can go, Miss March. (to audience) And go she did—
straight out of the school and the schoolyard, never to return. No
notice was taken of Amy's flight, except by her mates, but the sharp-
eyed demoiselles discovered that Mr. Davis was quite absent-
minded that afternoon.

JO enters and continues the narration, suiting her actions to her words
as MR. DAVIS and SCHOOLGIRLS stare at her.

JO: Before school closed, Jo appeared, wearing a grim expression as

she stalked up to the desk and delivered a letter from her mother,
then collected Amy's property and departed, carefully scraping the
mud from her boots on the door mat, as if she shook the dust of the
place off her feet.

SCHOOLGIRLS and MR. DAVIS exit as the family enters. HANNAH is

bandaging AMY’s hand.

MARMEE: Yes, you can have a vacation from school, but I want you
to study a little every day with Beth. I dislike Mr. Davis's manner of
teaching and don't think the girls you associate with are doing you
any good.
AMY: I wish all the girls would leave, and spoil his old school. It's
maddening to think of those lovely limes.
MARMEE: I am not sorry you lost them, for you broke the rules, and
you deserved punishment.
AMY: Do you mean you’re glad I was disgraced before the whole
school?
MARMEE: I should not have chosen that way of mending a fault, but
I'm not sure it won't do you more good than a milder method. You
are getting to be rather conceited, my dear, and it is quite time you
set about correcting it. You have a good many little gifts, but there
is no need of parading them.
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28 28
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

Despite her harsh words, MARMEE caresses AMY’s face lovingly and
gives her a little hug. Everyone but AMY exits, and SHE addresses the
audience.

AMY: Growing up is never easy, and sometimes older sisters can

make the waiting worse. (MEG and JO enter, deep in conversation,
dressed for going out.) Girls, where are you going?
JO: Never mind. Little girls shouldn't ask questions.
AMY: Do tell me! I should think you might let me go, too.
MEG: I can't, dear, because you aren't invited.
JO: Now, Meg, be quiet or you will spoil it all. You can't go, Amy, so
don't be a baby.
AMY: I know! I know! You're going to the theater to see The Seven
Castles! I shall go, too. Mother said I could see it, and I've got my
rag money. It was mean not to tell me in time. (sits on the floor and
starts to pull on her boots)
MEG: (weakening) Suppose we take her?
JO: If she goes I’m not, and if I don't, Laurie won't like it, and it will be
very rude, after he invited only us, to go and drag in Amy. I should
think she'd hate to poke in where she isn't wanted.
AMY: (begins to cry) You don’t care about anybody but yourselves!
MEG: Now, Amy, be sensible, dear—
LAURIE: (enters cheerfully, unaware of the strife) Ready, ladies?

HE offers them each an arm, and the three exit without looking back at
AMY. Just as they disappear, SHE leaps up and shouts.

AMY: You'll be sorry for this, Jo March, see if you aren’t.

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29 29
 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: Fiddlesticks! (AMY runs off. MEG and LAURIE continue off in the
other direction, but JO remains on stage and addresses the
audience.) When they got home, they found Amy reading in the
parlor. She assumed an injured air as they came in, and never lifted
her eyes from her book or asked a single question. On going up to
put away her best hat, Jo's first look was toward the bureau, for in
their last quarrel Amy had soothed her feelings by turning Jo's top
drawer upside down on the floor. Everything was in its place,
however, and Jo decided that Amy had forgiven and forgotten her
wrongs.

MEG, AMY and BETH enter and sit by the fireplace.

AMY: (to audience) There, Jo was mistaken. The next day she made
a discovery that produced a tempest.
JO: Has anyone taken my book? (seeing AMY) Amy, you've got it!
AMY: No, I haven't.
JO: You know where it is, then!
AMY: No, I don't.
JO: (taking AMY by the shoulders and shaking her) That's a fib!
AMY: It isn't. I haven't got it, I don't know where it is now, and I don't
care.
JO: You know something about it, and you'd better tell at once.
AMY: Scold as much as you like, you'll never see your silly old book
again.
JO: Why not?
AMY: I burned it up.
JO: What! My little book I was so fond of, and worked over, and meant
to finish before Father got home? Have you really burned it?
AMY: I told you I'd make you pay for being so cross yesterday, and I
have, so—
JO: (shaking her violently) You wicked, wicked girl! I never can write
it again, and I'll never forgive you as long as I live.

MEG and BETH pull them apart, MEG comforting AMY and BETH
trying to soothe JO, but JO storms off. After a moment’s stunned pause,
MARMEE enters.

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30 30
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MARMEE: (to audience) Jo's book was the pride of her heart, and was
regarded by her family as a literary sprout of great promise. Amy’s
bonfire had consumed the loving work of several years. It seemed
a small loss to others, but to Jo it was a dreadful calamity, and she
felt that it never could be made up to her. Beth mourned as for a
departed kitten, and Meg refused to defend her favorite sister. Mrs.
March looked stern and grave, until Amy felt that no one would love
her ‘til she had asked pardon for the act which she now regretted
more than anyone.

JO enters as if on her way somewhere else. SHE sees AMY and stops
dead.

AMY: Please forgive me, Jo. I'm very, very sorry.

JO: I will never forgive you. (AMY runs off in tears. The others follow,
leaving JO, who addresses the audience.) Nothing seemed to go
right the next day. Everyone was cross, and Jo decided that only
Laurie could be cheerful enough to take her out of herself. It was a
bitterly cold day for the time of year, and as it was probably the last
day of ice on the river, she invited him to go skating. Naturally, Amy
had to tag along. Jo decided to just ignore her.
LAURIE: (calling from offstage) Keep near the shore. It isn't safe in
the middle.
JO: (calling offstage) Amy, did you hear— (pause; hardening her
heart) Never mind.

After a long pause, we hear AMY scream in terror, followed by

LAURIE’s voice from offstage.

LAURIE: Bring a rail. Quick, quick!

JO: Amy!

JO runs offstage. A moment later LAURIE appears carrying AMY,

wrapped in LAURIE’s heavy coat and followed by JO, who holds and
rubs AMY’s hands. From the other side of the stage enter MARMEE,
HANNAH, MEG and BETH, with blankets and a hot water bottle. They
receive AMY from LAURIE and get her settled by the fire. All of this
happens very fast, but very tenderly. The dialogue overlaps the action.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: Are you sure she’s safe?

MARMEE: Quite safe, dear. She’s not hurt, and won't even take cold,
I think.
JO: Mother, if she should die, it would be my fault. It's my dreadful
temper! I try to cure it, I think I have, and then it breaks out worse
than ever. Oh, Mother, what shall I do?

HANNAH, MEG and BETH exit.

MARMEE: Watch and pray, dear. Never get tired of trying, and never
think it is impossible.
JO: You don't know how bad it is! It seems as if I could do anything
when I'm in a passion. I'm afraid I’ll do something dreadful some
day. Oh, Mother, help me, do help me!
MARMEE: Jo, dear, we all have our temptations, and it often takes us
all our lives to conquer them. You think your temper is the worst in
the world, but mine used to be just like it.
JO: Yours, Mother? Why, you are never angry!
MARMEE: I am angry nearly every day of my life, Jo, but I have
learned not to show it, and I still hope to learn not to feel it, though
it may take me another forty years.

JO squeezes MARMEE’s hand in silence for a moment. Then

MARMEE exits, leaving JO alone with AMY. SHE gazes down at the
sleeping figure, and strokes her hair.

JO: I let the sun go down on my anger. I wouldn't forgive you, and if it
hadn't been for Laurie, it might have been too late! How could I be
so wicked?

After another pause, AMY opens her eyes and holds out her arms to
JO. They embrace warmly as the lights go down. The lights rise again
to reveal MEG, BETH, and AMY seated in the living room knitting. MEG
addresses the audience.

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MEG: Jo never did try to re-make her lost masterpiece, but she
continued to write. One summer day, when her sisters had noticed
her behaving even more oddly than usual, she arrived home with a
surprise. (JO enters with a newspaper, plops down, and pretends
to read. ) Have you anything interesting there?
JO: Nothing but a story, won't amount to much, I guess.
AMY: You'd better read it aloud. That will amuse us and keep you out
of mischief.
JO: (to audience) With a loud “Hem!” and a long breath, Jo began to
read very fast. The girls listened with interest, because the tale was
romantic, and somewhat pathetic, as most of the characters died in
the end.
AMY: I like that about the splendid picture.
MEG: I prefer the lovering part. Viola and Angelo are two of our favorite
names, isn't that funny?
BETH: Who wrote it?

Pregnant pause.

JO: Your sister.

BETH: (rushes over to hug JO) I knew it! I knew it! Oh, my Jo, I’m so
proud!
AMY: Tell us about it.
BETH: When did it come?
MEG: How much did you get for it?
JO: Stop jabbering, and I'll tell you everything. (very fast) I submitted
two stories, and the man said he liked them both, but didn't pay
beginners, only let them print in his paper. So I let him have the two
stories, and today this was sent to me. And he said it was good, and
I shall write more, and he's going to get the next paid for, and I am
so happy, for in time I may be able to support myself and help you
girls.
BETH: (to audience) Jo's breath gave out here, and wrapping her head
in the paper, she bedewed her little story with a few natural tears,
for to be independent and earn the praise of those she loved were
the dearest wishes of her heart.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

As BETH continues, MARMEE enters, and in pantomime JO shows her

the story, and MARMEE embraces her daughter proudly. The five
Marches then sit down to work together.)

BETH: In the next few months, Jo published a few more stories, and
the little family waited happily for the end of the year, when the one
member who was missing might join them once again. As fall
progressed, and that happy day grew nearer, it seemed also to grow
dearer, so that when the terrible blow fell, it was all the more
shocking.

A bell rings. A moment later, HANNAH enters with a telegram.

HANNAH: It's one of them horrid telegraph things, mum.

Worried, MARMEE snatches the telegram and reads it. It is brief, and
as SHE finishes it SHE seems to lose all of her strength. SHE
wavers on her feet, and JO rushes forward with a chair just in time
to prevent her sinking to the floor. JO takes the telegram from her
hands and with a glance at her sisters, reads.

JO: “Mrs. March: Your husband is very ill. Come at once.”

Silence for a long moment. MARMEE takes the telegram from JO,
reads it silently a second time, then holds out her arms for her
daughters.

MARMEE: I shall go at once, but it may be too late. Oh, children,

children, help me to bear it!

A long embrace. HANNAH stands slightly apart, equally moved. Finally

SHE breaks the silence.

HANNAH: The Lord keep the dear man! I won't waste no time a-cryin',
but git your things ready. (bustles out, wiping away tears with her
apron )
MARMEE: She's right. There's no time for tears now. Be calm, girls,
and let me think. Where's Laurie?
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

LAURIE: (entering) Here, ma'am. Oh, let me do something.

MARMEE: Send a telegram saying I will come at once. The next train
goes early in the morning.
LAURIE: What else? I can go anywhere, do anything.
MARMEE: Leave a note at Aunt March's. Jo, give me that pen and
paper. (writes a hasty note and hands it to LAURIE) Now go, dear,
but don't kill yourself riding at a desperate pace. (SHE continues to
write as HE exits. A moment later we hear the sound of his horse
galloping off.) Jo, run to the rooms and tell Mrs. King that I can't
come. On the way, get these things I’ve put down. I must go
prepared for nursing. Hospital stores are not always good. (JO
exits.) Beth, go ask Mr. Laurence for a couple of bottles of wine. I'm
not too proud to beg for Father. (BETH exits.) Amy, tell Hannah to
get down the black trunk, and Meg, come and help me find my
things. I'm half bewildered.

AMY exits as MEG puts her hands on MARMEE’s shoulders to prevent

her from rising.

MEG: Oh, Mother, do sit for a moment and let us! (to audience)
Everyone scattered like leaves before an evil wind. Old Mr.
Laurence came hurrying back with Beth, bringing every comfort the
kind old gentleman could think of for the invalid. Later, as Meg ran
through the entry, with a pair of rubbers in one hand and a cup of
tea in the other, she came suddenly upon Laurie’s tutor, Mr. Brooke.

JOHN BROOKE enters and stands awkwardly before MEG. SHE is

equally flustered.

BROOKE: I'm very sorry to hear of this, Miss March. I came to offer
myself as escort to your mother. Mr. Laurence has commissions for
me in Washington, and it will give me real satisfaction to be of
service to her there.
MEG: How kind you are! Mother will accept, I'm sure, and it will be
such a relief to know that she has someone to take care of her.
Thank you very, very much!
BROOKE: Not at all.

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35 35
 LITTLE WOMEN

SHE puts out a hand, which HE takes and holds. They stand there for
a moment simply looking at each other.

MEG: (shyly) Will you excuse me?

SHE exits. HE watches her leave. After a moment, LAURIE enters and
addresses the audience, as JOHN exits. During the following we see
MARMEE and all the girls, but JO, working together to pack.

LAURIE: Everything was arranged by the time Laurie returned with a

note from Aunt March, enclosing the desired sum, and a few lines
repeating what she had often said before—that she had always told
them it was absurd for Mr. March to go into the army, and she had
always predicted no good would come of it. Mrs. March put the note
in the fire and the money in her purse, and went on with her
preparations, with her lips folded tightly in a way Jo would have
understood. The short afternoon wore away but, still, Jo did not
come. They began to get anxious, and Laurie went off to find her,
for no one knew what Jo might take into her head.

HE exits, and a moment later JO enters. SHE is wearing a bonnet.

Without a word, SHE hands MARMEE a purse of money.

MARMEE: Twenty-five dollars! Jo, I hope you haven't done anything

rash?
JO: No, it's mine honestly. I didn't beg, borrow, or steal it. I earned it,
and I don't think you'll blame me, for I only sold what was my own.

JO takes off the bonnet, revealing short-cropped hair.

MARMEE: Your hair! Your beautiful hair! Oh, Jo, how could you? Your
one beauty.
JO: (pretending indifference) It will be good for my vanity, I was getting
too proud of my wig. It will do my brains good to have that mop off.
BETH: (hugging her) She doesn't look like my Jo any more, but I love
her dearly for it!

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36 36
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MARMEE: Tell me all about it, Jo. I am not quite satisfied, but I can't
blame you, for I know how willingly you sacrificed your vanity, as
you call it, to your love.
AMY: What made you do it?
JO: I hadn't the least idea of it at first, but as I went along I kept thinking
what I could do for Father, and feeling as if I'd like to dive into some
of the rich stores and help myself. In a barber's window I saw tails
of hair with the prices marked, and one black tail, not so thick as
mine, was forty dollars. I just walked in and asked what they would
give for mine.
BETH: I don't see how you dared to do it.
AMY: Didn't you feel dreadful when the first cut came?
JO: I never snivel over trifles like that. I will confess, though, I felt queer
when I saw the dear old hair laid out on the table. The man’s wife
saw me look at it, and picked out a long lock for me to keep. I'll give
it to you, Marmee, just to remember past glories by, for a crop is so
comfortable I don't think I’ll ever have a mane again.
MARMEE: (takes the lock of hair and smiles tenderly) Go to bed and
don't talk, for we must be up early and we need all the sleep we can
get. Good night, my darlings. (As the girls exit, one by one, each
hugging and kissing MARMEE as SHE goes, MARMEE addresses
the audience.) They kissed her quietly, and went to bed as silently
as if the dear invalid lay in the next room. Beth and Amy soon fell
asleep in spite of the great trouble, but Meg lay awake, thinking the
most serious thoughts she had ever known in her short life. Jo lay
motionless, but her sister fancied she heard a stifled sob for her one
beauty. The clocks were striking midnight and the rooms were very
still as a figure glided quietly from bed to bed, smoothing a coverlet
here, settling a pillow there, and pausing to look long and tenderly
at each unconscious face, to kiss each with lips that mutely blessed,
and to pray the fervent prayers which only mothers utter. As she
lifted the curtain to look out into the dreary night, the moon broke
suddenly from behind the clouds and shone upon her like a bright,
benignant face, which seemed to whisper in the silence, “Be
comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.”

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37 37
 LITTLE WOMEN

The lights fade to black, lingering longest on MARMEE’s face. They

come up to reveal the four girls, HANNAH, LAURIE and MR.
LAURENCE, each sitting apart and writing a letter, which they read
aloud in turn as they write.

MEG: My dearest Mother: It is impossible to tell you how happy your

last letter made us, for the news was so good we couldn't help
laughing and crying over it. How very kind Mr. Brooke is. The girls
are all as good as gold. Jo helps me with the sewing, and insists on
doing all sorts of hard jobs. I’d be afraid she might overdo, if I didn't
know her “moral fit” won’t last long. Beth is as regular about her
tasks as a clock, and never forgets what you told her. Amy minds
me nicely, and I take great care of her.
JO: My precious Marmee: Three cheers for dear Father! I rushed up
to my garret when the letter came, and tried to thank God for being
so good to us, but I could only cry, and say, “I'm glad! I'm glad!”
Didn't that do as well as a regular prayer? We have such funny
times, and now I can enjoy them, for everyone is so desperately
good, it's like living in a nest of turtledoves. I made a poem
yesterday, when I was helping Hannah wash, and as Father likes
my silly little things, I put it in to amuse him.
BETH: Dear Mother, There is only room for me to send my love, and
some pressed pansies from the root I have been keeping safe in
the house for Father to see. I read every morning, try to be good all
day, and sing myself to sleep with Father's tune. Amy wants the rest
of the page, so I must stop. I didn't forget to cover the holders, and
I wind the clock and air the rooms every day.
JO: A SONG FROM THE SUDS: Queen of my tub, I merrily sing, While
the white foam rises high, And we sturdily wash and rinse and wring,
And fasten the clothes to dry. I wish we could wash, from our hearts
and souls, the stains of the week away. Then on the earth there
would be indeed, A glorious washing day!

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38 38
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

AMY: Ma Chere Mamma, We are all well. I do my lessons always and

never corroborate with the girls. Meg says I mean “contradict” so I
put in both words and you can take the properest. Laurie is not as
respectful as he ought to be, now I am almost in my teens. He calls
me Chick and hurts my feelings by talking French to me very fast
when I say “Merci” or “Bon jour” as Hattie King does. I bear my
troubles well but I do wish Hannah would put more starch in my
aprons and have buckwheats every day. Can't she? Didn't I make
that interrogation point nice?
MEG: Mr. Laurence watches over us like a motherly old hen, as Jo
says, and Laurie is very kind and neighborly. Hannah is a perfect
saint. She does not scold at all, and always calls me Miss Margaret,
which is quite proper, you know. We are all well and busy, but we
long, day and night, to have you back.
HANNAH: Dear Miz March, I just drop a line to say we get on first rate.
The girls is clever and fly round right smart. Miss Meg is going to
make a proper good housekeeper. Jo does beat all for goin’ ahead,
but she don't stop to calculate first, and you never know where she's
like to bring up. Beth is the best of little critters, and a sight of help
to me, bein’ so dependable. Amy does well without frettin’. Mr.
Laurie turns the house upside down frequent, but he heartens the
girls, so I let them have full swing. The old gentleman send a heap
of things, and is rather wearin’ but he means well, and it aint my
place to say nothin’. My bread is riz, so no more at this time.
LAURIE: Head Nurse of Ward No. 2: All serene on the Rappahannock,
troops in fine condition, commissary department well conducted, the
Home Guard under Colonel Teddy always on duty, Commander in
Chief General Laurence reviews the army daily, and Quartermaster
Hannah keeps order in camp. A salute of twenty-four guns was fired
on receipt of good news from Washington, and a dress parade took
place at headquarters.
MR. LAURENCE: Dear Madam: The little girls are all well. Beth and
my boy report daily. Hannah is a model servant, and guards pretty
Meg like a dragon. Glad the fine weather holds. Pray, make Brooke
useful, and draw on me for funds if expenses exceed your estimate.
Don't let your husband want anything. Thank God he is mending.
Your sincere friend and servant, James Laurence.

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39 39
 LITTLE WOMEN

LAURIE: Commander in chief sends best wishes, in which he is

heartily joined by. . . Colonel Teddy.
HANNAH: I send my duty to Mr. March, and hope he's seen the last
of his Pewmonia. Yours respectful, Hannah Mullet.
MEG: Give my love to Father and to dear Mr. Brooke, and believe me,
ever your own—
JO: Give Father my lovingest hug that ever was, and kiss yourself a
dozen times for your—
BETH: Kiss dear Father on the cheek he calls mine, and do come
soon to your loving—
AMY: Adieu, I send heaps of love to Papa. Your affectionate
daughter—
MEG: Meg.
JO: Topsy-Turvy Jo.
BETH: Little Beth.
AMY: Amy Curtis March.

Blackout. Lights come up to reveal MEG, JO and BETH sitting and

working by the fire.

BETH: Meg, I wish you'd go and see the Hummels. You know Mother
told us not to forget them.
MEG: I'm too tired to go this afternoon.
BETH: Can't you, Jo?
JO: Too stormy for me with my cold.
BETH: I thought it was almost well.
JO: (laughing a little uncomfortably) It's well enough for me to go out
with Laurie, but not well enough to go to the Hummels.
MEG: Why don't you go yourself?
BETH: I have been every day, but the baby is sick, and I don't know
what to do for it. Mrs. Hummel goes away to work, and Lottchen
takes care of it. But it gets sicker and sicker.
MEG: I’ll go see tomorrow, honey. I promise.
JO: Ask Hannah for some nice little treat, and take it round, Beth. The
air will do you good. I'd go, but I want to finish my writing.
BETH: My head aches and I'm tired, so I thought maybe some of you
would go.
MEG: Amy will be in presently, and she’ll run down for us.
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40 40
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

During the following, everyone but BETH exits as their name is

mentioned, leaving her alone.

BETH: (to audience) So Beth lay down on the sofa, the others returned
to their work, and the Hummels were forgotten. An hour passed.
Amy did not come. Meg went to her room to try on a new dress, Jo
was absorbed in her story, and Hannah was sound asleep before
the kitchen fire, when Beth quietly put on her hood, and went out
into the chilly air. It was late when she came back, and no one saw
her creep upstairs and shut herself into her mother's room.
JO: (entering, to audience) Half an hour later, Jo went to “Mother's
closet” for something, and found little Beth sitting on the medicine
chest, looking very grave, with red eyes and a camphor bottle in her
hand. (to BETH) Christopher Columbus! What's the matter?
BETH: Stay away! You've had the scarlet fever, haven't you?
JO: Years ago, when Meg did. Why?
BETH: Oh, Jo, the baby's dead!
JO: What baby?
BETH: Mrs. Hummel's. She died in my lap before Mrs. Hummel got
home.
JO: (embracing her) My poor dear, how dreadful for you! I ought to
have gone.
BETH: It wasn't dreadful, Jo, only so sad! I saw in a minute she was
sicker, but Lottchen said her mother had gone for a doctor, so I took
Baby and let Lotty rest. She seemed asleep, but all of a sudden she
gave a little cry and trembled, and then lay very still.
JO: Don't cry, dear! What did you do?
BETH: I just sat and held her softly till Mrs. Hummel came with the
doctor. He said she was dead, and looked at Heinrich and Minna,
who have sore throats. (gruffly) “Scarlet fever, ma'am. Ought to
have called me before.” Mrs. Hummel told him she was poor, and
had tried to cure baby herself, but now it was too late, and she could
only ask him to help the others and trust to charity for his pay. He
smiled then, and was kinder, but I cried with them till he turned
round all of a sudden, and told me to go home and take belladonna
right away.
JO: Oh, Beth, if you’re sick I’ll never forgive myself!
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41 41
 LITTLE WOMEN

BETH: I guess I won't have it badly. I looked in Mother's book, and

saw that it begins with headache, sore throat, and queer feelings
like mine, so I took some belladonna, and I feel better.
JO: (feeling her forehead) I'll call Hannah. She knows all about
sickness.
BETH: Don't let Amy come! She never had it, and I should hate to give
it to her.
HANNAH: (to audience) Hannah, that good soul, was awake in a
minute, and took the lead at once, assuring that there was no need
to worry—everyone had scarlet fever. (MEG enters. HANNAH
speaks to the girls. ) Now I'll tell you what we'll do. We’ll have Dr.
Bangs, just to take a look at you, dear, and see that we start right.
We'll send Amy off to Aunt March's for a spell, to keep her out of
harm's way, and one of you girls can stay at home and amuse Beth
for a day or two.
MEG: I shall stay, of course. I'm oldest.
JO: I shall, because it's my fault she is sick. I told Mother I'd do the
errands, and I haven't.
MEG: I'll go and tell Amy.

JO and BETH exit one way and MEG the other, leaving HANNAH
alone. SHE addresses the audience.

HANNAH: Dr. Bangs came and Amy was ordered off at once, and she
departed in great state, with Jo and Laurie as escort. Aunt March
received them with her usual hospitality.

HANNAH exits as AUNT MARCH enters. JO, LAURIE and AMY

approach her.

AUNT MARCH: What do you want now?

JO: (to audience) Laurie retired to the window, and Jo told her story.
AUNT MARCH: No more than I expected, if you are allowed to go
poking about among poor folks. Amy can stay and make herself
useful if she isn't sick, which I've no doubt she will be. Don't cry,
child, it worries me to hear people sniff. What do you hear from your
mother?
JO: Father is much better.
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42 42
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

AUNT MARCH: Well, that won't last long, I fancy. March never had
any stamina. Well, Jo, you'd better go at once. It isn't proper to be
gadding about so late with a rattlepated boy like this.

AUNT MARCH and AMY exit one way as JO and LAURIE exit another.
MEG enters and addresses the audience.

MEG: Beth did have the fever, and was much sicker than anyone but
Hannah and the doctor suspected. Meg stayed at home, lest she
should infect the Kings, and kept house, feeling very anxious and a
little guilty when she wrote letters in which no mention was made of
Beth's illness. Hannah wouldn't hear of “Mrs. March bein' told, and
worried just for sech a trifle.”

JO enters, leading BETH to a couch, on which SHE lies. JO addresses

the audience, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

JO: Jo devoted herself to Beth day and night—not a hard task, for
Beth was very patient, and bore her pain uncomplainingly as long
as she could control herself. But there came a time when, during
the fever fits, she began to talk in a hoarse voice, to play on the
coverlet as if on her little piano, and to try to sing with a throat so
swollen that there was no music left—a time when she did not know
the familiar faces around her, and called imploringly for her mother.
MEG: (gazing at BETH; to audience) Then it was that Meg felt how
rich she had been in things more precious than any luxuries money
could buy.
JO: (sits with BETH; to audience) Then it was that Jo learned to see
the beauty and the sweetness of Beth's nature, and to acknowledge
the worth of Beth's unselfish ambition to live for others.

AMY enters and stands off to one side. The others can’t see her as
SHE addresses the audience.

AMY: (to audience) And Amy, in her exile, longed to be at home, that
she might work for Beth, remembering how many neglected tasks
those willing hands had done for her.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

AMY exits as HANNAH enters. JO still sits with BETH.

HANNAH: (to audience) The first of December was a wintry day

indeed to them, for a bitter wind blew, snow fell fast, and the year
seemed getting ready for its death. When Dr. Bangs came that
morning, he looked long at Beth, and said, “If Mrs. March can leave
her husband, she'd better be sent for.” (All sit quietly and watch over
the sleeping BETH.) The girls never forgot that night. No sleep
came to them as they kept their watch.
MEG: If God spares Beth, I never will complain again.
JO: If God spares Beth, I'll try to love and serve Him all my life.
MEG: I wish I had no heart, it aches so.

Pause. HANNAH sleeps. JO moves restlessly to stare out a “window.”

We hear a clock strike the hour of two. MEG, who is watching BETH
closely, suddenly moves forward and looks concerned. The movement
attracts JO’s attention, and SHE too moves close. SHE stares at the
peaceful face for a moment, then bends to kiss her forehead. Her voice
is barely audible.

JO: Goodbye, my Beth. Goodbye.

HANNAH awakens. SHE moves to BETH, feels her forehead, and puts
her ear close to her lips to listen for her breath. Then SHE falls to the
floor and sits rocking. The girls obviously think the worst has happened
until they can understand what HANNAH is saying.

HANNAH: The fever's turned! She's sleepin' nat'ral, her skin's damp,
and she breathes easy! Praise be given! Oh, my goodness me!

The girls and HANNAH hug each other in silent celebration, careful not
to wake BETH.

JO: If Mother would only come now!

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44 44
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MEG: (comes up with a small white rose) See. I thought this would
hardly be ready to lay in Beth's hand tomorrow if she went away
from us. But it has blossomed in the night, and now I mean to put it
in my vase here, so that when she wakes, the first thing she sees
will be the little rose, and Mother's face.

The sound of a door slamming offstage, and LAURIE’s voice comes to

us from without.

LAURIE: Girls, she's come! She's come!

After a moment’s pause, MARMEE enters and, from the faces that
greet her, knows instantly the BETH will be well. She opens her arms
to MEG and JO, as LAURIE appears in the doorway and watches
respectfully. As the embrace is broken and MARMEE moves to the
bedside, the lights fade. They come up to reveal MARMEE sitting with
the still sleeping BETH. MEG enters and addresses the audience.

MEG: Even in their joy they couldn’t forget that other hole in their
family. Meg sat down immediately to write and tell him the good
news.
MARMEE: (examines the letter MEG has written) Quite right, and
beautifully written. Please add that I send my love to John.
MEG: (shyly) Do you call him “John?”
MARMEE: Yes, he has been like a son to us, and we are very fond of
him.
MEG: I'm glad. He’s so lonely. Good night, Mother.

MARMEE looks thoughtfully at MEG, who smiles and exits. The lights
go down. They come up to reveal AMY, MEG and MARMEE in the
kitchen. JO enters with letters.

JO: Mail call! Amy. . . Meg. . . Marmee. . . Marmee. . . Here's a note

to you, Meg, all sealed up. How odd! Teddy never seals mine.

They all read their mail until a gasp from MEG makes everyone look at
her with concern.

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45 45
 LITTLE WOMEN

MEG: It's all a mistake. He didn't send it. Oh, Jo, how could you?
JO: Me! I've done nothing!
MEG: (takes a crumpled letter from her pocket and throws it at JO)
You wrote that, and Laurie helped you. How could you be so cruel?

JO and MARMEE are frantically reading. JO reads aloud.

JO: (reading) My Dearest Margaret: I can no longer restrain my

passion, and must know my fate before I return. I dare not tell your
parents yet, but I think they would consent if they knew that we
adored one another. I implore you to say nothing to your family yet,
but to send one word of hope through Laurie to. . . Your devoted
John. (to MEG) Oh, the little villain! I'll give him a hearty scolding
and bring him over to beg pardon.
MARMEE: Stop, Jo, you must clear yourself first. You have played so
many pranks that I am afraid you have had a hand in this.
JO: On my word, Mother, I haven't! I never saw that note before, and
don't know anything about it, as true as I live! If I had, I'd have written
a sensible note. (to MEG) I should think you'd have known Mr.
Brooke wouldn't write such stuff as that.
MEG: It's like his writing—
MARMEE: Oh, Meg, you didn't answer it?
MEG: (nodding) I received the first letter from Laurie, who didn't look
as if he knew anything about it. I was worried at first and meant to
tell you, then I remembered how you liked Mr. Brooke, so I thought
you wouldn't mind if I kept my little secret for a few days.
MARMEE: What did you say to him?
MEG: I only said I was too young to do anything about it yet, that I
didn't wish to have secrets from you, and he must speak to father.
JO: What did he say to that?
MEG: He writes in a different way entirely, telling me that he never
sent any love letter at all, and is very sorry that my roguish sister,
Jo, should take liberties with our names. It's very kind and
respectful, but oh—! I can never look him in the face again!

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46 46
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: (storms wrathfully about for a moment, then suddenly snatches

up both letters and compares them) I don't believe Brooke ever saw
either of these letters. (MEG looks at her hopefully.) Teddy wrote
both, and keeps yours to gloat over. Ooh, when I get my hands on
him!

The girls exit as MARMEE addresses the audience.

MARMEE: When Laurie arrived under guard and much against his
will, Meg immediately fled upstairs. One look at Mrs. March’s face
was enough to tell the poor boy how deep his trouble was, but he
was so heartily sorry that Jo forgave him at once—though she
thought it prudent not to show it—and even Mrs. March's grave face
relaxed when she heard him declare that he would abase himself
like a worm before the injured damsel. Before many days had gone
by, Meg had pardoned him as well.

LAURIE enters, obviously excited. As HE addresses the audience in a

whisper, all four girls and MARMEE enter.

LAURIE: Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in

storybook fashion. They did that Christmas. Half an hour after
everyone said they were so happy they could only hold one drop
more, the drop came. (loudly to everyone) Here's another
Christmas present for the March family!

And with a grand gesture LAURIE ushers in MR. MARCH, leaning

heavily on the arm of JOHN BROOKE. After a moment’s stunned
silence, all five March women rush to embrace him. Everyone also
shakes JOHN BROOKE’s hand, except MEG, who forgets herself and
kisses him, then is embarrassed and moves away to hug her father a
second time. Even HANNAH weeps as SHE respectfully greets MR.
MARCH—even though SHE has a turkey in one hand!

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47 47
 LITTLE WOMEN

MR. MARCH: As the initial excitement turned to quieter joy, Mrs.

March began to thank Mr. Brooke for his faithful care of her
husband, at which Mr. Brooke suddenly remembered that Mr.
March needed rest, and seizing Laurie, he retired. (They do.) After
supper the two invalids were ordered to rest, which they did, by both
sitting in one big chair and talking hard.

Everyone sits around the fire, BETH on MR. MARCH’s knee.

JO: Just a year ago we were groaning over the dismal Christmas we
expected to have. Do you remember?
MEG: Rather a pleasant year on the whole!
BETH: I'm glad it's over, because we've got you back.
MR. MARCH: Well, I've made several discoveries today.
MEG: Oh, tell us what they are!
MR. MARCH: Here is one. (takes her hand) I remember a time when
this hand was white and smooth, and your first care was to keep it
so. It was very pretty then, but to me it is much prettier now, for in
these seeming blemishes I read a little history. This hardened palm
has earned something better than blisters, and I'm sure the sewing
done by these pricked fingers will last a long time; so much good
will went into the stitches. I'm proud to shake this good, industrious
hand, and I hope I shall not soon be asked to give it away.
BETH: What about Jo? Please say something nice, for she has tried
so hard and been so good to me.
MR. MARCH: Her face is rather thin and pale just now, with watching
and anxiety, but I like to look at it, for it has grown gentle. She takes
care of a certain little person in a motherly way that delights me. I
rather miss my wild girl, but if I get a strong, helpful, tenderhearted
woman in her place, I shall feel quite satisfied. I don't know whether
the shearing sobered our black sheep, but I do know that in all
Washington I couldn't find anything beautiful enough to be bought
with the five-and-twenty dollars my good girl sent me.
AMY: Now, Beth.

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48 48
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MR. MARCH: There's so little of her, I'm afraid to say much, for fear
she will slip away altogether, though she is not so shy as she used
to be. (stops for a moment, overcome) I've got you safe, my Beth,
and I'll keep you so, please God. (There is a silent pause before
MR. MARCH turns to AMY and continues.) And I observed that Amy
gave Meg her place tonight at dinner, ran errands for her mother all
the afternoon, and has waited on everyone with patience and good
humor. She does not fret much nor look in the mirror, so I conclude
that she has learned to think of other people more and of herself
less, and has decided to try and mold her character as carefully as
she molds her little clay figures. I am glad of this, for though I should
be very proud of a graceful statue made by her, I shall be infinitely
prouder of a lovable daughter with a talent for making life beautiful
to herself and others. (SHE hugs him as HE addresses the
audience.) For the next week the family hovered about Mr. March
like bees around the queen, neglecting everything to look at, wait
upon, and listen to the new invalid, who was nearly killed by
kindness. As he sat propped up in a big chair by Beth's sofa, with
the other three close by, and Hannah popping in her head now and
then “to peek at the dear man,” nothing seemed needed to complete
their happiness.
MARMEE: (to audience) But something was needed, and the elder
ones felt it, though none confessed the fact. Mr. and Mrs. March
looked at one another with an anxious expression, as their eyes
followed Meg. Meg was absent-minded, shy, and silent, started
when the bell rang, and colored when John Brooke's name was
mentioned.

The elder Marches and HANNAH exit, leaving the girls, as LAURIE
enters. HE addresses the audience and suits his actions to his words.

LAURIE: Laurie went by in the afternoon, and seeing Meg at the

window, seemed suddenly possessed with a melodramatic fit. He
fell down on one knee in the snow, beat his breast, tore his hair, and
clasped his hands imploringly, as if begging some boon. And when
Meg told him to behave himself and go away, he wrung imaginary
tears out of his handkerchief, and staggered round the corner as if
in utter despair.
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49 49
 LITTLE WOMEN

MEG: (laughing) What does the goose mean?

JO: He's showing you how your John will go on by-and-by. Touching,
isn't it?
MEG: Don't say “my John.” It isn't proper or true. (obviously enjoys
saying the words) I've told you, I don't care much about him, and
there isn't to be anything said.
JO: But something has been said, and Laurie's mischief has spoiled
you for me. I see it, and so does Mother. You are not like your old
self. I don't mean to plague you, but I hate to wait, so if you’re ever
going to do it, get it over with!
MEG: I can't say anything till he speaks.
JO: If he did, you wouldn't know what to say.
MEG: I know just what I’ll say. I've planned it all, just in case. I’ll merely
say, quite calmly and decidedly, “Thank you, Mr. Brooke, you are
very kind, but I am too young to enter into any engagement at
present, so please say no more, but let us be friends as we were.”
(JO stifles a snort of derisive laughter.) And then I shall walk out of
the room with dignity.

MEG gets up to demonstrate her dignified exit, and comes face to face
with JOHN BROOKE, who has entered.

BROOKE: Good afternoon. I came to get my umbrella—er—to see

how your father is today.
JO: It's very well, he's in the rack. I'll get him, and tell it you’re here.
(exits in some confusion)
MEG: (retreats a little) Mother will like to see you. Pray, sit down, I'll
call her.
BROOKE: Don't go. Are you afraid of me, Margaret?
MEG: How can I be afraid when you have been so kind to Father? I
only wish I could thank you for it.
BROOKE: (taking her hand) Shall I tell you how?
MEG: Oh no, please don't.
BROOKE: I won't trouble you. I only want to know if you care for me
a little, Meg.
MEG: (softly) I don’t know.

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50 50
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

BROOKE: (smiling and squeezing her hand) Will you try and find out?
I can't go to work with any heart until I learn whether I’m to have my
reward in the end or not.
MEG: I'm too young.
BROOKE: I'll wait, and in the meantime, you could be learning to like
me. Would it be a very hard lesson?
MEG: No! I mean—not if I chose to learn it, but—
BROOKE: (taking her other hand) Please choose to learn, Meg. I love
to teach, and this is easier than German.

There is a long moment during which we think SHE’s about to go up

like kindling, but then SHE douses the fire.

MEG: (pulling away) I don't choose. Please go away and let me be!

AUNT MARCH enters and the two instantly separate further.

AUNT MARCH: (to audience, with some satisfaction) Poor Mr. Brooke
looked as if his lovely castle in the air was tumbling about his ears.
What would have happened next, I can’t say, if Aunt March had not
come hobbling in at this interesting minute, hoping to surprise the
family. She did surprise two of them so much that Meg started as if
she had seen a ghost, and Mr. Brooke vanished into the study. (HE
exits. SHE raps her umbrella) Bless me, what's all this?
MEG: It's Father's friend. I'm so surprised to see you!
AUNT MARCH: That's evident. But what is Father's friend saying to
make you look like a peony? There's mischief going on, and I insist
upon knowing what it is.
MEG: (embarrassed) We were only talking. Mr. Brooke came for his
umbrella.
AUNT MARCH: Brooke? That boy's tutor? Ah! I understand now. You
haven't gone and accepted him, child?
MEG: Hush! He'll hear. Shall I call Mother?

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51 51
 LITTLE WOMEN

AUNT MARCH: Not yet. I've something to say to you. Tell me, do you
mean to marry this Cook? If you do, not one penny of my money
ever goes to you. Remember that. (to audience) Now, Aunt March
possessed, in perfection, the art of rousing the spirit of opposition
in the gentlest people, and enjoyed doing it. If Aunt March had
begged Meg to accept John Brooke, she would probably have
declared she couldn't think of it, but as it was—
MEG: I shall marry whom I please, and you can leave your money to
anyone you like.
AUNT MARCH: Is that the way you take my advice, Miss? You'll be
sorry for it by-and-by, when you've tried love in a cottage and found
it a failure.
MEG: It can't be a worse one than some people find in big houses.
Father and Mother like John.
AUNT MARCH: Your parents, my dear, have no more worldly wisdom
than a pair of babies. This Rook is poor and hasn't got any rich
relations, has he?
MEG: No, but he has many warm friends.
AUNT MARCH: You can't live on friends. Try it and see how cool they'll
grow.
MEG: John is good and wise! He's got heaps of talent, he's willing to
work, and he’s sure to get on, he's so energetic and brave.
Everyone likes and respects him, and I'm proud to think he cares
for me!
AUNT MARCH: He knows you’ve got a rich Aunt, child. That's the
secret of his liking.
MEG: Aunt March, how dare you say such a thing? I won't listen to
you a minute if you talk like that. My John wouldn't marry for money,
any more than I would. I'm not afraid of being poor. I've been happy
so far, and I know I shall be with him because he loves me, and I—
(covers her mouth in sudden embarrassment)
AUNT MARCH: Well, I wash my hands of the whole affair! You are a
willful child, and you've lost more than you know by this piece of
folly. Don’t expect anything from me when you’re married. Your Mr.
Book's “friends” must take care of you. I'm done with you forever.

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52 52
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

SHE storms out, and as soon as SHE’s gone, JOHN BROOKE rushes
in. The two stare at each other for a brief moment, then MEG rushes
into his arms. JO enters and addresses the audience, as the rest of the
family enter to congratulate the now engaged pair.

JO: Nobody ever knew what went on in the parlor that afternoon, but
a great deal of talking was done, and quiet Mr. Brooke astonished
his friends by the eloquence with which he pleaded his suit, told his
plans, and persuaded them to arrange everything just as he wanted.
So the curtain falls upon Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and the first act
of the domestic drama called Little Women.

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53 53
 LITTLE WOMEN

ACT TWO

AT RISE:
JO, BETH, AMY and MARMEE surround MEG, putting the finishing
touches to her wedding dress.

AMY: You do look just like our own dear Meg, only so very sweet and
lovely that I should hug you if it wouldn't crumple your dress.
MEG: Oh, Amy, Jo, Beth, please hug and kiss me, and don't mind my
dress. I want a great many crumples of this sort put into it today.
(They do. SHE addresses the audience.) This wedding was to be
as natural and homelike as possible, with no performance or grand
ceremony. When Aunt March arrived, she was scandalized to see
the bride come running to welcome her.

AUNT MARCH, along with other wedding guests, including MR.

LAURENCE, file in slowly and take seats. AMY greets the others as
AUNT MARCH bears down on MEG. JO and BETH exit.

AUNT MARCH: Upon my word, here's a state of things! You oughtn't

to be seen till the last minute, child.
MEG: I'm not a show, Aunty, and no one is coming to stare at me.

As SHE exits, a loud crash is heard offstage and LAURIE enters from
the house.

LAURIE: (laughing) Jupiter Ammon! Jo's upset the cake again!

AUNT MARCH: (to AMY) Don't let that Laurence boy near me! He
worries me worse than mosquitoes.

MR. MARCH takes a position under the arch and as HE addresses the
audience, MEG and BROOKE take their places, and the remaining
March women, with HANNAH, gather to one side. The guests settle
themselves.

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54 54
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MR. MARCH: (to audience) There was no bridal procession, but a

sudden silence fell as the young couple took their places. Mother
and sisters gathered close, and the fatherly voice broke more than
once as he pronounced the words that bound two young hearts.
The bridegroom's hand trembled visibly, and no one heard his
replies. But Meg looked straight up in her husband's eyes, and said,
“I will!” with such tender trust that even Aunt March sniffed.
MEG: (to audience) The minute she was fairly married, Meg cried,
“The first kiss for Marmee!” During the next fifteen minutes everyone
availed themselves of their privileges to the fullest extent, from Mr.
Laurence to old Hannah.

Everyone hugs the new couple as the whole party mills about.

HANNAH: Bless you, deary, a hundred times! The cake ain't hurt a
mite, and everything looks lovely.
AUNT MARCH: (to MEG) I wish you well, my dear, I heartily wish you
well, but I think you'll be sorry for it. (to BROOKE) You’ve got a
treasure, young man. See that you deserve it.
MR. LAURENCE: (to LAURIE) Laurie, my lad, if you ever want to
indulge in this sort of thing, get one of these little March girls to help
you, and I shall be perfectly satisfied.
LAURIE: (looking across the room at JO) I'll do my best to gratify you,
Sir.

The lights go down. They come up to reveal JO alone on stage. As

SHE addresses the audience, a LAD and several others enter as if to
attend a lecture. One man stands in front and “lectures” in pantomime.

JO: After the wedding, things settled down in two little houses. As Meg
was learning what it was to be a wife, her sisters continued to
pursue their own destinies. One day, Jo attended a scholarly lecture
in the city. The subject was the great pyramids, but Jo found the
people more interesting than the tombs. On her right was a studious
looking lad absorbed in an illustrated newspaper.
LAD: (notices her staring) Want to read it? That's a first-rate story.

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55 55
 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: (to audience) Jo accepted it with a smile, for she had never
outgrown her liking for lads, and soon found herself involved in the
usual lurid labyrinth of love, mystery, and murder.
LAD: Prime, isn't it?
JO: I think you or I could do as well as that if we tried.
LAD: I should think I was a pretty lucky chap if I could. She makes a
good living out of such stories. She knows just what folks like, and
gets paid well for writing it.

JO addresses the audience as the LAD and the others exit.

JO: And so an idea was born. Jo had never tried this style before, but
her story was as full of desperation and despair as her limited
experience could make it. Six weeks is a long time to wait, and a
still longer time to keep a secret, but Jo did both, and was just
beginning to give up hope when a letter arrived. (calling out)
Everyone! Come quick!

The family enter and congratulate Jo in pantomime as MR. MARCH

addresses the audience.)

MR. MARCH: Jo electrified the family by appearing before them with

the letter in one hand, and a check for one hundred dollars in the
other. Of course there was a great jubilee, and when the story came
everyone read and praised it, though after her father had told her
that the language was good, the romance fresh and hearty, and the
tragedy quite thrilling, he shook his head. (to JO) You can do better
than this, Jo. Aim at the highest, and never mind the money.
AMY: I think the money is the best part. What will you do with such a
fortune?
JO: Send Beth and Mother to the seaside for a month or two.
MARMEE: To the seaside they went, and though Beth didn't come
home as plump and rosy as could be desired, she was much better.
So Jo was satisfied and fell to work with a cheery spirit. The Duke’s
Daughter paid the butcher's bill, A Phantom Hand put down a new
carpet, and the Curse of the Conventrys bought new gowns all
around.

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56 56
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: Encouraged by her success, Jo resolved to try and publish her

novel. Having copied it over for the fourth time, read it to all her
confidential friends, and submitted it with fear and trembling to three
publishers, she at last disposed of it, on condition that she would
cut it down one third, and omit all the parts she particularly admired.
MR. MARCH: Don't spoil your book, my girl, for there is more in it than
you know.
MARMEE: It seems to me that Jo will profit more by taking the trial
than by waiting. Criticism is the best test of such work, and we’re
too partial.
JO: That's just it. I've been fussing over the thing so long, I don't know
whether it's good, bad, or indifferent.
MEG: I wouldn't leave a word out of it. The story is more in the minds
than in the actions of the people, and it will be all a muddle if you
don't explain as you go.
JO: But Mr. Allen says, “Leave out the explanations and let the
characters tell the story'”.
AMY: Do as he tells you. He knows what will sell, and we don't.
JO: Now, Beth, what do you say?
BETH: (with more significance than we know) I should so like to see it
printed soon.
JO: (to audience) So, with Spartan firmness, the young authoress laid
her firstborn on her table, and chopped it up as ruthlessly as any
ogre, and it was printed, and she got three hundred dollars for it.
And enough “helpful” criticism to sink a battleship. (JO has
somehow acquired a handful of letters and newspaper clippings,
which SHE waves about as SHE speaks to her family.) You said,
criticism would help me, but how can it, when it's so contradictory?
This man says, “An exquisite book, full of truth, beauty, and
earnestness.” The next, “Full of morbid fancies, spiritualistic ideas,
and unnatural characters.” Another says, “It's one of the best
American novels in years.” I know better than that! Then this one
says, “This is a dangerous book.” Dangerous? (sighs) Well—not
being a genius, like Keats, it won't kill me, and when I'm ready, I'll
up and try again.

All but MEG exit. SHE addresses the audience as LOTTY brings on a
small table with jelly-making materials.
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57 57
 LITTLE WOMEN

MEG: While Jo was learning that being an author was not always
glamorous, Meg was making the same discovery about married life.
She was determined to be a model housekeeper, and went through
Mrs. Cornelius's Recipe Book as if it were a mathematical exercise.
One day John was requested to order home a dozen or so jelly jars
and an extra quantity of sugar, for their currants were ripe and Meg
was determined to have jelly. Home came four dozen delightful little
jars, half a barrel of sugar, and a small boy to pick the currants. The
young housewife fell to work, feeling no doubts about her success,
for hadn't she seen Hannah do it hundreds of times?

JOHN BROOKE enters with MR. SCOTT, a business friend, and

addresses the audience. HE looks about as if expecting MEG to greet
him at the door, but SHE doesn’t, and when HE tries it HE finds it
locked.

BROOKE: If John had not forgotten all about the jelly, it really would
have been unpardonable in him to choose that day, of all the days
in the year, to bring a friend home to dinner unexpectedly. (to
SCOTT) It’s locked! I'm afraid something has happened. Step into
the garden, Scott, while I look up Mrs. Brooke.

The two men cross the stage as if going around to the back of the
house. They see MEG and LOTTY in the kitchen. SCOTT discreetly
looks away, as BROOKE stands dumbfounded.

LOTTY: In the kitchen reigned confusion and despair. One edition of

jelly trickled from pot to pot, another lay on the floor, and a third was
burning gaily on the stove. Their little servant, Lotty, sat eating
bread and currant wine, for the jelly was still in a hopelessly liquid
state, while Mrs. Brooke, with her apron over her head, sat sobbing
dismally.
BROOKE: (rushing in and embracing her) My dearest girl! Has
anything dreadful happened?
MEG: Yes!
BROOKE: Tell me quick, then. Don't cry. I can bear anything better
than that. Out with it, love.
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58 58
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MEG: The . . .The jelly won't jell!

BROOKE: (laughing) Is that all? I'll buy you quarts if you want, but for
heaven's sake don't have hysterics. I've brought Jack Scott home
to dinner, and—
MEG: A man to dinner, and everything in a mess! John Brooke, how
could you do such a thing?
BROOKE: Hush, he's in the garden! I forgot the confounded jelly.
MEG: Take him away at once. I can't see him, and there isn't any
dinner.
BROOKE: (to audience) John was a mild man, but he was human,
and after a long day's work to come home to a chaotic house, an
empty table, and a cross wife was not exactly conductive to repose.
He restrained himself however, and the little squall would have
blown over, but for one unlucky word. (to MEG) It’ll be all right—just
fix us up something to eat. Give us cold meat and bread and
cheese. (smiling) We won't ask for jelly.
MEG: That’s very funny! You must get yourself out of the scrape as
you can. Take that Scott up to Mother's, and tell him I'm away, sick,
dead, anything. I won't see him, and you two can laugh at me and
my jelly as much as you like.

SHE storms out. BROOKE returns to SCOTT and they both exit as
LOTTY addresses the audience. As SHE speaks we hear the two men
laughing loudly from offstage.

LOTTY: What those two creatures did in her absence, Meg never
knew, but Mr. Scott was not “taken up to Mother’s.” Lotty reported
that they had eaten a much, and greatly laughed, and the master
bid her throw away all the sweet stuff, and hide the pots. Later that
evening, when both parties had calmed down, they met in the
parlor.

LOTTY exits, taking off the jelly but leaving the table, as MEG enters
with her sewing and sits.

BROOKE: (enters, stands gazing out the window) We are going to

have a new moon, my dear.
MEG: I've no objection.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

Long pause.

BROOKE: My dear—
MEG: (simultaneously) John—

Long pause.

BOTH: I’m— (They laugh.)

MEG: I’m sorry, John.
BROOKE: No, I am. It was too bad to laugh at the poor little jelly jars.
I never will again!
MEG: (to audience) But he did, oh bless you, yes, hundreds of times,
and so did Meg, both declaring that it was the sweetest jelly they
ever made, for family peace was preserved in that little jar. So the
year rolled round, and at midsummer there came to Meg a new
experience, the deepest and tenderest of a woman's life.

They exit hand in hand. There is immediately a bustle of activity, as

LOTTY, HANNAH, JO, AMY, and MARMEE rush back and forth. In a
moment, only HANNAH is left onstage, when LAURIE bursts in.

LAURIE: How is she? Where is everybody? Why didn't you tell me?
HANNAH: She’s resting upstairs, happy as a queen, the dear! Every
soul of `em is up a worshipin'. We didn't want no hurry-canes round.
Now you stay here, and I'll send `em down to you.

HANNAH exits and in a moment JO appears with two bundles in her

arms and a twinkle in her eyes.

JO: Shut your eyes and hold out your arms.

LAURIE: I'd rather not. I shall drop it or smash it, as sure as fate.
JO: Then you don’t get to see.
LAURIE: I will, I will! Only, you must be responsible for damages.

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

MARMEE, HANNAH, AMY and BROOKE enter silently and watch

expectantly as LAURIE closes his eyes and holds out his arms. JO puts
her bundles in his arms. HE opens his eyes, and his look of surprise is
so pronounced that the whole company is convulsed with laughter.

LAURIE: Twins, by Jupiter! Take ‘em quick, somebody! I'm going to

laugh, and I’ll drop ‘em.

JO rescues the babies as LAURIE bursts into laughter.

JO: I wouldn't have you told, for I set my heart on surprising you.
LAURIE: I never was more staggered in my life. Are they boys? What
are you going to name them? Let's have another look.
BROOKE: Boy and girl. Aren't they beauties?
LAURIE: Most remarkable children I ever saw. Which is which?
AMY: I put a blue ribbon on the boy and a pink on the girl, French
fashion, so you can always tell.
JO: Kiss them, Uncle Teddy.
LAURIE: (timidly) I'm afraid they mightn't like it.
JO: Of course they will! They’re used to it now. Do it this minute, sir!
LAURIE: (leaning over the babies) That’s the boy—he hits out with his
fists like a good one. Now then, young Brooke, pick on someone
your own size, will you?
AMY: He's to be named John Laurence, and the girl Margaret, after
mother and grandmother. We’ll call her Daisy, so as not to have two
Megs, and I suppose he will be Jack, unless we find a better name.
LAURIE: Name him Demijohn, and call him Demi for short.
JO: (clapping her hands) Daisy and Demi! I knew Teddy would do it.

LOTTY enters leading an exhausted but radiant MEG.

LOTTY: Here’s mother!

Everyone surrounds MEG, congratulating her, as the lights go down.

They come up to reveal AMY and JO in the March kitchen.

AMY: Come, Jo, it's time.

JO: For what?
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 LITTLE WOMEN

AMY: You promised to make half a dozen calls with me today.

JO: I've done a good many rash and foolish things in my life, but—
AMY: Yes, you did! It was a bargain between us. I was to finish the
drawing of Beth for you, and you were to go properly with me.
JO: If it was fair. There is a pile of clouds in the east.
AMY: It’s a debt we owe society, and there's no one to pay it but you
and me.
JO: Oh, all right. (to audience) Jo hated “making calls,” but she let her
more social sister drag her around returning the visits of those who
had visited them. Last on the list was Aunt March. (to AMY) Oh, let’s
go home, and never mind Aunt March today. We can run down there
any time.
AMY: Aunt March likes to have us pay her the compliment of making
a formal call. It's a little thing to do, but it gives her pleasure.
JO: What a good girl you are! I wish it was as easy for me to do little
things to please people.

AUNT MARCH enters and sits by what is now “her” hearth. As SHE
speaks, JO and AMY sit with her.

AUNT MARCH: They found the old lady at home and eager for gossip.
Are you going to help with the charity fair, dear?
AMY: Yes, Aunt. Mrs. Chester asked me if I would, and I offered to
tend a table.
JO: I'm not. I hate to be patronized, and the Chesters think it's a great
favor to allow us to help with their fair.
AMY: I think it very kind of them to let me share the labor and the fun.
AUNT MARCH: I like your grateful spirit, my dear. It's a pleasure to
help people who appreciate our efforts. Some do not, and that is
trying.
JO: I don't like favors. They oppress me. I'd rather do everything for
myself, and be perfectly independent.

Pause.

AUNT MARCH: (to AMY) Do you speak French, dear?

AMY: Pretty well, thanks to your letting Esther talk to me as often as I
like.
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: I can’t bear French. It's such a slippery, silly sort of language.
AUNT MARCH: Hmph.
JO: Well, it’s getting on. Come Amy.

The girls get up to leave. JO shakes hands brusquely with AUNT

MARCH, but AMY kisses her warmly. The lights go down. They come
up on MARMEE, JO and BETH in the kitchen. MARMEE holds a letter,
which SHE reads with interest.

MARMEE: Oh!
BETH: What is it, Marmee?
MARMEE: Aunt March is going abroad next month, and wants—
JO: Me to go with her!
MARMEE: No, dear, not you. It's Amy.
JO: Oh, Mother! She's too young! It's my turn first. I've wanted it so
long!
MARMEE: I'm afraid it's impossible, Jo. Aunt says Amy, and it is not
for us to dictate.
JO: Amy has all the fun and I have all the work. It isn't fair!
MARMEE: I'm afraid it's partly your own fault, dear. Here she writes,
“I planned at first to ask Jo, but as ‘favors burden her,’ and she
‘hates French,’ I think I won't venture to invite her.”
JO: Oh, my abominable tongue! Why can't I learn to keep quiet?
BETH: Jo, dear, I'm very selfish, but I couldn't spare you, and I'm glad
you are not going quite yet.

BETH hugs JO as the lights go down. They come up on JO and

LAURIE on the couch.

JO: How many bouquets have you sent Miss Randal this week?
LAURIE: Not one, upon my word. She's engaged.
JO: I'm glad. That's one of your foolish extravagances, sending flowers
and things to girls for whom you don't care two pins.
LAURIE: Sensible girls for whom I do care whole papers of pins won't
let me send them “flowers and things,” so what can I do?
JO: You do flirt desperately, Teddy.
LAURIE: I'd give anything if I could answer, “So do you.” As I can't, I'll
merely say that I don't see any harm in that pleasant little game.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: Well, it does look pleasant, but I can't learn how it's done.
LAURIE: I'm glad you can't flirt. Some of the girls I know go on at such
a rate I'm ashamed of them. If they knew how we fellows talked
about them—
JO: If you behaved properly, they would, but knowing you like their
nonsense, they keep it up, and then you blame them.
LAURIE: We don't like romps and flirts, though we may act as if we
did. The pretty, modest girls are never talked about, except
respectfully.
JO: Then go and devote yourself to one of the “pretty, modest girls”
whom you do respect.
LAURIE: (hopefully) You really advise it?
JO: (unaware of his meaning) Yes, I do, but you'd better wait till you
are through college, and be fitting yourself for the place meantime.
You're not half good enough, whoever the modest girl may be.
LAURIE: (significantly) That I'm not!

HE looks at her for a long moment, then exits. JO watches him leave
thoughtfully. MARMEE enters.

JO: (sudden resolution) Marmee, I want to go away somewhere this

winter for a change.
MARMEE: Why, Jo?
JO: I brood too much over my own small affairs, and need stirring up.
I’d like to hop a little way and try my wings.
MARMEE: Where will you hop?
JO: To New York. You know Mrs. Kirke wrote to you for some
respectable young person to teach her children and sew.
MARMEE: My dear, go out to service in that great boarding house?
But your writing?
JO: I shall see and hear new things, get new ideas, and bring home
quantities of material.
MARMEE: Are these your only reasons for this sudden fancy?
JO: I'm afraid Laurie is getting too fond of me.
MARMEE: Then you don't care for him?
JO: I love the dear boy, as I always have, and am immensely proud of
him, but as for anything more, it's out of the question.
MARMEE: I'm glad of that, Jo.
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: Why?
MARMEE: As friends you are very happy, and your frequent quarrels
soon blow over, but I fear you would both rebel if you were mated
for life. You are too much alike and too fond of freedom. You are
sure of his feeling for you?
JO: He hasn't said anything, but he looks a great deal. I think I had
better go away before it comes to anything.
MARMEE: I agree with you, and if it can be managed you shall go.

The lights fade. They come up on AMY and JO, each writing.

AMY: London. Dearest People: Here I really sit at a front window of

the Bath Hotel, Piccadilly. The trip from the boat was like riding
through a long picture gallery, full of lovely landscapes. The very
cattle looked more tranquil than ours, and the hens had a contented
cluck, as if they never got nervous like Yankee biddies. Shopping in
Regent Street is perfectly splendid, but I shall get my gloves in
Paris. Doesn't that sound sort of elegant and rich?
JO: November. Dear Marmee and Beth: Mrs. Kirke welcomed me so
kindly I felt at home at once. The two little girls are pretty children,
rather spoiled, I fancy, but they took to me after telling them The
Seven Bad Pigs. Today I saw something I liked. As I stood waiting
at the head of the stair for a little servant girl to lumber up, I saw a
gentleman come along behind her, take the heavy load of coal out
of her hands, and carry it all the way up, saying, with a kind nod and
a foreign accent, “It goes better so. The little back is too young to
have such heaviness.” When I mentioned it to Mrs. K. she laughed,
and said, “That must have been Professor Bhaer.” She told me he
was from Berlin, very learned and good, but poor as a church
mouse, and gives lessons to support himself and two little orphan
nephews whom he is educating here. Mrs. K. lends him her parlor
for some of his scholars. He's almost forty, so it's no harm, Marmee.
AMY: London. Laurie's English friends, Frank and Freddie Vaughn are
here. Tell Beth they asked for her, and were sorry to hear of her ill
health. Aunt is tapping on the wall for the third time, so I must stop.
I really feel like a dissipated London lady, writing here so late, with
my room full of pretty things, and my head a jumble of parks,
theaters, new gowns.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: December. When I got to the nursery Saturday there was such an
uproar in the parlor that I looked in, and there was Professor Bhaer
down on his hands and knees, with little Tina, the laundry maid’s
daughter, on his back, Kitty leading him with a jump rope, and
Minnie feeding two small boys with seedcakes in cages built of
chairs. “We are playing Zoo!” explained Kitty. “Dis is mine effalunt!”
added Tina, holding on by the Professor's hair. The “effalunt” sat
up, looking as much in earnest as any of them, and said soberly to
me, “If we make too large a noise you shall say ‘Hush!’ to us, and
we go more softly.”
AMY: Heidelberg. My dear Mamma: Having a quiet hour before we
leave for Berne, I'll try to tell you what has happened. Fred has just
gone. I haven't flirted, Mother, truly. I can't help it if people like me.
Now I know Mother will shake her head, and the girls say, “Oh, the
mercenary little wretch!” but I've made up my mind, and if Fred asks
me, I shall accept him, though I'm not madly in love. He is
handsome, young, clever enough, and very rich—ever so much
richer than the Laurences.
JO: A Happy New Year to you all, my dearest family. I can't tell you
how much I enjoyed your Christmas bundle, for I didn't get it ‘til night
and had given up hoping. Speaking of presents, New Year's Day
Mr. Bhaer gave me a fine Shakespeare. It is one he values much,
so you may imagine how I felt when he brought it down, and showed
me my own name in it, “from my friend Friedrich Bhaer.” Now don't
laugh at his horrid name. It isn't pronounced “Bear” or “Beer,” as
people will say it, but something between the two, as only Germans
can give it. I hope you will know him some day. Mother would admire
his warm heart, and Father his wise head.
AMY: Last evening I had a feeling that it was going to happen and I
was ready for it, but when Fred arrived he only had time to say
goodbye. He'd just got a letter begging him to come home, for Frank
was very ill. But he said in a way that I could not mistake, “I shall
soon come back, you won't forget me, Amy?” We shall soon meet
in Rome, and then, if I don't change my mind, I'll say “Yes, thank
you,” when he says “Will you, please?” Ever your Amy.

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66 66
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: My Dearest Beth: I’ve begun to write again. If I can make some
money, I’ll take you to the mountains. (The lights fade. They come
up on JO in a newspaper office. MR. DASHWOOD sits half asleep
with his feet up. SHE addresses him.) Excuse me, I was looking for
the Weekly Volcano office. I wished to see Mr. Dashwood.
DASHWOOD: (sits up sleepily) You was, eh?
JO: (hesitantly) A friend of mine desired me to offer a story just as an
experiment.
DASHWOOD: (takes the story and scrutinizes it) Not a first attempt, I
take it?
JO: No, sir. She got a prize for a tale in the Blarney Stone Banner.
DASHWOOD: Oh, did she? (stares at her for a long moment, finally
speaks) We'll take this, if you don't object to a few alterations. It's
too long, but omitting the passages I'm marking will make it just the
right length.
JO: (to audience) Jo looked at the marked passages and was
surprised to find that all the moral reflections she had carefully put
in had been stricken out. (to DASHWOOD) But, Sir, I thought every
story should have some sort of a moral, so I took care to have a few
of my sinners repent.
DASHWOOD: People want to be amused, not preached at, you know.
Morals don't sell nowadays.
JO: But that—that’s wicked! I know it’s only light entertainment, but I
did hope to give my work some higher meaning.
DASHWOOD: You want a “higher meaning” or you want to get paid?
We give from twenty-five to thirty for things of this sort. Pay when it
comes out.
JO: Shall I tell my friend you will take another if she has one better
than this?
DASHWOOD: Tell her to make it short and spicy, and never mind the
moral. What name would your “friend” like to put on it?
JO: None at all, if you please, she doesn't wish her name to appear.
DASHWOOD: Just as she likes, of course. Be out next week. Will you
call for the money, or shall I send it?
JO: I'll call. Good morning, Sir. (marches out)
DASHWOOD: (looks after her) Poor and proud, as usual, but she'll do.

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67 67
 LITTLE WOMEN

The lights fade. They come up on JO and PROFESSOR BHAER sitting

reading together.

BHAER: (wearing a hat made of folded newspaper) Zo, you see here,
where the poet speaks of his love— (breaks off because JO is
struggling not to laugh) Mees Marsch, for what do you laugh in my
face? Haf you no respect for me, that you go on so bad?
JO: How can I be respectful, Professor, when you forget to take your
hat off?
BHAER: (puts his hand up to feel the hat, laughs heartily) Ah! I see
him now, it is that imp, Tina, who makes me a fool with my cap.
Well, it is nothing, but see you, if this lesson goes not well, you too
shall wear him. (starts to crumple the hat, but stops when HE sees
the paper it is made from; frowns) I wish these sensation stories did
not come here. They are not for children to see, nor young people
to read.
JO: (to audience) For a minute Jo fancied the paper was the Volcano.
It was not, however, and her panic subsided as she remembered
that even if it had been, and one of her own tales in it, there would
have been no name to betray her.
BHAER: (to audience) She had betrayed herself, however, by a look
and a blush, for the Professor saw a good deal more than people
fancied. (to JO) Yes, you are right to put it from you. I do not think
that good young girls should see such things. They are made
pleasant to some, but I would rather give my boys gunpowder to
play with than this bad trash.
JO: All may not be bad, only silly, you know, and if there is a demand
for it, I don't see any harm in supplying it.
BHAER: There is a demand for whisky, but I think you and I do not
care to sell it. (crumples the paper and throws it in the fire)
JO: (uncomfortably) Shall we go on, Sir? I'll be very good and proper
now.
BHAER: I shall hope so. But now I must leave you, and attend to mine
little nephews. (gets up, bows to her, and exits, very dignified)

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: (to audience) As soon as she went to her room, she got out her
papers, and carefully reread every one of her stories. (to herself)
They are trash, and will soon be worse trash if I go on, for each is
more sensational than the last. I know it's so, for I can't read this
stuff without being horribly ashamed of it, and what should I do if
they were seen at home or Mr. Bhaer got hold of them? (to
audience) At which thought she stuffed the whole bundle into her
stove, nearly setting the chimney afire with the blaze. These
adventures aside, it was a pleasant winter and a long one, for she
did not leave Mrs. Kirke ‘til June. Everyone seemed sorry when the
time came. (BHAER enters.) Now, Sir, you won't forget to come and
see us, if you ever travel our way, will you? I want them all to know
my friend.
BHAER: Do you? Shall I come?
JO: Yes, come next month. My friend Laurie graduates then, and you'd
enjoy commencement.

There is a pause, which JO doesn’t notice.

BHAER: I fear I shall not make the time for that, but I wish the friend
much success, and you all happiness. Gott bless you! (HE shakes
her hand warmly and SHE exits, as HE sadly watches her go. HE
addresses the audience.) But after the boys were abed, he sat long
before his fire with a tired look on his face and the “heimweh,” or
homesickness, lying heavy at his heart. Early as it was, he was at
the station next morning to see Jo off, and thanks to him, she began
her journey with the pleasant memory of a familiar face, a bunch of
violets to keep her company, and best of all, the happy thought, “I've
made a friend worth having and I'll try to keep him all my life.”

The lights go down, and come up as all the Marches, BROOKES and
MR. LAURENCE surround LAURIE in his cap and gown.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

LAURIE: (to audience) Whatever his motive might have been, Laurie
studied to some purpose that year, for he graduated with honor, and
gave the Latin oration with the grace of a Phillips and the eloquence
of a Demosthenes, so his friends said. (to girls) I've got to stay for
this confounded supper, but I shall be home early tomorrow. You'll
come and meet me as usual, girls?
JO: I'll march before you, playing “Hail the conquering hero comes” on
a jew's-harp. (LAURIE exits, to return almost immediately without
the cap and gown. JO addresses the audience.) As she met him the
next day, Jo felt distinctly uncomfortable, but his first remark could
hardly have been called passionate.
LAURIE: Where's the jew's-harp?
JO: (laughing) I forgot it.
LAURIE: (suddenly serious) Jo—
JO: No, Teddy. Please don't!
LAURIE: It's no use, Jo. We've got to have it out, and the sooner the
better for both of us.
JO: Say what you like then. I'll listen.
LAURIE: I've loved you ever since I've known you, Jo. I've tried to
show it, but you wouldn't let me. Now I'm going to make you hear,
and give me an answer.
JO: I wanted to save you this. I thought you'd understand.
LAURIE: Oh, but girls are so queer you never know what they mean.
They say “no” when they mean “yes,” and drive a man out of his
wits just for the fun of it.
JO: I don't. I never wanted you to care for me so, and I went away to
keep you from it.
LAURIE: I only loved you all the more, and I hoped you could love
me—though I'm not half good enough.
JO: You, you are! You're a great deal too good for me, and I don't
know why I can't love you as you want me to. I've tried, but it would
be a lie to say I do when I don't.
LAURIE: Really, truly, Jo?
JO: Really, truly, dear.
LAURIE: (stares into her face for a long moment) You'll be sorry
someday, Jo. (storms off)
JO: Oh, where are you going?
LAURIE: (offstage) To the devil!
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70 70
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: (softly, looking after him) Oh, Teddy, I wish I could. (Blackout.
Lights come up on BETH and JO at the seashore. JO addresses
the audience.) Beth thought the mountains too far from home, so Jo
took her to the seashore. She was struck by the change in her sister.
It had come too gradually to startle those who saw her daily, but to
eyes sharpened by absence, it was very plain, and a heavy weight
fell on Jo's heart. (looks searchingly at BETH) Oh, Beth! (embraces
her)
BETH: Jo, dear, I'm glad you know. I've tried to tell you, but I couldn't.
JO: Beth! No!
BETH: I've known it for a while now, and I'm used to it. It’s not so hard
to bear.
JO: Have you been keeping it to yourself all this time?
BETH: At first I tried to think it was my imagination. But when I saw
you all so well and strong and full of happy plans, it was hard to feel
that I could never be like you, and then I was miserable, Jo.
JO: Oh, Beth, and you didn't tell me, didn't let me comfort and help
you?
BETH: I wasn't sure—no one said anything, and I hoped I was
mistaken. It would have been selfish to frighten you all when
Marmee was so anxious about Meg, and Amy away, and you so
happy with Laurie—at least I thought so then.
JO: But you will get well. You must.
BETH: I try, but it's like the tide, Jo—when it turns, it goes slowly, but
it can't be stopped. You’ll tell them when we go home?
JO: I think they’ll see it without words.
BETH: I don't want any secrets, and it's kinder to prepare them. Meg
has John and the babies to comfort her, but you must stand by
Father and Mother, won't you Jo?
JO: If I can. But, Beth, don't give up yet. I won’t let you think it's true.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

BETH: I have a feeling I was never intended to live long. I never made
any plans about what I'd do when I grew up. I couldn't seem to
imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about at
home, of no use anywhere but there. I never wanted to go away,
and the hard part now is leaving you all. (We hear the sound of a
piping seabird. Though we can’t see it, BETH watches as a tiny bird
lands near her on the sand.) Dear little bird! See how tame it is. I
like peeps better than the gulls. They are not so wild and handsome,
but they seem happy, confiding little things. I used to call them my
birds last summer, and Mother said they reminded her of me—busy
little creatures, always near the shore, and always chirping that
contented little song of theirs. You are the gull, Jo—strong and wild,
fond of the storm, flying far out to sea. Meg is the turtledove, and
Amy is like the lark—trying to get up among the clouds, but always
dropping down into its nest again. I hope I shall see her again, but
she seems so far away.
JO: She is coming home next spring, and I'm going to have you well
and rosy by that time.
BETH: Jo, dear, don't hope any more. It won't do any good. I think the
tide will go out easily, if you help me.

They embrace as the lights go down. They come up on LAURIE, who

addresses the audience.

LAURIE: After Laurie’s triumphant graduation and his miserable

failure at love, his grandfather persuaded him to go abroad and
forget. He really did his best to enjoy himself. One day, in Nice, he
was strolling down the lane, admiring the fashionably dressed
ladies, when one especially beautiful one caught his eye. She was
young, blonde, and dressed in blue. (calling out) Amy!
AMY: (running on) Oh, Laurie, is it really you?
LAURIE: It really is.
AMY: How is your grandfather? When did you come? Where are you
staying?
LAURIE: (laughing) Very well, last night, and at the Chauvain.
AMY: I have so much to say, I don't know where to begin! I was going
for a walk and longing for company. Now tell me all about yourself.

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72 72
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

LAURIE: Laurie went to Nice intending to stay a week, and remained

a month. Amy rose daily in his estimation, but he sank in hers.

LAURIE lounges on the ground. AMY takes out a sketchbook and

draws him.

AMY: Laurie, when are you going back to your grandfather?

LAURIE: Very soon.
AMY: You’ve said that a dozen times.
LAURIE: Short answers save trouble.
AMY: He expects you, and you really ought to go.
LAURIE: I know it.
AMY: Then why don't you do it?
LAURIE: Natural depravity, I suppose.
AMY: Natural indolence, you mean. What would Jo say if she saw you
now?
LAURIE: As usual, “Go away, Teddy. I'm busy!”
AMY: I have got a new name for you. It's Lazy Laurence. Do you want
to know what I honestly think of you?
LAURIE: Pining to be told.
AMY: Well, I despise you.
LAURIE: Why, if you please?
AMY: Because, with every chance for being good, useful, and happy,
you are faulty, lazy, and miserable.
LAURIE: Pray go on—it's quite interesting.
AMY: Yes—selfish people always do like to talk about themselves.
LAURIE: Am I selfish?
AMY: With money, talent, position, health, and beauty—ah you like
that, old Vanity! But it's the truth, so I can't help saying it—you can
find nothing to do but dawdle, and instead of being the man you
ought to be, you are only—
LAURIE: Saint Laurence on a gridiron—
AMY: I knew you'd take it so. You men tell us we are angels, but the
instant we honestly try to do you good, you laugh at us and won't
listen.
LAURIE: (teasing and covering her work with his hand so SHE can’t
draw) I will be good, oh, I will be good!

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 LITTLE WOMEN

AMY: Aren't you ashamed of a hand like that? It looks as if it never did
anything but wear Jouvin's best gloves and pick flowers for ladies.
At least there are no diamonds or big seal rings on it, only the old
one Jo gave you. Dear soul, I wish she was here to help me!
LAURIE: So do I!

HE pulls away abruptly and looks at the ground. There is a resounding

silence as AMY suddenly realizes the truth.

AMY: (kindly) They ought to have told me. (pause) Jo wouldn't be kind
to you?
LAURIE: She was kind, but not in the right way. And it's lucky for her
she didn't love me, if I'm the good-for-nothing fellow you think me.
It's her fault though, and you may tell her so.
AMY: I didn't know. But I can't help wishing you'd bear it better, Teddy,
dear.
LAURIE: Don't, that's her name for me! (pause) Wait till you've tried it
yourself. (long pause) Do you think Jo would despise me as you
do?
AMY: Yes, if she saw you now. Why don't you do something splendid,
and make her love you?
LAURIE: I did my best, but it was no use.
AMY: Graduating well, you mean? That was no more than you ought
to have done, for your grandfather's sake. It would have been
shameful to fail when everyone knew you could do well.
LAURIE: I did fail—Jo wouldn't love me.
AMY: (shows him the finished sketch) There. How do you like that?
LAURIE: How well you draw! Yes, that's me.
AMY: As you are. This is you as you were. (shows another sketch) I
found that in my portfolio the other day and kept it to show you.
LAURIE: (looks at the sketches) How you’ve improved!
AMY: And you?

Blackout. Lights up to reveal JO writing in one corner of the room, as

BETH sleeps. SHE speaks aloud as SHE writes.

JO: MY BETH
Sitting patient in the shadow
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74 74
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

‘Til the blessed light shall come,

A serene and saintly presence
Sanctifies our troubled home.
O my sister, passing from me,
Out of human care and strife,
Leave me, as a gift, those virtues
Which have beautified your life.
Dear, bequeath me that great patience
Which has power to sustain
A cheerful, uncomplaining spirit
In its prison-house of pain.
Give me that unselfish nature,
That with charity divine
Can pardon wrong for love's dear sake.
Meek heart, forgive me mine!
Henceforth, safe across the river,
I shall see forever more
A beloved, household spirit
Waiting for me on the shore.
Hope and faith, born of my sorrow,
Guardian angels shall become,
And the sister gone before me
By their hands shall lead me home.

The lights fade and come up to reveal the same scene, except that JO
is closer to the bed and BETH is awake.

BETH: I found this and read it. Have I been all that to you, Jo?
JO: Oh, Beth, so much, so much!
BETH: Then I don't feel I've wasted my life. And now, when it's too late
to do better, it's such a comfort to know that someone loves me so
much, and feels as if I'd helped them.
JO: More than any one in the world, Beth. I used to think I couldn't let
you go, but I'm learning to feel death can't part us.
BETH: I know it can’t, and I don't fear it any longer. (pause) You must
take my place, Jo, and be everything to Father and Mother when
I'm gone.
JO: I'll try, Beth.
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75 75
 LITTLE WOMEN

The lights fade and come up to reveal MARMEE sitting by BETH’s

head, stroking her hair. MR. MARCH stands at her shoulder, and JO is
asleep in a chair. MARMEE addresses the audience.

MARMEE: The flowers were up early that spring, and the birds came
back in time to say goodbye to Beth, who, like a tired but trustful
child, clung to the hands that had led her all her life, as Father and
Mother guided her tenderly through the Valley of the Shadow, and
gave her up to God.

In silence, JO awakens, and moves to the bedside, where MARMEE

embraces her. The lights fade slowly. They come up on JO, writing at
one corner of the stage, as AMY reads at the other.

JO: For the first time in many months the fire was out, my accustomed
place in the corner was empty, and the room was very still. But a
bird sang on a budding bough, the snowdrops blossomed freshly at
the window, and the spring sunshine streamed in like a benediction
over the placid face upon the pillow—

JO exits as AMY continues reading.

AMY: A face so full of peace that we who loved it best smiled through
our tears, and thanked God our Beth was well at last.

SHE lets the letter fall and covers her face for a moment. LAURIE, also
carrying a letter, enters hesitantly.

LAURIE: Amy—
AMY: Oh, Laurie, I knew you'd come to me! (flies into his arms)
LAURIE: I came the minute I heard. I wish I could say something to
comfort you, but I can only feel—
AMY: I know. Beth is well and happy, and I mustn't wish her back, but
I dread going home, much as I long to see them all. We won't talk
about it now. It makes me cry, and I want to enjoy you while you
stay. You needn't go right back, need you?
LAURIE: Not if you want me, dear.
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

AMY: Oh, Laurie—so much.

LAURIE: (to audience) The pain of their loss seemed to have broken
down all the barriers between Laurie and Amy, and from that
moment on they were nearly always together. They went for walks,
attended balls, and went for rows on the lake.

During the above speech, they have sat down in a “rowboat,” which
LAURIE rows lazily as AMY reclines opposite him.

AMY: You must be tired. Rest a little, and let me row. It will do me
good, for since you came I have been altogether lazy and luxurious.
LAURIE: I'm not tired, but you may take an oar, if you like. There's
room enough.

SHE moves to sit beside him and they row together for a few moments.

AMY: How well we pull together, don't we?

LAURIE: So well that I wish we might always pull in the same boat.
(pause) Will you, Amy?

SHE looks into his eyes and the lights go down on them. They come
up to reveal JO, MARMEE and MR. MARCH in the kitchen.

JO: (to audience) Back home, Jo tried to live up to her promise to Beth.
But she found it heavy going, now that she had lost the one person
whose example would have made serving others easier to learn. (to
MARMEE) Why must life be always so drear? I can’t settle my mind
to anything.
MARMEE: Why don't you write? That always used to make you happy.
JO: I've no heart to write, and if I had, nobody cares for my things.
MARMEE: We do. Write something for us, and never mind the rest of
the world.
JO: I don't believe I can.
MARMEE: (to audience) But an hour afterward her mother peeped
into the garret and there she was, scratching away.

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77 77
 LITTLE WOMEN

MR. MARCH: Jo never knew how it happened, but something got into
that story that went straight to the hearts of those who read it, for
when her family had laughed and cried over it, her father sent it,
much against her will, to one of the popular magazines, and to her
utter surprise, it was not only paid for, but others requested.
JO: I don't understand it. What can there be in a simple little story to
make people praise it so?
MR. MARCH: There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret. You have found
your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame and money,
and put your heart into it.
JO: If there is anything good or true in what I write, I owe it all to you
and Mother and Beth. (to audience) So, taught by love and sorrow,
Jo wrote her little stories, and sent them away to make friends for
themselves and her, finding it a very charitable world to such
humble wanderers, for they were kindly welcomed, and sent home
comfortable tokens to their mother, like dutiful children whom good
fortune overtakes.

The lights go down, then come up on JO sitting writing as LAURIE

sneaks up behind her. HE leans down and kisses her on the cheek.

JO: Teddy! Oh my Teddy!

LAURIE: Dear Jo, you are glad to see me, then?
JO: Glad! My blessed boy, words can't express. Where's Amy?
LAURIE: Your mother has got her down at Meg's. We stopped there
by the way, and there was no getting my wife out of their clutches.
JO: Your what?
LAURIE: Oh, the dickens! Now I've done it.
JO: You've gone and got married!
LAURIE: (on his knees in mock apology) Yes, please, but I never will
again.
JO: Actually married?
LAURIE: Very much so, thank you.
JO: Mercy on us. What dreadful thing will you do next? Get up, you
ridiculous boy, and tell me all about it. Come and fess, Teddy.
LAURIE: How good it sounds to hear you say “Teddy”! No one ever
calls me that but you.
JO: What does Amy call you?
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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

LAURIE: “My lord.”

JO: Ha! Well, you look it.
LAURIE: They’re all coming up presently. I couldn't wait. I wanted to
be the one to tell you.
JO: Of course you did, and spoiled your story by beginning at the
wrong end. Now, start right, and tell me how it all happened.
LAURIE: Well, Grandpa wanted to come home. He only went abroad
in the first place to please me, so I couldn't let him go alone. Neither
could I leave Amy, and your Aunt had English notions about
chaperons and such nonsense, and wouldn't let Amy come with us.
So I just settled the difficulty by saying, “Let's be married, and then
we can do as we like.”
AMY: (calling off) Where is she? Where's my dear old Jo?

Enter en masse AMY, MEG, JOHN BROOKE, MR. LAURENCE,

MARMEE, MR. MARCH, and HANNAH. Embraces and handshakes all
around. As the younger generation moves excitedly off, the older
watches fondly.

HANNAH: Blest if she ain't in silk from head to foot? Ain't it a relishin'
sight to see her settin' there as fine as a fiddle?
MR. LAURENCE: She’s turned into a real lady, hasn’t she, now?
MARMEE: Love has done much for our little girl.
MR. MARCH: She has had a good example before her all her life, my
dear.
JO: (re-enters; to audience) As happy as she was for her sister and
her new brother, Jo couldn’t help feeling even more alone than
usual now that even faithful Teddy had deserted her. But then came
a knock on the door and a surprise that made her forget her
loneliness. (opens the door to find PROFESSOR BHAER) Oh, Mr.
Bhaer, I am so glad to see you!
BHAER: And I, to see Miss Marsch. But no, you haf a party—
JO: No, we haven't, only the family. Come in, and make one of us.
BHAER: If I shall not be Monsieur de Trop, I will so gladly see them
all. You haf been ill, my friend?
JO: Not ill, but tired and sorrowful. We have had trouble since I saw
you last.
BHAER: Ah, yes, I know. My heart was sore for you when I heard that.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

MARMEE and MR. MARCH enter and are introduced to BHAER.

JO: (with pride) Father, Mother, this is my friend, Professor Bhaer.

BHAER: (to audience) If the stranger had any doubts about his
reception, they were set at rest in a minute. As the evening wore
on, Mr. Bhaer sat looking about him with the air of a traveler who
knocks at a strange door, and when it opens, finds himself at home.
JO: “Dear old fellow!” thought Jo, as she noticed her old friend’s
uncharacteristically neat and elegant appearance. “He couldn't
have got himself up with more care if he'd been going a-wooing.”

LAURIE, with AMY on his arm, approaches BHAER.

LAURIE: My wife and I are very glad to meet you, sir. Please
remember that there is always a welcome waiting for you over the
way.

They exit.

BHAER: (to MARMEE, but looking at JO) I too shall go, but I shall
gladly come again, if you will gif me leave, dear Madame, for a little
business in the city will keep me here some days.
MARMEE: Of course.

BHAER exits.

MR. MARCH: I suspect that is a wise man.

MARMEE: I know he is a good one.
JO: I thought you'd like him.

The lights go down. They come up on LAURIE and AMY at home.

LAURIE: Mrs. Laurence.

AMY: My Lord?
LAURIE: That man intends to marry our Jo!
AMY: I hope so, don't you, dear?

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

LAURIE: Well, my love, I consider him a trump, but I do wish he was

a little younger and a good deal richer.
AMY: If they love one another it doesn't matter a particle how old they
are or how poor. Women should never marry for money.
LAURIE: If my memory serves me, you once thought it your duty to
make a rich match. That accounts, perhaps, for your marrying a
good-for-nothing like me.
AMY: I forgot you were rich when I said “Yes.” I'd have married you if
you hadn't a penny.
LAURIE: How could I doubt it? You refused a richer man for me, and
won't let me give you half I want to now.
AMY: Laurie—shall you care if Jo does marry Mr. Bhaer?
LAURIE: Oh, that's the trouble is it? I thought there was something.
Now do listen. I am without doubt the happiest fellow alive, and I
assure you I can dance at Jo's wedding with a heart as light as my
heels. (pause) I wish we could do something for that capital old
Professor. Couldn't we invent a rich relation, who shall obligingly die
out there in Germany, and leave him a tidy little fortune?
AMY: Jo would find us out, and spoil it all. She is very proud of him,
just as he is, and said yesterday that she thought poverty was a
beautiful thing.
LAURIE: She won't think so when she has a literary husband, and a
dozen little professors and professorins to support.
AMY: How delightful it is to be able to help others, isn't it? That was
always one of my dreams, to have the power of giving freely, and
thanks to you, the dream has come true.
LAURIE: (to audience) And so it was decided then and there. The
Laurences would spend their lives helping others. It was the best
use of all that money that either could think of, and it would allow
them to work together. Charity is its own reward, but these young
lovers found more reward even than most. But it was not for them
to give Jo what she most wanted. That honor fell to someone else.

JO enters in her outdoor things. MARMEE enters behind her, as

LAURIE and AMY exit.

MARMEE: You'd better take the little umbrella, dear. It looks like rain.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: Yes, Marmee. Do you want anything in town? I've got to run in
and get some paper.
MARMEE: Yes, I want some twilled Silesia, a paper of number nine
needles, and two yards of narrow lavender ribbon. If you happen to
meet Mr. Bhaer, bring him home to tea. I quite long to see the dear
man. (As MARMEE addresses the audience, JO crosses the stage,
doing as SHE describes.) The dry goods stores were not down
among the counting houses, banks, and wholesale warerooms
where gentlemen most congregate, but Jo found herself in that part
of the city before she did a single errand. A drop of rain on her cheek
reminded her of the little umbrella, which she had forgotten to take
in her hurry.
JO: (to herself) It serves me right! What business had I to put on all
my best things and come philandering down here, hoping to see the
Professor? Jo, I'm ashamed of you! (to audience) With that she
rushed across the street so impetuously that she narrowly escaped
annihilation from a passing wagon.

As SHE rushes across the street, PROFESSOR BHAER appears,

holding a large umbrella over her head and smiling kindly.

BHAER: I seem to know the strong-minded lady who goes so bravely

under many horse noses, and so fast through much mud. What do
you down here, my friend?
JO: I'm shopping.
BHAER: You haf no umbrella. May I go also, and take for you the
bundles?
JO: Yes, thank you. (pause) We thought you had gone.
BHAER: Did you believe that I should go with no farewell to those who
haf been so heavenly kind to me?
JO: I knew you were busy about your own affairs, but we rather missed
you—Father and Mother especially.
BHAER: I thank you, and come one more time before I go.
JO: You are going, then?
BHAER: I haf no longer any business here, it is done.
JO: Successfully, I hope?
BHAER: I ought to think so, for I haf a way opened to me by which I
can make my bread and gif my junglings much help.
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82 82
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: Tell me, please! I like to know all about the boys.
BHAER: My friends find for me a place in a college, where I teach as
at home, and earn enough to make the way smooth for Franz and
Emil.
JO: How splendid it will be to have you doing what you like, and be
able to see you often, and the boys!
BHAER: Ah! But we shall not meet often, I fear. This place is at the
West.
JO: So far away!
BHAER: Miss Marsch, I haf a great favor to ask of you.
JO: (expectantly) Yes?
BHAER: I wish to get a little dress for my Tina, and I am too stupid to
go alone. Will you kindly gif me a word of taste and help?
JO: (crushed) Yes, sir.
BHAER: Perhaps also a shawl for Tina's mother. Yes, yes, a thick,
warm shawl would be a friendly thing to take the little mother.
JO: (almost in tears) I'll do it with pleasure, Mr. Bhaer.
BHAER: Heart's dearest, why do you cry?
JO: Because you are going away.
BHAER: (claps his hands in delight) Ach, mein Gott, that is so good!
(more serious) Jo, I haf nothing but much love to gif you. I came to
see if you could care for me, and I waited to be sure that I was
something more than a friend. Am I? Can you make a little place in
your heart for old Fritz?
JO: Oh, yes!

Hampered by the umbrella, they nevertheless manage a perfectly

passable embrace. After a moment, JO looks him in the face and
speaks.

JO: Oh, Fritz, why didn’t you say something before?

BHAER: I had a wish to tell something the day I said goodbye in New
York, but I thought the handsome friend was betrothed to thee, and
so I spoke not. Would you have said “Yes” then, if I had spoken?
JO: I don't know. I'm afraid not, for I didn't have any heart just then.
BHAER: Prut! That I do not believe. It was asleep till the fairy prince
came through the wood, and waked it up. Ah, well, “Die erste Liebe
ist die beste,” but that I should not expect.
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 LITTLE WOMEN

JO: Yes, the first love is the best, so be contented—I never had
another. Teddy was never more than a friend.
BHAER: Then I shall rest happy, and be sure that you gif me all.
JO: Now tell me what brought you, at last, just when I wanted you?
BHAER: (takes a much-folded magazine clipping from his pocket)
This. I found it by chance in a magazine.
JO: (takes it) It’s mine! But it was published anonymously. There is no
name. How did you know?
BHAER: I knew. And in it there is one little verse that seemed to call
me. Read and find him. I will see that you go not in the wet.
JO: (reading) IN THE GARRET:
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
All fashioned and filled, long ago,
By children now in their prime.
Four little names, one on each lid,
Carved out by a childish hand,
And underneath there lieth hid
Histories of the happy band
Meg on the first lid, smooth and fair.
I look in with loving eyes,
For folded here, with well-known care,
A goodly gathering lies,
The record of a peaceful life
Gifts to gentle child and girl,
A bridal gown, lines to a wife,
A tiny shoe, a baby curl.
Ah, happy mother! Well I know
You hear, like a sweet refrain,
Lullabies ever soft and low
In the falling summer rain.
Jo on the next lid, scratched and worn,
And within a motley store
Of headless dolls, of schoolbooks torn,
Birds and beasts that speak no more,
Half-writ poems, stories wild,
April letters, warm and cold,
Diaries of a willful child,
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84 84
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

Hints of a woman early old,

A woman in a lonely home,
Hearing, like a sad refrain
Be worthy, love, and love will come,
In the falling summer rain.
My Beth! The dust is always swept
From the lid that bears your name,
As if by loving eyes that wept,
By careful hands that often came.
Death canonized for us one saint,
Ever less human than divine,
And still we lay, with tender plaint,
Relics in this household shrine.
The songs she sang, without lament,
In her prison-house of pain,
Forever are they sweetly blent
With the falling summer rain.
Upon the last lid's polished field
Legend now both fair and true
A gallant knight bears on his shield,
Amy in letters gold and blue.
Gay valentines, all ardent flames,
Trifles that have borne their part
In girlish hopes and fears and shames,
The record of a maiden heart
Now learning fairer, truer spells,
Hearing, like a blithe refrain,
The silver sound of bridal bells
In the falling summer rain.
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
Four women, taught by weal and woe
To love and labor in their prime.
Four sisters, parted for an hour,
None lost, one only gone before,
Made by love's immortal power,
Nearest and dearest evermore.

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85 85
 LITTLE WOMEN

It's very bad poetry, but I felt it when I wrote it, one day when I was very
lonely.
BHAER: I read that, and I think to myself, “She has a sorrow, she is
lonely, she would find comfort in true love.”
JO: What made you stay away so long?
BHAER: I could not find the heart to take you from that so happy home
until I could haf a prospect of one to gif you. How could I ask you to
gif up so much for a poor old fellow, who has no fortune but a little
learning?
JO: Don't fear poverty. I've known it long enough to lose my dread and
be happy working for those I love. And don't call yourself old. I
couldn't help loving you if you were seventy!
BHAER: Haf you patience to wait a long time, Jo? I must go away and
do my work alone. I must help my boys first, because, even for you,
I may not break my word to Minna. Can you forgive that, and be
happy while we hope and wait?
JO: Yes, I know I can, for we love one another, and that makes all the
rest easy.
BHAER: Ah! You give me such hope and courage, and I haf nothing
to gif back but a full heart and these empty hands.
JO: (looks him in the face and takes his two hands in hers) Not empty
now.

The lights fade out. They come up on MARMEE, who addresses the
audience.

MARMEE: For a year Jo and her Professor worked and waited, and
wrote such voluminous letters that the rise in the price of paper was
accounted for, Laurie said. The second year began soberly, when
Aunt March died suddenly. But when their first sorrow was over—
for they loved the old lady in spite of her sharp tongue—they found
they had cause for rejoicing, for she had left Plumfield to Jo, which
made all sorts of things possible.

MARMEE exits as JO and LAURIE enter.

LAURIE: It's a fine old place, and will bring a handsome sum, for of
course you intend to sell it.
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86 86
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO: No, I don't.

LAURIE: But, my dear girl, it's an immense house, and will take a
power of money to keep it in order—and farming isn't in Bhaer's line,
I take it.
JO: Oh, the crop we’re going to raise is a profitable one.
LAURIE: Of what is this fine crop to consist, ma'am?
JO: Boys. I want to open a school for little lads. A good, happy,
homelike school, with me to take care of them and Fritz to teach
them.
LAURIE: That's a truly Joian plan for you! Isn't that just like her?
JO: I’ve always wanted to do something of the kind. I told my plan to
Fritz once, and he said it was just what he would like, and agreed
to try it when we got rich. Bless his dear heart, he's been doing it all
his life—helping poor boys, I mean, not getting rich—that he'll never
be. But now we can live at Plumfield perfectly well. Fritz can train
and teach in his own way, and Father will help him. I can feed and
nurse and pet and scold them, and Mother will be my stand-by.
Think what luxury—Plumfield my own, and a wilderness of boys to
enjoy it with me!
LAURIE: But may I inquire how you intend to support the
establishment? If all the pupils are little ragamuffins, I'm afraid your
crop won't be profitable in a worldly sense.
JO: Now don't be a wet blanket, Teddy. Of course I shall have rich
pupils too—perhaps begin with such altogether. Then, when I've got
a start, I can take in a ragamuffin or two, just for a relish. Rich
people's children often need care and comfort, as well as poor. I've
had experience, too, for haven't I brought up one boy to be a pride
and honor to his family?
LAURIE: I'll testify that you tried.
JO: When I have my flock, I'll just point to you, and say, “There's your
model, my lads!”

MARMEE and MR. MARCH enter arm in arm and stand center stage.

MARMEE: Almost before she knew where she was, Jo found herself
married and settled at Plumfield.

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 LITTLE WOMEN

MR. MARCH: A family of six or seven boys sprung up like mushrooms,

and flourished—poor boys as well as rich, for Mr. Laurence was
continually finding some touching case of destitution, and begging
the Bhaers to take pity on the child, and he would gladly pay a trifle
for its support. In this way, the sly old gentleman got round proud
Jo, and furnished her with the style of boy in which she most
delighted.

AMY enters. LAURIE crosses to her as they stand to one side of the
elder Marches.

AMY: How Jo did enjoy her “wilderness of boys,” and how poor, dear
Aunt March would have lamented had she been there to see the
sacred precincts of prim, well-ordered Plumfield overrun!
LAURIE: It never was a fashionable school, and the Professor did not
lay up a fortune, but it was just what Jo intended it to be—a happy,
homelike place for boys who needed teaching, care, and kindness.

MEG and JOHN BROOKE enter and take a position opposite AMY and
LAURIE.

MEG: Every room in the big house was soon full. Every little plot in the
garden soon had its owner. A regular menagerie appeared in barn
and shed, for pet animals were allowed.

BHAER enters and joins JO beside the elder Marches.

BHAER: And three times a day, Jo smiled at her Fritz from the head
of a long table lined on either side with rows of happy young faces,
which all turned to her with affectionate eyes, full of love for “Mother
Bhaer.”
MARMEE: As the years went on, two little lads of her own came to
increase her happiness. How they ever grew up alive in that
whirlpool of boys was a mystery to their grandma and aunts, but
they flourished like dandelions in spring, and their rough nurses
loved and served them well. (to JO) Yes, Jo, I think your harvest will
be a good one.

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 BY MATT BUCHANAN

JO indicates the large family that has now become a tableau around
her.

JO: Not half so good as yours, Marmee. Here we are, and we never
can thank you enough for the patient sowing and reaping you have
done.

THE END

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 LITTLE WOMEN

NOTES

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No performance rights are conveyed. Upon royalty purchase you will be sent a Performance Rights Agreement.
90 90
 BY MATT BUCHANAN

NOTES

Heuer grants ECCHO photocopy rights for 1 copy.

No performance rights are conveyed. Upon royalty purchase you will be sent a Performance Rights Agreement.
91 91
 LITTLE WOMEN

NOTES

Heuer grants ECCHO photocopy rights for 1 copy.

No performance rights are conveyed. Upon royalty purchase you will be sent a Performance Rights Agreement.
92 92
BY MATT BUCHANAN

NOTES

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LITTLE WOMEN

NOTES

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