The definition of courage in the dictionary is courage or audacity. In the texts of Little Women and Treasure Island, courage is defined through the interaction of the characters, the situation and their reactions to it. Therefore, there are different aspects of courage explored in the lyrics that cause physical or psychological pain or mixture to the characters. In this essay, I will analyze the method each author uses to inform the reader about courage, discuss some aspects of courage explored in the texts, and look at how courage differs between the genders. Alcott uses characterization to show courage. It constructs characters over the course of a period through their words, actions, and appearance along with comments from other characters and an omniscient authorial voice (Lukens, 2003). Beth's character has a shy manner and a timid voice, she stays at home and admits to being afraid of people. She is "darling" to the other characters and the author tells the reader that her nickname is mouse. Yet this character shows courage by thanking Mr. Laurence, who scares her, for his piano which causes Meg to exclaim that "the world is coming to an end" (Little Women p.63). Alcott enhances this action through intertextuality in Pilgrims Progress where Mr. Laurence is one of the larger lions guarding the Fair Palace. Beth serves as a foil to the main protagonist, Jo for whom this behavior is normal as demonstrated by her statement to Mr. Laurence "I'm sure now that I shouldn't be afraid of him" (Little Women p.52). This shows that there are different levels of courage depending on the characteristics of the character. Stevenson (2009) admits in his essay on his first novel that he does not use psychology and beautiful writing when... middle of paper... .... (ed.), Children's Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University Loxley, D. (2009) 'Slaves to adventure: The Pure Story of Treasure Island' in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds), Children's Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University Lukens, R. (2003) 'Character', A critical Handbook of Children's Literature, Boston (USA), AblongReynolds (2009), http:/ /learn.open.ac.uk/file.php /6764/!via/resourcepage/59898199/6764/moddata/resourcepage/ea300_dvd1_Boys_and_girls_reading_19th_century_transcript.docStevenson, R. (2009) 'My First Book: 'Treasure Island'', in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds. ), Children's Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University