Little Women
Chapter 40 — Teaching Companion
Louisa May Alcott · Trailblazers 4th–6th
Coaching, not a script — and not an answer key: every question here has more than one defensible answer.
This chapter's big question
Beth fears she has done so little, and Jo, who wanted to do something splendid, comes to call her sister's quiet, unambitious life the true success possible to all, so what does each sister count as a life's work, and what does Jo give up or gain when she pledges to take Beth's place?
The tension The chapter refuses both the saint's deathbed and the useless life. Beth is cherished like a household saint and still drops mittens from her window for purple hands; then the needle grows too heavy, and there is a bitter cry for help that no one can answer. The narrator insists the dying seldom utter memorable words. Beth's regret is that she has done so little; Jo's blotted poem, faulty and feeble, is what convinces her otherwise. Then Beth asks Jo to be everything to father and mother and says that will make her happier than splendid books or seeing the world, and Jo renounces her old ambition on the spot. Whether that is loss or gain, the chapter states as Jo's belief, not as proof.
Today's focus
Notice how the chapter measures Beth's life: what she thinks of it, what Jo sees in it, and what Jo promises at the end.
Two core ideas
- Beth's life is made of small things, the mittens at the window and the patient hours, and the chapter asks what such a life is worth.
- Jo's poem and her pledge change how she sees what matters, and the chapter tells us what she believes without proving it.
The shape at a glance
The family makes a happy last year for Beth. She makes small gifts for the schoolchildren until the needle is too heavy, and Jo nurses her through the hard days. One night Beth finds Jo's poem and asks what she has been to her. Jo pledges to take Beth's place, and Beth dies in the spring.
A way in
Start with the mittens dropped from the window. Ask what kind of life that shows, and what Beth might say about it.
Lesson plan
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the room, the gifts, the hard days, the poem, the pledge and the last morning.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes one sentence that names a person's regret and the small thing that comforts her.
Debate Take sides: who decides what a life was worth, the person herself or the people who loved her? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why the author tells Beth's last days plainly and gives Jo the last pledge.
Easier Read the night scene with the poem aloud together and talk through discussion questions 3 and 4 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to find one more place where the narrator tells us what a person believed without showing it was true, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
Discussion
- Beth drops mittens from her window for “a pair of purple hands.” What does she get from making such small gifts, and what do they do for the young ones who get them?Character
What it asks It asks the student to look at Beth's small gifts from both ends: what she gives, and what she gets from giving.
One reading
She gets a way to go on giving when she can do little else.
even while preparing to leave life, she tried to make it happier for those who should remain behind
The feeble fingers were never idle
Another reading
She gets their faces and their thanks, which she hardly asked for.
If Beth had wanted any reward, she found it in the bright little faces always turned up to her window
the droll little letters which came to her, full of blots and gratitude
Listen for
- Says what the gifts mean to Beth and what they mean to the young ones.
- Uses the narrator's pictures of the gifts.
If stuck
- What does Beth drop from her window, and for whom?
- What do the young ones call her?
- What does the narrator say she would have found if she wanted a reward?
A strong answer Beth keeps giving even as she prepares to leave life, making mittens, needle-books and pen-wipers for the young ones who pass. They come to think of her as a fairy godmother, and she finds her reward in their faces and their blotted letters of thanks. A strong answer says what giving does for her and for them and uses one of the narrator's pictures.
- The narrator says, “Seldom, except in books, do the dying utter memorable words.” Why might the author say that just before Beth dies?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author steps out of the story to say something about deathbeds, and what that does to the way we read Beth's end.
One reading
She is being honest: she wants Beth's end to be as plain and natural as it was.
to most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep
she quietly drew her last, with no farewell but one loving look, one little sigh
Another reading
She is keeping Beth from becoming a storybook saint, which the chapter elsewhere comes close to.
cherished like a household saint in its shrine
I’m not so good as you make me
Listen for
- Says what the aside does to the scene that follows.
- Notices the earlier description of Beth as a household saint.
If stuck
- What does the narrator say the end usually is like?
- What are Beth's last words before the final scene?
- How does Beth answer when Jo says how much she has been to her?
A strong answer The narrator says deathbeds are plainer than books make them and describes Beth's end in quiet terms: one loving look and one little sigh. Earlier, Beth is cherished like a household saint, and she herself says she is not so good as Jo makes her. A strong answer says what the aside does and why the author might want it here.
- The narrator says Beth's one regret was that she had “done so little.” Why might Jo's blotted poem ease it?Theme
What it asks It asks what the poem gives Beth that she could not give herself, and whether it answers her regret or only comforts it.
One reading
Others see it better: Jo and the family see a beauty Beth cannot.
she recognized the beauty of her sister’s life—uneventful, unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues
O Beth, so much, so much!
Another reading
Beth has the last word, but she needs to hear it from someone who loves her.
Then I don’t feel as if I’d wasted my life.
it’s such a comfort to know that someone loves me so much, and feels as if I’d helped them
Listen for
- Uses Beth's words about her regret and what changed it.
- Says who is best placed to judge and why.
If stuck
- What was Beth's one regret?
- What does Jo's poem say about her?
- What does Beth say about how good she is?
A strong answer Beth's one regret is that she has done so little, and Jo's blotted lines assure her it is not so. She says she is not so good as Jo makes her, but it is a comfort to know someone loves her and feels she has helped. A strong answer can say the people around her see the worth better, or that Beth has to be the one who accepts it, and it uses her words.
- Jo says “I’ll try, Beth,” and gives up her old ambition on the spot. Is that a promise to make at a bedside?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether a promise made in grief should bind, and what Jo gives up by making it.
One reading
It is a good promise: it turns her grief into a purpose she can live for.
pledged herself to a new and better one, acknowledging the poverty of other desires
love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go
Another reading
It is heavy for a moment's promise: Jo gives up something large while she is grieving, and the chapter tells us only what she believes.
then and there Jo renounced her old ambition
you’ll be happier in doing that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world
Listen for
- Names what Jo gives up and what she is promised.
- Notices that Beth says what will make her happier, and the narrator says what Jo believes.
If stuck
- What does Beth ask Jo to be for father and mother?
- What does Beth say will make Jo happier?
- What does the narrator say Jo felt when she pledged?
A strong answer Jo gives up her old ambition then and there, and the narrator says she felt the solace of a belief in the immortality of love. Beth says she will be happier helping their father and mother than writing splendid books or seeing all the world, and that is Beth's view, not proof. A strong answer says what Jo gives up, whether a promise made in grief should bind, and what it would take to keep it.
- In Jo's poem Beth is “a serene and saintly presence,” while Jo asks to be given her virtues. Why might Jo write about herself as much as about Beth?Inference
What it asks It asks what the poem reveals about how Jo sees herself next to her sister, and what she is asking for.
One reading
She sees her own faults in Beth's virtues and wants to be better.
Give me, for I need it sorely, Of that courage, wise and sweet
Meek heart, forgive me mine!
Another reading
She is trying to find some gain in a loss she cannot bear.
My great loss becomes my gain.
For the touch of grief will render My wild nature more serene
Listen for
- Uses two lines from the poem, one about Beth and one about Jo.
- Notices that Jo asks for gifts, not for Beth to stay.
If stuck
- What does Jo ask Beth to leave her?
- What does she say grief will do to her wild nature?
- What does she call the poem's last hope?
A strong answer Jo's poem is a portrait of Beth and also a prayer for herself: she asks Beth to leave her patience, courage and an unselfish nature, and asks forgiveness for her own faults. She also tries to find a gain, hoping grief will make her wild nature more serene. A strong answer names what Jo seems to ask of herself and what she seems to ask of Beth.
Critical thinking
- The family arranges Beth's room and brings her things. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how each person shows love in a different way.
What it asks It asks the student to see that love takes different forms in this household, and to pick out two.
One reading
Some give things: books, fruit, dishes, gifts.
John quietly set apart a little sum, that he might enjoy the pleasure of keeping the invalid supplied with the fruit she loved and longed for
old Hannah never wearied of concocting dainty dishes to tempt a capricious appetite, dropping tears as she worked
Another reading
Some give presence: Jo's nights and Meg's babies.
every day Meg brought her babies on a loving pilgrimage, to make sunshine for Aunty Beth
Jo never left her for an hour since Beth had said, “I feel stronger when you are here.”
Listen for
- Two different people and two different kinds of giving.
- Says what the gift does for Beth.
If stuck
- What does John do with his money?
- What does Hannah do while she cooks?
- What does Jo do at night?
A strong answer Different people love Beth in different ways. John sets aside money for the fruit she longs for, and Hannah cooks dainty dishes and drops tears as she works. Meg brings the babies to make sunshine, and Jo never leaves her for an hour. A strong answer uses two of these and says what each gift shows about the giver.
- The narrator says watching Beth “did more for Jo than the wisest sermons.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain what Jo learns and how.
What it asks It asks what Jo takes from nursing Beth, and whether she learns from what Beth says or what Beth does.
One reading
She learns from what Beth does, in patience and unselfishness.
saw her lean her face upon her hands, while slow tears dropped through the transparent fingers
who seldom asked for anything, and “tried not to be a trouble.”
Another reading
She learns to see the worth of a quiet life.
she recognized the beauty of her sister’s life—uneventful, unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues
the true success which is possible to all
Listen for
- Two different pieces of evidence, not one told twice.
- Says what Jo learns, in the narrator's words.
If stuck
- What does Jo see Beth do in the night?
- What does Beth try not to be?
- What does the narrator call Beth's life?
A strong answer Jo watches Beth, who seldom asks for anything and tries not to be a trouble, and weeps quietly through her fingers. The narrator says Jo then recognized the beauty of her sister's life, uneventful and unambitious but full of genuine virtues, and the true success which is possible to all. A strong answer uses one piece of evidence for what Jo sees and one for what she concludes.
- Beth's last days are hard. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how the chapter shows both the pain and the peace.
What it asks It asks how the author holds pain and peace together in one account of Beth's last weeks.
One reading
The pain is plain and not softened.
the thin hands stretched out to them beseechingly, to hear the bitter cry, “Help me, help me!” and to feel that there was no help
a sharp struggle of the young life with death
Another reading
The peace comes after, and is described as a return.
the old peace returned more beautiful than ever
a face so full of painless peace that those who loved it best smiled through their tears, and thanked God that Beth was well at last
Listen for
- One quote for the pain and one for the peace.
- Says how the order matters: pain first, then peace.
If stuck
- What does Beth cry out in her worst days?
- What does the narrator say about how long the struggle lasted?
- What do the family feel when morning comes?
A strong answer The chapter does not hide the pain: there are heavy days and long nights and a bitter cry of "Help me, help me!" with no help to give. It also says the struggle was mercifully brief and the old peace returned more beautiful than ever, ending on a face full of painless peace. A strong answer uses one quote for each and says what the order does.