In Work, Louisa May Alcott explores a number of social issues, particularly in relation to women, through the character Christie Devon. At the age of twentyone, Christie leaves the rural home she has shared with her aunt and uncle since the death of her parents. She seeks satisfying work outside the bounds of docile domesticity. "I'm willing to work, but I want work that I can put my heart into, and feel that it does me good, no matter how hard it is." Christie objects to work with "no object but money," because it will not make her "a useful, happy woman." She moves to the city and seeks a way to earn a living, but finds that for a woman—especially a "poor gentle woman"— the options are few.

Christie undertakes a number of jobs in turn, leaving each in short order because...