"[7]: 200  According to Sarah Elbert, Alcott created a new form of literature, one that took elements from romantic children's fiction and combined it with others from sentimental novels, resulting in a totally new genre.

Each of the March sister heroines has a harrowing experience that alerts them and the reader that "childhood innocence" is of the past, and that "the inescapable woman problem" is all that remains.

[7][page needed] Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and their mother, whom they call Marmee, live in a new neighborhood (loosely based on Concord) in Massachusetts in genteel poverty.

When Marmee asks them to give their Christmas breakfast away to an impoverished family, the girls and their mother venture into town, laden with baskets, to feed the hungry children.

Meg is beautiful and traditional, Jo is a tomboy who writes, Beth is a peacemaker and a pianist, and Amy is an artist who longs for elegance and fine society.

The sisters strive to help their family and improve their characters, as Meg is vain, Jo is hotheaded, Beth is cripplingly shy, and Amy is materialistic.

(Published separately in the United Kingdom as Good Wives) Three years later, Meg and John wed and work to adjust to married life.

Meg seeks advice from Marmee, who helps her find balance by making more time for wifely duties and encouraging John to become more involved with child rearing.

Because of their father's family's social standing, Meg makes her debut into high society, but she is lectured by her friend and neighbor, Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, for behaving like a snob.

[16] The principal character, Jo, 15 years old at the beginning of the book, is a strong and willful young woman, struggling to subdue her fiery temper and stubborn personality.

They make a special room for her, filled with all the things she loves best: her kittens, her piano, Father's books, Amy's sketches, and her beloved dolls.

Interested in art, she is described as a "regular snow-maiden," with curly golden hair and blue eyes, "pale and slender" and "always carrying herself" like a proper young lady.

Critic Martha Saxton observes the author was never fully at ease with Amy's moral development, and her success in life seemed relatively accidental.

[24] However, Amy's morality does appear to develop throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, and she can confidently and justly put Laurie in his place when she believes he is wasting his life on pleasurable activities.

For instance, Mr. March is portrayed as a hero of the American Civil War, a gainfully employed chaplain, and, presumably, a source of inspiration to the women of the family.

In addition to drawing on her own life during the development of Little Women, Alcott also took influence from several of her earlier works including "The Sisters' Trial", "A Modern Cinderella", and "In the Garret".

They announced: "The great literary hit of the season is undoubtedly Miss Alcott's Little Women, the orders for which continue to flow in upon us to such an extent as to make it impossible to answer them with promptness.

[20]: 21  However, the character was partially based upon older men Alcott was attracted to, such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson,[29][33] or admired, such as German writers Charles Follen and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

[20]: 18  Joy Kasson wrote, "Alcott chronicled the coming of age of young girls, their struggles with issues such as selfishness and generosity, the nature of individual integrity, and, above all, the question of their place in the world around them.

Writers as diverse as Maxine Hong Kingston, Margaret Atwood, and J.K. Rowling have noted the influence of Jo March on their artistic development.

However, framing this novel as a success, solely for Jo's accomplishments, portrays it as a "traditional 'lone genius' patriarchal narrative" in which only women who are "categorized as 'exceptional' or particularly 'worthy'" are celebrated.

The first adaptation was a silent film directed by Alexander Butler and released in 1917, which starred Daisy Burrell as Amy, Mary Lincoln as Meg, Ruby Miller as Jo, and Muriel Myers as Beth.

[67] George Cukor directed the first sound adaptation of Little Women, starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo, Joan Bennett as Amy, Frances Dee as Meg, and Jean Parker as Beth.

[citation needed] The first color adaptation starred June Allyson as Jo, Margaret O'Brien as Beth, Elizabeth Taylor as Amy, and Janet Leigh as Meg.

[70] Gillian Armstrong directed a 1994 adaptation, starring Winona Ryder as Jo, Trini Alvarado as Meg, Samantha Mathis and Kirsten Dunst as Amy, Claire Danes as Beth, Christian Bale as Laurie and Susan Sarandon as Marmee.

[73] It was directed by Clare Niederpruem in her directorial debut and starred Sarah Davenport as Jo, Allie Jennings as Beth, Melanie Stone as Meg, and Elise Jones and Taylor Murphy as Amy.

The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy, Laura Dern as Marmee, Meryl Streep as Aunt March, Eliza Scanlen as Beth and Timothee Chalamet as Laurie.

It featured a teleplay by Sumner Locke Elliott and starred Nancy Marchand as Jo, June Dayton as Beth, Peg Hillias as Mrs. March, Lois Hall as Amy, Mary Sinclair as Meg, Elizabeth Patterson as Aunt March, Kent Smith as Bhaer, John Baragrey as Mr. Brooks, Berry Kroeger as Mr. Laurence, Una O'Connor as Hannah, and Conrad Bain Dr.

[79] In 2012, Lifetime aired The March Sisters at Christmas (directed by John Simpson), a contemporary television film focusing on the title characters' efforts to save their family home from being sold.

A 2018 adaption is that of Manor Rama Pictures LLP of Karan Raj Kohli & Viraj Kapur which streams on the ALTBalaji app in India.