The Marches at the start of the novel
The Little Women family tree begins with a family missing its father. Mr March has gone to the Civil War as an army chaplain, and Mrs March, whom her daughters call Marmee, keeps the house with the four girls and their servant Hannah.1
Meg is the eldest at sixteen and very pretty. Jo is fifteen, tall and bookish, and she wants to write. Beth is a shy girl of thirteen, and Amy, the youngest, wants to be an artist.1 The Little Women family tree sets the sisters in that order under their parents, with Jo marked as the person the chart is about.
Aunt March is the rich relation of the family, though the chart leaves her out. When Mr March lost his property helping an unfortunate friend, the childless old lady offered to adopt one of the girls, and the Marches refused. Jo became her companion instead, and the real attraction was the library of the late Uncle March.2 In the last chapter Aunt March dies suddenly and leaves Plumfield to Jo, who makes the old house a school for boys, with Friedrich Bhaer to teach them.14
Laurie and the Laurences
Theodore Laurence, called Laurie, lives in the large house next door with his grandfather, old Mr Laurence. His father married an Italian musician against the old man’s wishes, and both parents died when Laurie was a small child.3 Jo visits him when he is ill, and he becomes a friend of all four sisters.3
The Laurences touch every branch of the Little Women family tree. John Brooke, Laurie’s tutor, marries Meg, and Laurie himself marries Amy. A fuller Little Women family tree would set old Mr Laurence above Laurie as his grandfather.
The marriages on the Little Women family tree
Meg accepts John Brooke in spite of Aunt March, who threatens to leave her nothing, and they marry three years later in the first wedding of the second part.67 Their twins, Demi and Daisy, are born in the chapter Domestic Experiences, and Laurie gives the boy his name.8
Laurie proposes to Jo, and she refuses him because she loves him only as a friend.9 He travels abroad, meets Amy in Europe after Beth’s death, and the two are engaged at Vevay. They marry abroad and come home together.1112 Jo meets Friedrich Bhaer, a German professor, in New York and accepts him at last under his umbrella.13 So the Little Women family tree ends with three double lines, one for each sister who marries.
Beth on the Little Women family tree
Beth visits the poor Hummel family while her sisters are busy, and the Hummel baby dies of scarlet fever in her lap. She catches the fever herself.4 In the chapter Dark Days she is so ill that Laurie sends for her mother, who is in Washington nursing Mr March.5
Beth recovers, but she never regains her strength. In the second part she dies at home, with Jo beside her.10 The cross on her symbol is the only death on the Little Women family tree, and in the last chapter Jo kneels by her empty bed and thinks of her.14
How to read this Little Women family tree
A square is a man and a circle is a woman, and a double line is a marriage. Demi and Daisy are joined as twins. The coloured lines show that Jo is close to Beth and to Laurie, and that her love for Amy is mixed with quarrels.
To build a Little Women family tree of your own, open this chart in the editor and add Mr Laurence and Aunt March, or start from the story charts. The notation is set out in the genogram symbols.
Everyone on the Little Women family tree
| Portrait | Person | In the story | Life | On the chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MM | Mr MarchFather and army chaplain | Chapters 1 to 47 | He is away at the war as a chaplain when the novel opens. Sources1 | |
| MM | Mrs MarchMarmee, the mother | Chapters 1 to 47 | She keeps the family together while her husband is away. Sources1 | |
| MM | Meg MarchThe eldest sister | Marries in Chapter 25 | Pretty and domestic, she marries John Brooke. | |
| JM | Jo MarchThe second sister | Marries after Chapter 46 | A writer who refuses Laurie and marries Professor Bhaer. | |
| BM | Beth MarchThe third sister | Dies in Chapter 40 | Gentle and shy, she never recovers from scarlet fever. | |
 | Amy MarchThe youngest sister | Marries in Chapter 44 | An artist who marries Laurie abroad. | |
 | LaurieTheodore Laurence, next door | Chapters 5 to 47 | Raised by his grandfather, he marries Amy. | |
| JB | John BrookeLaurie’s tutor | Marries in Chapter 25 | A poor, steady man who marries Meg. | |
| FB | Friedrich BhaerA German professor | Chapters 33 to 47 | He meets Jo in New York and opens a school with her. | |
| DB | Demi BrookeSon of Meg and John | Born in Chapter 28 | The twin brother of Daisy, named by Laurie. Sources8 | |
| DB | Daisy BrookeDaughter of Meg and John | Born in Chapter 28 | The twin sister of Demi. Sources8 | |
| RB | Rob BhaerSon of Jo and Friedrich | Chapter 47 | Named for his grandfather. Sources14 | |
| TB | Teddy BhaerSon of Jo and Friedrich | Chapter 47 | A cheerful baby at the last harvest. Sources14 | |
| BL | Bess LaurenceDaughter of Amy and Laurie | Chapter 47 | A delicate little girl, the only child of Amy and Laurie. Sources14 |
Questions about the Little Women family tree
Who does Jo marry in the Little Women family tree
Jo marries Friedrich Bhaer, a German professor she met in New York. She had refused Laurie, who married her sister Amy.913
How does Beth die in Little Women
Beth catches scarlet fever from the Hummel baby and never fully recovers. She dies at home in the second part of the novel.410
Who are the Laurences
Laurie and his grandfather, old Mr Laurence, who live in the large house next to the Marches.3
People and sources
A page of its own lists the 14 numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the pictures and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.