Little Women
CRITIQUE | THE TEXT
First edition, Part One, 1868Also called
Little Women and Good Wives
First publication in two parts
1868–1869
Literature form
Novel
Genre
Literary
Writing language
English
Author's country
United States
Length
Approx. 184,000 words
Notable lines
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
— First line
...he did not own it till long afterward; men seldom do,—for when women are the advisers, the lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do. Then they act upon it, and, if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it. If it fails, they generously give her the whole.
Don't laugh at the spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are hidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under the sober gowns, and many silent sacrifices of youth, health, ambition, love itself, make the faded faces beautiful in God's sight.
"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."
"Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!"
— Last line
.
CRITIQUE | THE TEXT
