Little Women
Professor Bhaer
Jo's German scholar
A kind, plain-spoken German professor Jo meets in New York. He sees what she could write and what she could be.
Friedrich Bhaer is a German scholar who teaches and lives at Mrs. Kirke's boarding house in New York. He is warm, cultured and kind to children, and he mends toys for the little ones. He tells the truth gently and does not flatter.
He shares German poetry and philosophy with Jo, and he believes that character matters more than cleverness. He is poor, and he does not think he has much to offer, which is why he is slow to speak of his feelings.
“Such stories feed what is base and poison the good. You can write what is true and noble, Miss March.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Jo meets him when she goes to New York to work as a governess. He finds out that she has been writing sensational stories for the papers and tells her honestly that such stories feed what is base. Jo burns them, and she writes with more truth afterward.
Later he visits Concord, plays with Meg's twins and talks philosophy with Mr. March. He prepares to leave for a post in Ohio, thinking Jo does not care for him, and she runs after him in the rain with an umbrella. He tells her he has nothing but his heart and two hands, and she says that is all she wants. After Aunt March leaves Jo Plumfield, they open a school for boys there.
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