Part 1: Chapter 1 Summary

Louisa May Alcott's best-known book opens with the four main characters feeling somewhat sorry for themselves. Sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March sit around the fireplace in their small but comfortable home discussing how bleak Christmas will seem with no presents and their father away at war. The sisters discuss how they ought to spend their own dollars to buy small presents for themselves. The idea that they deserve Christmas presents leads to each girl complaining about the hardships of her daily life.

Alcott briefly describes the physical attributes of each sister:

¬         Meg is a pretty sixteen year old with fair skin and soft brown hair.

¬         Jo, fifteen, is tall with large hands and feet. She is somewhat gangly and clumsy. Alcott describes her...