"Little Women" lines - Jo March
PROF: You cannot lose faith, Miss March. There will be someone who will like your story. I am certain of it...
Professor Bhaer? Is it possible I could read my story to you? I would so respect your opinion.
PROF: Violence and seduction on every page?
Read Shakespeare. Read history. Read the newspapers.
LAURIE: You box?
Ready?
SISTERS: I baked a dozen biscuits. Then I practiced the piano./Charlotte Fenton teased me mercilessly at school. I was so humiliated./I hate being governess, Marmee. I do try. But the children get the best of me.
Rodrigo has returned!
AMY: I want you to get us a Christmas tree!
Rodrigo will go chop one down immediately!
MEG: She's deaf.
She got to close I ended up spilling the entire glass of punch on her.
MARMEE: You'll take it back immediately
Take it back? That's like bringing back a chicken after you've chopped off its head.
AUNT: Then there is no point in our having this conversation. It's clear to me I could never take you to Europe.
Take me to Europe?
LAURIE: He loves his trees. I'm Theodore Laurence the Third. But everyone calls me Laurie. I've come to live here. In Concord. I play the piccolo. I can sleep standing up. And I won a medal at school for holding my breath nearly three minutes before passing out. I think that was terrifically daring of you chopping down Grandfather's tree. Well, goodbye.
Theodore Laurence the Third! Would you mind delivering this tree to the Hummels?
AMY: Where?
There! Across the road!
LAURIE: Just point me in the direction.
They live half a mile down the road. The red house with the broken shingles.
LAURIE: I passed out. Too much dancing, I guess.
Too much punch, I'd say.
PROF: Twenty-two?
Twenty-two rejections since I've been in New York. They all say the same thing. Go home. Give up.
PROF: (reading) 'My advice to you is to return home and have babies. This is what women are made for. Sincerely F. Putnam.'
Twenty-two.
MARMEE: *reads letter aloud* Why are we looking so glum? Do we have an Operatic Tragedy to perform or not?
We do!
MARMEE: Girls!
Well, I like them! I'm sending this one off to a very prominent New York publisher.
LAURIE: You make me beam.
Well, you look ridiculous.
LAURIE: Me!
What are you doing here?
AMY: Sashes aren't silly. Aunt March says the right accessories could be the key to a girl's success. Besides, I'd never go to a ball with scorch marks on the back of my dress.
What?
LAURIE: It's not awful. I've got a cranky old grandfather. And I've got a cat. And I've got—
What?
MEG: Jo, do you really think we should? What with this awful war - ?
When have we let anything defeat us? Years from now people will talk about us: 'One Christmas Eve four penniless and ragged sisters put on an Operatic Tragedy for all of Concord!'
MEG: Do I die again in this one?
Yes! *sing* Let us begin!
MEG: We've got to go.
Yes. And I'll tell everyone how sweet you were to give me your beautiful fan! Goodnight, Marmee — Beth. If anyone calls for us, we're at the ball!
PROFESSOR BHAER: Arrogant? Miss March, I spoke my mind, as you spoke yours. Obviously, it was not appreciated on either side.
Obviously! My stories were a great success in Concord.
AMY: You'll go to prison for it!
Prison? What care I for prison?
AUNT: Never here when you need him. And now my nephew has the audacity to be an army chaplain when he can't even support his own family! Josephine, listen to me: You are on the verge of womanhood!
Christopher Columbus!
MEG: A lettet's come from Father.
Christopher Columbus!
MEG: All the time.
Christopher Columbus!
*AN OPERATIC TRAGEDY ENDS*
Christopher Columbus, I'm bursting with energy! Someone give me a task to do!
SISTERS: Forever!
Come, let's rehearse!
MEG: I'd be delighted, Mr. Brook. Excuse us, Jo.
Did you see that? He just— What is it with you and that smile?
AUNT: It was an idle thought of mine.
Do you know how important it is for a writer to travel? It's been my dream, Aunt March.
PROF: F. Putnam is an idiot. His words are stupid.
F. Putnam is one of the most powerful publishers in the city.
LAURIE: You're looking very fetching tonight.
Fetching, really!
SISTERS: All of Concord!/Oh, Jo, no!
Filled with blood and guts! Two massacres, a masked ball, and several heart-wrenching scenes!
AUNT MARCH: Josephine! Josephine, is that you? Josphine!!
Good morning, Aunt March.
LAURIE: I don't mind at all.
He doesn't mind.
MARMEE: Where did you get that tree?
I borrowed it from Mr. Laurence.
AUNT: *sings*
I could change if I wanted to.
AUNT: We earn our dreams in this world. It's foolish of me to think you could ever change your ways.
I could try!
AMY: You don't care about good society and I do.
I don't care about snobs. People who think they're better than you just because they have grander houses—
LAURIE: I'm very good. I won a medal for dancing at school.
I don't dance. Besides, I've got a patch on the back of my dress.
AUNT: With a good marriage, you can have power. You can take your place in society.
I don't give two gigs about society!
AUNT: Just look at you! You go about writing senseless stories, constantly trying to save the world— and you can't save yourself!
I don't need saving.
AUNT: Your work day begins with me at nine! You've missed reading to me. And still haven't repaired the latch on the cellar door—
I got delayed finding you this beautiful flower.
AUNT: You are what happens to a girl when she has no father.
I have a father.
MARMEE: Jo, you must think before you act on every whim.
I just want us all to have a wonderful Christmas.
MEG: Jo -
I made an important decision today: as you all know I've been writing stories forever. With much satisfaction. And people seem to like what I write.
MEG: I think it's her dog.
I ought to box her ears.
BETH: I want you to bring father home.
I shall write President Lincoln tonight! Another!
MEG: I'll design the handbill.
I still don't know why we couldn't have kept the tree.
MEG: Jo —!
I swear, Meg. Mrs. Parrot kept moving in on me— like a mountain lion. She had this gigantic ear trumpet. And she kept shouting at me, 'What's that you say, my dear?'
MARMEE: You look very alluring.
I think the word is alarming, Marmee. Meg's the beauty. Look at her. She'll be the most sought after girl at the ball.
MARMEE: Jo, you didn't—
I took it for us, Marmee!
AUNT: Don't trifle with me, Josephine. You were dawdling.
I wasn't dawdling. I was writing a story.
MARMEE: I wore that very same dress to my first ball. And it didn't look half so good on me. Margaret March, you've been dreaming about Annie Moffat's St. Valentine's Day Ball for months. You can't walk away from it now.
I'm not built for gowns.
AMY: I can go in your place.
In my place?
*lights up at ball*
It was an accident!
AMY: I found this old dress and it almost fits.
It was mine.
SONG: BETTER
Listen, everyone: I have risen to the occasion this year and written us An Operatic Tragedy!
MARMEE: Jo!
Marmee!
MR. LAURENCE: Yes, Mr. Laurence! You!
Me?
LAURIE: Well, I was hoping to say you.
Me? You don't have me.
MR. BROOKE: Would you like to dance, Miss March?
Meg, we were about to join the ladies in the salon—
BETH: She doesn't want to go.
Meg?
SUNG: I've taken a solemn vow; with all that I am, somehow.
My dearest Mamah, there will be Christmas after all!
MEG: Amy!
My stories aren't dreadful!
AMY: 'Mother! Dear Mother, do not cry!'
No, no! Expression, Amy! From the heart! 'Mother! Dear Mother, do not cry!'
LAURIE: A patch? Let me see.
No, no—
LAURIE: So tell me, when you're not attending balls, what do you do?
I write blood and guts stories. I make extraordinary plans. I'm going to Europe. I'm going to meet famous writers and revolutionaries. So what about you? What do you do? Marmee said you're all alone in the world. No mother or father. That must be awful for you.
MR. LAURENCE: You chopped down my perfect douglas fir. I should have you arrested!
I'll make it up to you, sir.
PROF: It is getting late. Perhaps it is best we pursue this some other time.
No. I want to know what you think, Professor.
AUNT: There are many pitfalls a girl can fall into, Josephine— — you are heading towards all of them! I want to see you shine. Even if you're not rich— you can at least marry well.
I'll never marry.
MR. LAURENCE: With what?
I'll plant six more.
MEG: I want you to get Annie Moffat to invite me to her St. Valentine's Day ball!
I'll wring her bloody little neck if she doesn't! Another!
BETH: Do, Marmee.
I'll write something thrilling for you, with passion and daring—
AUNT: You'll marry! All girls marry!
I'm not all girls.
SISTERS: Oh, Jo!/Jo can do anything!/Jo!
But we have to promise to remain just as we are. solid like a fortress. No matter whatever happens, we must promise that it'll always be the four March sisters - forever!
PROFESSOR BHAER: Miss March! Another letter has arrived for you! Miss March!
(from off) Mrs. Kirk, the mutton you ordered is on the kitchen table! (enter) Thank you, Professor! (grab letter) Christopher Columbus! Another publisher. Another rejection?
PROF: We all keep hoping for your success, Miss March. The entire boarding house keeps hoping. You have us all on edge.
(reading) 'My Dear Miss March, I read your story.' (self) Well, he's read it. (reading) 'Unfortunately... unfortunately I found your tale tasteless and vulgar. Not at all suitable for my readers. My advice to you-'
LAURIE: I should warn you, I won a medal for boxing at school.
*fight* So that's how you win medals?
PROF: I am 34.
34, really? Well - you look a lot older.
BETH: We love it, Jo.
Absolutely. So I've decided I'm going to become a world-renowned writer. I shall write great books and earn barrels of money. And I'll give you all everything you've ever dreamed of!
PROF: Yes. Of course.
Actually, it's one of my best. (reading) 'It's a mean and stormy night. The moors are bleak and bloody. Thunder claps! Lightening strikes! The fair Clarissa, her clothes in disarray, races across the wild coastal heath- *sing* With bold determination, the villainous aristocrat Braxton Prendergast, lurches for her- *sing* Keep away from me you wretch! I cannot keep away. Your beauty draws me. Your passion ignites me.
LAURIE: *sings more*
All right. We could box if you like.
AUNT MARCH: Do you know the hour?
Almost ten, I believe.
PROFESSOR BHAER: I have no idea. I do not read your letters. But they keep arriving and I keep bringing them to you.
And I keep hoping-
MR. LAURENCE: Twelve!
And I'll chop your firewood for a few days.
BRAXTON: I'll have her. And the mother too.
And at that moment, Rodrigo appears in magnificent splendor! Unhand that woman, villain! Who are you?
PROF: I worry a lot.
And just what do you worry about?
AMY: But I want elegance and fine things, Marmee!
And so want passion! I want to be noticed because I'm unique. Not because of some silly sash.
MEG: Oh, Jo.
And then Aniue Moffat said to me, 'Can I be of help, Sally?' Sally? Who is Sally?
AMY: I know. All it needs is a pretty sash. Besides, why shouldn't I go?
Because you weren't invited.
PROF: Blood and guts stuff? What you think the world wants to hear? If I have noticed nothing else about you, Miss March, I have noticed you are unique. Something you should try hard not to forget. I think you could do better.
Better? ... And who are you anyway: an aging German professor, close to 50 - ?
PROF: Miss March! Tell me, what is it you are writing here?
Blood-and-guts stuff. It's all the rage. The magazines and periodicals are full of it.
MEG: Jo— don't! We'll take a few minutes— then we'll go back in as if nothing had happened. Our heads held high.
Yes. You're right. For a young lady who is soon to go abroad and go amazing things: I shall return poised and elegant, brimming with confidence. I shall sit grandly— Christopher Columbus!
LAURIE: *sings*
You are a lunatic!
PROF: How to avoid conversations such as this! Now I will go to dinner. Miss March, since you have been here - six weeks now, is it? - you shout, you rant, you upset the whole order of this boarding house. I am a serene and peaceful man.
You're aloof, you're arrogant -
AMY: I'm going to the ball.
You're what?
LAURIE: Excuse me!
You?
