Bess = Beth?

[Elyse Liesl]

Hi!
My friends and i were just rereading the march family series (little women, little men, jo's boys) and were trying to figure out if Amy and Lauries daughter Bess in Little Men is the same daughter they had in Little Women, who was called Beth and implied to be dying?? Anyone know???
Thanks!
Elyse

[pooday]

I beleive that Amy and Lauries Daughter Bess (Or Beth) was frail but not dying. Beth on the other hand (Amy's sister) did die and that is why Laurie and Amy named their daughter Bess... after Beth. I guess it's kind of confusing.

[RJbibliophil]

Yes, that is correct.

Beth (Elizabeth) March
Bess Laurie, also known as Princess

[Elyse Liesl]

Oh it's not the difference between Beth March and Bess Laurence i'm talking about. Theres a scene at the very end of little women (or good wives in some editions) where everyone is at plumfield i think, and jo has her two sons, and meg has the twins, and amy and laurie have a little daughter who they have named Beth (obviously after Beth March) who is described as frail and implied to be very ill. Then in little men, Amy and Laurie's daughter is called Bess, and i just wasn't sure if Bess was a second daughter and Beth (Laurence) has died, or if it is the same child.

[BloomingRose]

I believe Bess is just another nickname for the name Elizabeth... If Amy had another girl, I think Alcott would have let us know :P
I was wondering the same thing :)

[Emmy Castrol]

Beth would be short for Elizabeth I suppose, as would Bess.

If little 'Beth' from Little Women died, I don't imagine that Amy and Laurie would name the second daughter they had Elizabeth as well.

So from this I can only assume that the Beth at the end of Little Women is the same as the Bess in Little Men and Jo's Boys.

Plus it adds to the romance... how she began frail and weak and turned out to be a beautiful young woman.

I do think it was unfair of Jo to give the advice to Dan not to pursue Bess though...

[Sk8ynat]

I agree Emmy! I always wondered what Dan and Bess would've been like together.

I suppose that it is for the best though, Bess would've been horribly heart broken when Dan died if they had a closer relationship.

[JosephineMarch]

Yes, she is the same girl. Both "Bess" and "Beth" are nicknames for Elizabeth.

[Jackson Richardson]

Amy and Lauries daughter Bess in Little Men is the same daughter they had in Little Women, who was called Beth and implied to be dying?? Anyone know???
Thanks!
Elyse

I've only read Little Women and I remember that Beth was not Amy's daughter but her sister. And surely Laurie marries Jo, not Amy (who as I remember is unmarried at the end of Little Women)?

[Reynardo]

I've only read Little Women and I remember that Beth was not Amy's daughter but her sister. And surely Laurie marries Jo, not Amy (who as I remember is unmarried at the end of Little Women)?

The next book, "Good Wives", tells what happens over the next 3-5 years. (You've replied in a thread for the third book, set 10 more years after that). And as for Jo and Laurie... no, I won't spoil it, but let it just be said that Jo's travails are only just bear-able...