Timeline Little Women

Louisa May Alcott's novel of the four March sisters, published in two parts in 1868 and 1869 and never out of print since — adapted for stage, film, television, opera and anime.

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Dashed left edge = started before this timeline · Dashed right edge = still ongoing

Little Women 22

1858 The Alcotts move into Orchard House Concord The family settles at Orchard House, where Louisa will write Little Women at a small desk her father built.
1858 Death of Louisa May Alcott's sister Elizabeth The model for Beth Her younger sister Lizzie dies aged 22 after a long illness following scarlet fever. She becomes Beth March.
1865 – 1866 Louisa May Alcott travels in Europe Meeting Laurie Travelling as a paid companion to an invalid, she meets the young Polish exile Ladislas Wisniewski in Switzerland — one inspiration for Laurie.
1868 Little Women is published Roberts Brothers, Boston Written in about ten weeks at the request of her publisher Thomas Niles, who wanted a book for girls, the first part is an immediate success.
1869 Good Wives The second part of Little Women The second volume follows the March sisters into adulthood. Readers beg for Jo to marry Laurie. Alcott refuses and pairs her with Professor Bhaer instead.
1871 Little Men The first sequel Jo and Professor Bhaer run Plumfield, a school for boys.
1877 Death of Louisa May Alcott's mother Abigail The model for Marmee Abigail May Alcott, reformer and one of Massachusetts' first paid social workers, dies at Concord.
1879 Death of Louisa May Alcott's sister May The model for Amy Her youngest sister, the painter May Alcott Nieriker, dies in Paris weeks after giving birth. Louisa raises her niece Lulu.
1886 Jo's Boys The last March novel The final book of the series follows the boys of Plumfield into adulthood.
1888 Louisa May Alcott dies in Boston Two days after her father She dies aged 55, two days after Bronson Alcott, and is buried on Authors' Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, near Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne.
1912 Little Women on Broadway Marian de Forest's play A stage adaptation by Marian de Forest opens on Broadway.
1917 – 1918 The first Little Women films Silent screen A British silent film is the first screen version, followed by an American one in 1918. Both are believed lost.
1933 George Cukor's Little Women Katharine Hepburn as Jo RKO's version, directed by George Cukor with Katharine Hepburn as Jo, is a Depression-era hit and wins the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
1949 MGM's Little Women Mervyn LeRoy, 1949 A Technicolor version stars June Allyson as Jo, Elizabeth Taylor as Amy, Janet Leigh as Meg and Margaret O'Brien as Beth. It wins the Oscar for Best Art Direction.
1978 Little Women on NBC TV miniseries A two-part television adaptation with Susan Dey as Jo, Meredith Baxter Birney as Meg and William Shatner as Professor Bhaer.
1987 Tales of Little Women Japanese anime Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater turns the novel into a 48-episode anime series.
1994 Gillian Armstrong's Little Women Winona Ryder as Jo Winona Ryder plays Jo, with Susan Sarandon as Marmee, Claire Danes as Beth and Christian Bale as Laurie. Ryder is nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress.
1998 Little Women, the opera Mark Adamo Mark Adamo's opera premieres at Houston Grand Opera and goes on to many productions.
2005 Little Women, the musical Broadway A Broadway musical opens with Sutton Foster as Jo and Maureen McGovern as Marmee.
2017 Little Women on the BBC Heidi Thomas's adaptation A three-part BBC series stars Maya Hawke as Jo, with Emily Watson as Marmee and Angela Lansbury as Aunt March.
2019 Greta Gerwig's Little Women Saoirse Ronan as Jo Told out of chronological order, it stars Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Florence Pugh as Amy, Emma Watson as Meg, Eliza Scanlen as Beth and Timothée Chalamet as Laurie. Six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture — it wins for Costume Design.
2022 Little Women in Seoul A modern thriller South Korea's tvN reimagines the story as three poor sisters in modern Seoul caught up in a political thriller.