How Little Women Pulled off a Love Triangle That Works

By Rachel Leitch

Was Little Women the first example of a ship war?

Quick definition (in case you’re like me and didn’t know): A ship war is when fans of a movie or book are divided on their opinions of which character should end up with the love interest.

No matter who it is, whether or not they’re all that deep into the classics at all, if they’ve read Little Women, they likely have an opinion on who should have ended up with Laurie.

Jo and Laurie. Amy and Laurie. Meg or Beth and Laurie. Or even no one and Laurie.

For the record, I am Jo and Laurie all the way. They just had such a deep relationship and understanding of each other.

But I’m not trying to restart the ship war here. No matter what side of the Laurie war you land on, hopefully we can lay down our arms and look a little closer.

Because underneath the ship war lies a very successful love triangle.

Love triangles have gotten a bad rap. In general, they’ve been tired out and used as fallbacks when there’s nothing else to do with the plot and characters. As a result, a lot of generic, boring triangles lurk out there, leading some readers and writers to steer clear of them entirely.

And yet one of the most successful and well-known romances of all time was built on a love triangle.

Sure, love triangles weren’t as tired out back then as they are now. But Louisa May Alcott knew some secrets to creating a love triangle that works and draws readers in with or without their consent.

Maybe we can learn a few tips from her and revitalize this beloved trope along the way.

What is a love triangle?

A love triangle is a trope (which is just a cool word for a certain element frequently used in stories) where two people love the same person, and the recipient has to decide between the two. (Two boys like the same girl, two girls like the same boy, etc.)

Now, the thing is, tropes are not like clichés. There is nothing wrong with a trope. People love tropes. That’s how they become tropes—they get used over and over again in different books until it’s a staple plot go-to.

Love triangles were obviously received very well. And they do come with some benefits.

Pros of a love triangle include:

But love triangles quickly fell out of love with the general public due to some sloppy executions and tired repetition.

 Cons of love triangles include:

And yet Little Women remains a classic today, with a still-active ship war, and comes away with all the pros. How do we write love triangles like that—a love triangle that might just convince readers to like them again? I have three ideas. And then we can debate Laurie ships until our faces turn blue.

1. All the characters in the triangle were equally developed

While some people naturally like Jo more (me), and some naturally like Amy more, they were both well-developed and likable characters.

Both had their strengths (Jo’s creativity, outgoingness, and unique view of the world; Amy’s artistic leanings and desire to be unselfish) and their weaknesses (Jo’s quick temper and impulsiveness, Amy’s tendency to focus on herself. The ice scene, anyone?). We knew what they wanted, what they needed, what lies they were believing, and what their goals were.

Jo didn’t miss out on all her character development just because Amy was going to end up with Laurie, or vice versa. Neither Jo or Amy suddenly became an evil jerk so that we didn’t feel as bad about her being let down.

Both of their relationships with Laurie were well-developed as well. My own ship case rests on Jo and Laurie’s relationship. Ever since they met as kids, they understood the others’ idiosyncrasies and showed up for each other.

While it really gets more underway once Amy leaves for Europe, there are hints of their relationship early in the book. Then, once they get to Europe, Amy helps bring Laurie out of his depression (which is pretty sweet in its own right).

Plus, Laurie is well-developed! He’s not just there for the girls to fight over him. He has thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs of his own.

These well-developed characters are the key to the other two elements (emotion and surprise, as we’ll talk about below).

Once you know how a character operates, you know how they will react to certain situations.

 And once you know how they could react, you’re free to explore all the different twists and turns that could be a part of that package.

Having all these well-developed characters in constant conflict with each other naturally sparks genuine emotion. You don’t have to spray the page with buckets of tears. Your reader will naturally feel with your characters, because they’ve grown to like them and want to see them happy with the person of their choice. They will naturally care deeply about your characters, and you’ll see them start to take sides.

For more on developing your characters, you might consider checking out this article I wrote for Kingdom Pen a while back:

So before you do anything else in your love triangle, you need to know your characters. What next?

2. The ending was surprising

(and so was the path that got there)

We had no idea which way it was going to go. It seemed only natural that Jo would end up with Laurie. But then there was that (HEARTBREAKING) scene where she turns him down. And, if you were anything like me, you sat there stunned wondering, “Well, what now?”

Amy, that’s what.

The ending was hard and sweet and messy and satisfying all at once. The characters were surprised, so we were surprised.

Equally developed characters help with this. They give you boundaries. You know Character A could react Option 1, but would never react Option 2.

But within those parameters, there’s about a dozen different ways those reactions could play out.

Jo could accept Laurie’s proposal. She could turn him down. She could fall for Professor Baher. Or she could make a new life for herself in New York. She could decide to stay home and never leave again. She could regret her decision and contact Laurie again. She could remain a spinster. We just didn’t know!

When you add in the opposite character in the conflict and the dozen different ways they could react, you’ve got endless possibilities for twists and turns. (Go ahead, think about all the options that Amy presented. Or Laurie, for that matter.)

Jo turning Laurie down was shocking enough. But then came the added surprise of Amy falling for Laurie. And then, even when Jo regretted her actions (somewhat) and we thought they might have another chance, then it was too late.

And then there’s Professor Baher. (Who, even as a strong Jo and Laurie person, if Jo couldn’t have Laurie, I’m pretty happy with Fredreich.) Who actually creates another triangle when you think about it.

All of these things came naturally out of the character development. They were all things that felt natural to the character. Jo didn’t suddenly do something crazy and out of character after she turned down Laurie. Professor Baher was naturally the type of person she’d connect with. Amy didn’t snap. She naturally cared about Laurie and wanted to help.

But we didn’t see any of them coming. They were possible. We just didn’t know which possibility was going to become reality.

There are so many ways to go. Follow the path of your character’s emotions and see what you find. Don’t be afraid to try new, maybe hard and messy things. If your love triangle ties up with no one different than they were when they started, then you might need to give it a suspicious eye.

A couple ideas on how to end your love triangle:

Different, but still good: Does your love triangle always have to end sadly? No! (In fact, tragic love triangles are becoming overdone as well.) Sure, there will be sadness along the way. But ultimately, the Little Women triangle ends happily—both girls with someone they truly love and who truly loves them. Maybe the losing character meets someone else they truly love. Maybe they stay single, but find a job they love or fulfill a dream. Maybe the losing character remains friends with the love interest.

Tragic: While you do have to be careful with this one—killing off the other member in the triangle can be awfully convenient—it can work. Tragedy doesn’t have to mean physical death. What about the death of a dream? Of a relationship? Of something else that everyone in the triangle values? What if they choose one partner, but come to regret it and can’t go back and fix it?

Platonic: If you’ve invested this much page time in purposely creating a love triangle, approach this one with caution. However, I did once accidentally create a ship war that ended with all my characters being friends. This worked because I had planned for them all to be friends from the beginning. I hadn’t written it as a love triangle, readers just read it that way. So the friendships still seemed natural to the story and still left my readers feeling satisfied by the end of the story. If I had been planning for a love triangle all along, it probably wouldn’t have flown.

Now, onto the third and final element of a love triangle that works.

3. It was emotional, but not overdramatic

The whole book wasn’t about Jo and Amy fawning over Laurie, hissing and clawing at each other, and agonizing over what decision to make. Did it happen? Yeah.

But they also had lives. They had families. They had other relationships. Life went on. And the triangle was just part of life.

If you’re writing purely a romance novel, you may have the luxury of making your triangle the main plot of your novel. And if you are, kudos, because sometimes I struggle with just a side-plot romance. I can’t imagine doing a WHOLE book.

But most other genres, your triangle will have to be a side plot. Which means you can’t let it get too greedy.

I’ve already touched on some ways to do that above.

Delve deep into your character’s relationship with their family—family members are untapped potential in fiction.

Give each character strong friends—both ones who are the same gender they are and ones who are the opposite gender.

Give them something else to do in the book besides crush on your love interest. If the only reason they’re in the plot is as part of a triangle, then they need to either find a role or perhaps find a place in another story.

But what about when it comes to those scenes? Jo and Laurie breaking up and such? (Although is it a break up if they were never really dating?) Love triangles do tend to be quite the emotional deal.

The key is to not be over-emotional.

I personally believe the power of these scenes was that it didn’t run the gamut of all the emotions. It chose one and camped there for a little while. Like I mentioned above, if you’ve got developed characters and a twist-and-turn plot, your readers will naturally be invested.

The best thing to do is to try and crawl into your character’s head. What will they feel? What will they see? What will they do? Jo reacted differently to Laurie’s proposal because of what she believed about herself and the world. If Amy, Meg, or Beth had been put into that situation, it would have gone much differently, because they see the world differently. Laurie reacted differently to Jo’s refusal because he didn’t see things the same way she did.

Make sure both your characters in the scene have those motivations fully fleshed out. What makes these scenes so emotional is we see where the other character is coming from. We see both perspectives at once, even if both characters aren’t telling us at once. And that’s what makes it hurt.

So just find those conflicting desires and then play on them. See what happens.

Another secret to avoiding melodrama is subtext. Most melodramatic scenes are blatant and obvious, painfully so. The characters state exactly how they feel. (Or they cry buckets of tears and it’s obvious how they feel.) 

Subtext is a remarkably easy way to fix this. Consider stirring subtext into: 

This adds depth (it shows a side to your character that readers haven’t seen before), believability (do we ever say everything we’re really feeling?), and, of course, it helps keep it from being melodramatic. 

With this advice, you should be all set to create a ship war of your own and have readers storming your house demanding answers. That’s what every author wants, don’t they?

Who knows? Maybe we’ll bring the love triangle back into vogue.