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Little Women
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Deciding what their wealth is for, Laurie and Amy admit that Amy once meant to marry for money and that Laurie prefers helping a decayed gentleman to a beggar, so what do these admissions do to their plans, and is a promise to give the same as giving?
The tension The chapter is a bargain struck in a drawing-room. Amy catches herself mid-sentence when she hears her own rule about marrying for money; Laurie answers that she refused a richer man and was true to her mother's teaching, and she says she sometimes wishes he were poor so she could prove it. Laurie's charity has a preference he calls wrong and keeps; Amy's has a memory of being an ambitious girl without help. They plan to trick Jo into taking money in spite of herself, name themselves Dorcas and St. Martin, and shake hands on it. The narrator closes on feelings, a home more homelike because they hope to brighten others, and records no gift given.
Notice how Laurie and Amy talk about money and giving, and how each of them owns something about their past.
Laurie comes to borrow his wife for half an hour. He says he will go into business, and Mr. and Mrs. March are pleased. That evening in their drawing-room the couple talk about Jo and the Professor, about Amy's old idea of a rich match, and about what to do with their money. They name themselves Dorcas and St. Martin and shake hands on it.
Start with Amy stopping mid-sentence. Ask what she remembers, and how Laurie answers.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the borrowed wife, the weathercock, Laurie's business plan, the talk of marrying for money, and the bargain.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences: one person's memory and wish to help, then another person's bigger plan in reply.
Debate Take sides: is making a plan to give the same as giving? Each side must use at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why the author ends the chapter on a handshake and a hope.
Easier Read Amy's speech about girls who cannot ask aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 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 Laurie or Amy says something playful that also says something serious, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Amy starts to say, “Women never should marry for money,” and stops herself. What do you think just went through her mind?Inference
What it asks It asks what a sentence broken off in the middle shows about Amy, and why she hurries to reassure Laurie afterward.
She remembers her own old belief and is embarrassed to hear it echo.
Amy caught herself up short as the words escaped her, and looked at her husband
you once thought it your duty to make a rich match
She fears Laurie might take it the wrong way, so she hurries to set it right.
O my dearest boy, don’t, don’t say that! I forgot you were rich when I said ‘Yes.’
It would break my heart if you didn’t believe that I’d gladly pull in the same boat with you
A strong answer Amy hears her own old rule come out of her mouth and stops. Laurie answers with "malicious gravity," reminding her she once thought it her duty to make a rich match, and she hurries to say she forgot he was rich when she said yes. So she may be embarrassed by the old belief, or afraid of how it sounds to him, or both. A strong answer says what she remembers and uses her quick reply as evidence.
2. Laurie likes to help “a decayed gentleman” better than “a blarneying beggar” and says, “I suppose it’s wrong.” Do you think it is?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks whether preferring one kind of needy person to another is unfair, or whether Laurie has a reason for it.
It is unfair: need is need, and he ranks people by manners, as he half admits.
I like to serve a decayed gentleman better than a blarneying beggar; I suppose it’s wrong, but I do, though it is harder.
Because it takes a gentleman to do it
It has a reason: the gentlefolk go without help because they will not ask.
Out-and-out beggars get taken care of, but poor gentlefolks fare badly, because they won’t ask, and people don’t dare to offer charity
there are a thousand ways of helping them, if one only knows how to do it so delicately that it does not offend
A strong answer Laurie calls his preference wrong himself, and the chapter does not tell us he is mistaken or right. His reason is that beggars get looked after, while poor gentlefolk go without because they will not ask and no one dares to offer. Amy's comment, "Because it takes a gentleman to do it," adds a little flattery. A strong answer weighs his reason against his doubt and gives a reason for its own view.
3. Amy says she once belonged to those “who can’t ask, and who suffer in silence.” How does that memory shape what she wants to do now?Theme
What it asks It asks how Amy's own past turns into a wish, and what she thinks a little help at the right moment can do.
She wants to give back what was given to her.
People have been very kind to me; and whenever I see girls struggling along, as we used to do, I want to put out my hand and help them, as I was helped.
before you made a princess of me, as the king does the beggar-maid in the old story
She wants to reach those who cannot ask, before their chances pass.
there’s another class who can’t ask, and who suffer in silence
have to see youth, health, and precious opportunities go by, just for want of a little help at the right minute
A strong answer Amy says she knows something of girls who cannot ask, because she was one, and that people were kind to her. She wants to put out her hand to girls struggling as she did, before their youth and opportunities slip past for want of a little help at the right minute. A strong answer says how her own past shapes the wish and uses "as I was helped."
4. Laurie plans to “get round” Jo through her belief in “honest debts.” What does that plan show about how he sees her?Character
What it asks It asks what Laurie knows about Jo, and whether using her own principle against her pride is clever, kind, or a little sly.
He knows her well: he finds the one route her pride will allow.
I owe Jo for a part of my education, and she believes in people’s paying their honest debts, so I’ll get round her in that way.
she is very proud of him, just as he is
He plans to work around her wishes, not with them.
do them a good turn in spite of themselves
We won’t interfere now, but watch our chance
A strong answer Laurie and Amy both know Jo: she is proud, she would find them out, and she thinks poverty a beautiful thing. Laurie's plan uses her belief in paying honest debts, which shows he knows her well. It also means helping "in spite of themselves," which a reader might call kind or sly. A strong answer says which it finds more, and why.
5. Laurie and Amy cast themselves as “Dorcas” and “St. Martin.” Why might Alcott have them take those names for this plan?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what two storybook names add to a plan to give, and what tone they give the end of the chapter.
The names lift the plan: each one is a picture of generous giving.
Will you be a little Dorcas, going about emptying a big basket of comforts, and filling it up with good deeds?
if you will be a brave St. Martin, stopping, as you ride gallantly through the world, to share your cloak with the beggar
The names keep it playful: they are a game between two people who admire each other.
added the other member of the domestic admiration society
It’s a bargain, and we shall get the best of it!
A strong answer Dorcas empties a big basket of comforts and fills it with good deeds, and St. Martin stops on his ride to share his cloak, so the names make the plan sound generous and a little grand. The chapter also calls them members of a domestic admiration society, and their "bargain" is warm and playful. A strong answer names the tone of the ending and uses one of the two pictures to support it.
1. Laurie says he will go into business and “work like a man.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain why he wants to work.
What it asks It asks what Laurie says he wants from work, and whether it is for someone else or for himself.
He wants to please his grandfather and prove himself.
I’m going into business with a devotion that shall delight grandfather, and prove to him that I’m not spoilt.
He wants to steady himself and stop drifting.
I need something of the sort to keep me steady.
I’m tired of dawdling, and mean to work like a man.
A strong answer Laurie gives two reasons. He wants his devotion to delight his grandfather and prove he is not spoilt, which is about someone else's opinion. He also says he needs something to keep him steady and is tired of dawdling, which is about himself. A strong answer uses both and says which seems to weigh more with him.
2. Laurie says, “That man intends to marry our Jo!” Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he thinks of the Professor.
What it asks It asks the student to sort Laurie's praise of Mr. Bhaer from his wishes for him, and to see how Amy answers.
He thinks very well of him, and wants to do something for him.
I consider him a trump, in the fullest sense of that expressive word
I wish we could do something for that capital old Professor.
He has small worries about him: his age and his money.
I do wish he was a little younger and a good deal richer.
Couldn’t we invent a rich relation, who shall obligingly die out there in Germany, and leave him a tidy little fortune?
A strong answer Laurie's own word for the Professor is a trump, and he calls him a capital old Professor and wants to help him. But he wishes he were a little younger and a good deal richer, and Amy tells him not to be too fastidious and worldly-minded. The chapter gives only Laurie's guess about a marriage. A strong answer uses one line of praise and one of worry and does not claim more than Laurie does.
3. Laurie says rich people have “no right to sit down and enjoy themselves.” Using two pieces of evidence, explain what he thinks money is for.
What it asks It asks what Laurie says should be done with money, and how he ties it to his own happiness.
Money should be used while one is alive, not saved up or left behind.
Rich people have no right to sit down and enjoy themselves, or let their money accumulate for others to waste.
It’s not half so sensible to leave legacies when one dies as it is to use the money wisely while alive
Giving is part of enjoying it, so the giver gains too.
We’ll have a good time ourselves, and add an extra relish to our own pleasure by giving other people a generous taste.
enjoy making one’s fellow-creatures happy with it
A strong answer Laurie says money should be used wisely while one is alive, since leaving legacies is not half so sensible. He also says giving will add an extra relish to their own pleasure. A strong answer uses one line about when to use money and one about what it gives the giver, and says what he is resolving to do.