Little Women · Chapter
The First Wedding explained
Meg March marries John Brooke in a simple, heartfelt ceremony at her family home.
What happens
Meg March marries John Brooke in a simple, heartfelt ceremony at her family home. The chapter describes the intimate wedding, the sisters' appearances after three years, and the joyous yet bittersweet farewell as Meg begins her married life.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
Meg's wedding embodies a loving, simple marriage based on mutual affection rather than wealth or fashion, contrasting with the more elaborate society weddings of the time.
Family and Sisterhood
The sisters cling together before the ceremony, and Meg reassures her family that her love for them remains unchanged, highlighting the enduring bond of sisterhood.
Coming of Age and Self-Improvement
The chapter notes the changes in the March sisters over three years, particularly Jo's softened angles and Amy's graceful maturity, marking their transition into young womanhood.
Characters to notice
- Meg March
The bride, dressed in a simple homemade gown and lilies of the valley, radiates happiness and love as she marries John Brooke.
- Jo March
Jo's angles have softened over three years; she refrains from crying during the ceremony and later puts a posy in Laurie's buttonhole.
- Beth March
Beth appears slender and pale, with a shadow of pain in her eyes, but she hides her face on her mother's shoulder during the wedding.
- Amy March
At sixteen, Amy is considered the flower of the family, graceful and charming, and she stands like a statue during the ceremony.
- Marmee March
The mother hides a secret sorrow at losing her first child to marriage, but her heart rejoices at Meg's trust in John.
- Laurie Laurence
Laurie serves the bride, teases Jo, and promises Mr. Laurence he will marry one of the March girls someday.
Key passages
“I don’t want to look strange or fixed up today. I don’t want a fashionable wedding, but only those about me whom I love, and to them I wish to look and be my familiar self.”
Meg insists on a simple wedding where she can be her true self, surrounded only by loved ones.
Meg's preference for simplicity over fashion underscores her genuine nature and the theme of love over materialism.
“Don’t feel that I am separated from you, Marmee dear, or that I love you any the less for loving John so much.”
Meg reassures her mother that marriage will not diminish her love for her family.
This moment highlights the balance between new marital love and enduring family bonds.