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Beth March - Biography
Thirteen years old when the novel opens, Beth is a quiet, kind girl of 13, and a pianist. She enjoys taking care of her dolls. Beth has a hospital for six dolls, all of them invalids, passed down by her sisters. Docile and shy, she prefers to be home schooled and avoids most public situations. At the beginning of the book, Alcott describes her as a sweet girl with a round young face and brown hair. She has a close relationship with Jo, despite their different personalities. Beth also loves her cat and kittens, who she devotes much time to. Beth also loves music. She is a pianist but is often sad because she can not take lessons of have a fine piano. She later receives a cupboard piano from Mr. Laurence, and is deeply happy. Beth enjoys charity work, and helps her mother nurture poor families at the beginning of the novel. Later, when her mother is in Washington caring for their father, Beth comes down with scarlet fever, caught while looking after a family with sick children. Although Jo and Meg do their best to nurse her, Beth becomes so dangerously ill that they send for their mother to return home. However, before Mrs. March arrives, Beth`s fever breaks. Beth recovers but she is left permanently weakened by the illness. In the second part of the book, as her sisters begin to leave the nest, Beth wonders what will become of her, as all she wants is to remain at home with her parents. When Beth`s health eventually begins a rapid decline, the entire family nurses her - especially Jo, who rarely leaves her side. Finally, the family began to realize that Beth will not live on earth much longer. They separate a room for her, filled with all the things she loved best; her kittens, piano, father`s books, Amy`s sketches, her beloved dolls, and her family. In her last year, Beth is still trying to make it better for those who will be left behind. She is never idle, except in sleep. But soon, Beth puts down her sewing needle, saying that it is " too heavy ", never to pick it up again. In her final illness, she overcomes her quietness when she discusses the spiritual significance of her death to Jo. She becomes more and more ill, until she can not talk. Her sad story ends when, at the first light of dawn, Beth dies, peacefully. Some critics have suggested that Beth`s death signals Alcott`s denial of the ability of the traditional, sentimental heroine to survive in an increasingly industrial world. In the 1994 film, Beth was portrayed by Claire Danes and in the 1978 television movie by Eve Plumb.
