Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy、本版の表紙

Story summary

Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amyのあらすじ

著者： Louisa May Alcott

読了8分
10 parts
音声は近日公開

Four sisters knit, quarrel, and play pilgrims in a cold Civil War winter while their father is away at the front.

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Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amyの概要

要約：読むのに8 minかかります

読書時間: 約12 h 40 min10 h fast, 15 h 5 min slow
所要時間: 180,700語47 chapters
ページ数: 539ページ
ライブラリ内の難易度: 読み応えがあります long sentences, a rich vocabulary
初版刊行年: 1868by Louisa May Alcott

Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). 古典を読むのにかかる時間 · 更新日 22 October 2026

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Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy in short

With their father away at war, the four sisters grow toward adulthood, guided by their mother's example. Meg wants comfort, Jo wants to write, Beth wants music and home, and Amy wants beauty and the wider world. The story moves from Christmas gifts to a near accident on the ice, a telegram, a sacrifice of hair, and a first wedding.

What Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy is about

Would you give away your Christmas breakfast to a hungry family when you have no presents and your own stomach is empty? Four sisters do exactly that on the first morning of Little Women, and the scene shows what kind of book this is. It is warm, funny, and honest about the effort of being good.

Louisa May Alcott wrote the novel in the late 1860s, drawing on her own family life. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy live in a shabby, loving house while their father serves as an army chaplain in the Civil War. You get plays in the attic, a scorched dress, a ruined jelly, and a sudden telegram.

対象読者. You will love this book if you enjoy warm family stories, sisters who tease and comfort each other, and heroines who try to improve themselves. It suits anyone who likes humor, friendship, and lessons about money, work, and love.

The story in 10 parts

Key idea 1 · free to read
A cold Christmas finds four sisters grumbling
The book opens on Christmas Eve, where four girls sit by the fire and complain. Jo says Christmas will not feel like Christmas without presents. Meg sighs over her old dress, and Amy sniffs at the unfairness of being poor. Only Beth reminds them that they still have Father and Mother and each other.
Each girl owns one dollar and wants something for herself. Then they decide to spend it on a gift for Marmee instead. Meg is pretty and a little vain. Jo is blunt and boyish. Beth is shy and musical, and Amy fusses over her nose.
Mrs. March reads aloud a letter from their father, who asks his little women to fight their worst faults while he is away. She reminds them of a game they once played, carrying scrap bags as burdens toward a Celestial City. She says they should play it again in earnest. Jo's burden is her temper.
Each person carries a burden, and the road to goodness begins by naming it.
2
Giving away breakfast brings an unexpected feast
On Christmas morning each girl finds a small guidebook under her pillow.
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3
Jo and the Laurence boy find a friend
At a small New Year's dance, the girls arrive in worn dresses.
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4
Burdens at work and a piano given in kindness
The morning after the party, the girls return to their jobs and the old grumbling.
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5
Jo learns how dangerous her temper can be
Jo's greatest struggle is her quick temper.
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6
Fine clothes and a week of play teach lessons
Meg spends two weeks with her rich friend Annie Moffat.
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7
Jo gives up her hair and a telegram arrives
Jo dreams of earning money by writing.
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8
Every sister has a fault she must work at
Each girl has a particular weakness.
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9
Love and money pull at Meg while home stays rich
The second theme is how to measure wealth.
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10
A warm narrator and a pilgrim's map shape the story
The narrator is as much a character as anyone else.
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Characters, plot and themes

Main characters

Jo March The second sister, a tall, blunt, boyish girl with a quick temper who loves books and dreams of becoming a writer.
Meg March The eldest sister, pretty and gentle, who works as a governess and longs for comfort and fine things.
Beth March The shy, musical third sister who stays close to home and loves her piano and her dolls.
Amy March The youngest, artistic and image-conscious sister who wants to be an artist and to rise in the world.
Marmee Mrs. March, the wise, patient mother who guides her daughters with advice and her own example.
Laurie Theodore Laurence, the lively, lonely boy next door who becomes the sisters' closest friend.
Mr. Laurence Laurie's stern, kind grandfather, a rich neighbor who comes to love the March girls.
Mr. Brooke Laurie's calm tutor, who helps the family in a crisis and quietly admires Meg.

How it ends (spoiler)

Beth, who never fully recovers her strength, dies quietly, and the family mourns. Jo refuses Laurie's proposal, and he later marries Amy. In New York Jo has come to know the kind Professor Bhaer, and he finds her again in the rain and declares his love. Aunt March leaves Jo her house, Plumfield, where she and the Professor open a school for boys and raise their own sons.

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『Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy』についての質問

What is Little Women about?

It follows four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March, as they grow up in a loving but poor New England family during the Civil War. Each tries to overcome a fault while pursuing her own dream.

Who are the four March sisters?

Meg is the eldest and loves comfort. Jo is the tomboy writer with a quick temper. Beth is the shy, musical sister who loves home. Amy is the youngest, an artist who wants to rise in the world.

Why is the book connected to Pilgrim's Progress?

Their mother reminds the girls of a childhood game based on John Bunyan's old story. She asks them to treat their faults as burdens on a real journey toward goodness, and the chapters echo that road.

Is Little Women a true story?

It is a novel, but it draws on Alcott's own family and her three sisters. Part one appeared in 1868, and the second part followed the next year, so many readers see Jo as a self-portrait.

Is Little Women easy to read?

Yes, in the sense that matters. The chapters are short, much of the story is told in lively conversation, and the humor and clear episodes make it a pleasure to follow for readers of any age.

この版を引用します

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy.

Alcott, L. M. (2026). Little women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy (Original work published 1868)

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy.

@book{alcott2026little,
  author = {Alcott, Louisa May},
  title = {Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy},
  publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy},
  note = {First published 1868}
}