Passes the Bechdel test
Little Women
2019. Directed by Greta Gerwig, written by Greta Gerwig and Louisa May Alcott.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 29 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 22 scenes out of 93. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
In 19th-century Massachusetts, with their father away serving in the Civil War, the women of the March family--loving matriarch, Marmee and her four daughters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy--are left to fend for themselves. Faced with genteel poverty, fledgling author Jo struggles to make a name for herself in male-dominated New York City; considerate Meg and starts a family; artistically-inclined Amy travels to Paris with affluent Aunt March. The news of shy but nurturing Beth's serious illness reunites the sisters under one roof again, but more than anything in the world--much to the disappointment of handsome next-door neighbor Theodore "Laurie" Laurence--fiercely-independent Jo yearns for freedom. Must all stories end with a wedding?
- Released
- 25 Dec 2019
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 91 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 73 wins & 229 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jo 293 lines, woman
- Amy 149 lines, woman
- Laurie 133 lines, man
- Meg 93 lines, woman
- Marmee 80 lines, woman
- Beth 49 lines, woman
- Friedrich 43 lines, man
- Aunt March 36 lines, woman
- Dashwood 23 lines, man
- Mr. Laurence 18 lines, man
Full cast, 75 people
- Saoirse Ronan as Jo March
- Emma Watson as Meg March
- Florence Pugh as Amy March
- Eliza Scanlen as Beth March
- Laura Dern as Marmee March
- Timothée Chalamet as Laurie
- Tracy Letts as Mr. Dashwood
- Bob Odenkirk as Father March
- James Norton as John Brooke
- Louis Garrel as Friedrich Bhaer
- Jayne Houdyshell as Hannah
- Chris Cooper as Mr. Laurence
- Meryl Streep as Aunt March
- Rafael Silva as Friedrich's Friend
- Mason Alban as Friedrich's Friend
- Emily Edström as Friedrich's Friend
- Maryann Plunkett as Mrs. Kirke
- Hadley Robinson as Sallie Gardiner Moffatt
- Lonnie Farmer as Concord Sales Clerk
- Charlotte Kinder as Viola
- Ana Cruz Kayne as Olivia
- Edgar Damatian as Jo's Beer Hall Dance Partner
- Erin Rose as Girl at Ballroom
- Lizzie Short as Girl at Ballroom
- Dash Barber as Fred Vaughn
- Edward Fletcher as Laurence's Servant
- Sasha Frolova as Mrs. Hummel
- David J. Curtis as Train Porter
- Harper Pilat as School Girl
- Eowyn Young as School Girl
- Lucy Austin as School Girl
- Bill Mootos as Mr. Davis
- Lewis D. Wheeler as Josiah Workman
- Jen Nikolaisen as Evelyn Meriwether
- Jonathon Acorn as Concord Play Pianist
- Abby Quinn as Annie Moffat
- Lilly Englert as Kate Vaughn
- J.M. Davis as Susan Robbins
- Tom Kemp as Asa Melvin
- Daniel Shea as Soldier with Telegram
- Anthony Estrella as Doctor
- Adrianne Krstansky as Mrs. Dashwood
- Sophia Gialloreto as Dashwood Girl
- Lily Gavin as Dashwood Girl
- Finola Weller Baldet as Dashwood Girl
- Flannery Gregg as Beer Hall Dancer
- Tony Tucker as Beer Hall Dancer
- Joanne Caidor as Beer Hall Dancer
- Rosario Guillen as Beer Hall Dancer
- Margaret Clinton Weeks as Beer Hall Dancer
- Alexander Jimenez as Beer Hall Dancer
- Natalie Kurzava as Beer Hall Dancer
- J. Michael Winward as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Adrian Hoffman as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Stephen Ursprung as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Tyler Catanella as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Jenna Pollack as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Meghan Hornblower as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Elizabeth Dunn as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Danielle Pastuszak as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Shawn Ahern as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Ellen Oliver as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Haley Grove as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Sydney Grant as Gardiner Ball Dancer
- Sayer Mansfield as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Jen Passios as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Juliana Utz as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Justin Genna as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Mathew Steele as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Preston Martin as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Taylor Jorgensen as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Nicholas Deyo as Moffat Ball Dancer
- Lily Peterson as Parisian Girl (uncredited)
- Jared Reinfeldt as Ned Moffat (uncredited)
- Amber Rothberg as Young Meg (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 93
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 13 | 10 |
| 3 to 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 5 to 6 | 24 | 5 |
| 7 to 8 | 10 | 1 |
| 9 to 10 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 21 | 1 |
| 13 to 14 | 14 | 10 |
| 15 to 16 | 6 | 3 |
| 17 to 18 | 12 | 5 |
| 19 to 20 | 27 | 26 |
| 21 to 22 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 to 24 | 54 | 0 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 3 |
| 27 to 28 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 to 30 | 33 | 4 |
| 31 to 32 | 12 | 0 |
| 33 to 34 | 29 | 0 |
| 35 to 36 | 39 | 23 |
| 37 to 38 | 38 | 0 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 42 | 16 | 0 |
| 43 to 44 | 10 | 1 |
| 45 to 46 | 47 | 11 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 8 | 0 |
| 51 to 52 | 9 | 6 |
| 53 to 54 | 2 | 2 |
| 55 to 56 | 29 | 28 |
| 57 to 58 | 45 | 15 |
| 59 to 60 | 38 | 14 |
| 61 to 62 | 7 | 0 |
| 63 to 64 | 34 | 8 |
| 65 to 66 | 15 | 0 |
| 67 to 68 | 18 | 3 |
| 69 to 70 | 20 | 2 |
| 71 to 72 | 17 | 2 |
| 73 to 74 | 35 | 11 |
| 75 to 76 | 26 | 13 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 80 | 3 | 2 |
| 81 to 82 | 26 | 1 |
| 83 to 84 | 36 | 27 |
| 85 to 86 | 6 | 4 |
| 87 to 88 | 24 | 27 |
| 89 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 92 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 to 93 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
AUNT MARCH: The decadents have ruined Paris, if you ask me. These French women couldn’t lift a hairbrush. AUNT MARCH: AMY! I said, “These French women couldn’t lift a hairbrush.” AMY: Oh yes! Very true, Aunt March. AUNT MARCH: Don’t humor me, girl. What do they write, your troublemaking family?
AMY: It’s Laurie! AUNT MARCH: I know.
MEG: Fifty dollars, what was I thinking? DAISY AND DEMI: Mommy -- mommy!
MEG: I know just who I’ll dance with! AMY: Who will you dance with, Jo? JO: You know I never dance. BETH: I can’t dance.
MEG: Don’t stare, don’t put your hands behind your back, don’t say Christopher Columbus, don’t say Capital, don’t shake hands, don’t whistle -- SALLIE: Meg March! You look so pretty! JO: Meg...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 75 are women's.
817 lines from women, 275 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 17 men in the cast. 29 women and 11 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 5 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 77% of the words (8,456), men 23% (2,478). Women have 75% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
57
Two men
8
Exhibit F: behind the camera
9 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 44% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Greta Gerwig (woman)
- Written by
- Greta Gerwig (woman)
- From the novel by
- Louisa May Alcott (woman)
- Produced by
- Amy Pascal (woman), Denise Di Novi (woman), Robin Swicord (woman)
- Shot by
- Yorick Le Saux (man)
- Edited by
- Nick Houy (man)
- Music by
- Alexandre Desplat (man)
- Production design by
- Jess Gonchor (man)
- Costumes by
- Jacqueline Durran (woman)
- Cast by
- Kathy Driscoll-Mohler (woman), Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
10 women, 6 men, 15 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 9 men, 16 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 16 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
11 women, 0 men, 12 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 12 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Eliza Scanlen 20, Florence Pugh 23, Saoirse Ronan 25, Emma Watson 29, Laura Dern 52
Men
Timothée Chalamet 23, James Norton 34, Louis Garrel 36, Tracy Letts 54, Bob Odenkirk 57
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $332 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 93 scenes and 1,119 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
