The March family celebrates Christmas by putting on dramatic performances. In a lengthy description of the festivities in Chapter 2, Alcott employs alliteration to embellish the joyful scene.
The morning charities and ceremonies took so much time that the rest of the day was devoted to preparations for the evening festivities. Being still too young to go often to the theater, and not rich enough to afford any great outlay for private performances, the girls put their wits to work, and necessity being the mother of invention, made whatever they needed. Very clever were some of their productions, pasteboard guitars, antique lamps made of old-fashioned butter boats covered with silver paper, gorgeous robes of old cotton, glittering with tin spangles from a pickle factory, and armor covered with the same useful diamond shaped bits left in sheets when the lids of preserve pots were cut out.
The bold alliterative pairs in this passage help Alcott develop a poetic lyricism that reflects the nature of the scene. Her creative use of language reflects the characters' creative use of household objects to enhance their performance. The simplicity of alliteration does not limit its beauty or effectiveness, nor do the financial limitations of the March family hinder their enjoyment of a holiday. Thus alliteration is the most humble, and yet one of the grandest and most poetic, qualities of this passage.
