In Little Women, Jo is distraught and miserable immediately after turning down Laurie's proposal of marriage. She is sorry to have hurt him and desperately worried that this is the end of a friendship that has meant a great deal to her. Even at this point, however, one could not say that she regrets her decision not to marry Laurie. She made this decision some time before, as soon as she perceived that Laurie was in love with her, and tried to avoid his proposal. There is no point at which, given the opportunity to make a different decision, Jo would have done so.
By the end of the book, it is clear that all has worked out for the best, and there is even less reason for regret. Jo and Laurie have both found spouses more suited to their temperaments. In Laurie's case, his marriage to Amy makes...
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the man Jo has always considered her brother into her brother-in-law. Jo is generally portrayed as headstrong and stubborn, and one of the advantages of having this type of mind is that it is not particularly susceptible to regret on any account. Jo remains clear that she did the right thing in refusing Laurie and marrying Professor Bhaer.
Why didn't Jo marry Laurie in Little Women?
Laurie and Jo meet as teens and immediately hit it off. Mrs. March welcomes the lonely boy into the family circle, and he becomes a fixture in Jo's life.
Laurie falls in love with Jo and wants her to marry him. He is wealthy and kind, and Jo considers him one of her closest friends. Yet she is not in love with him, and she knows it. She fears that if the two of them got married, they would be unhappy together:
I won't risk our happiness by such a serious experiment. We don't agree and we never shall, so we'll be good friends all our lives, but we won't go and do anything rash.
Jo believes their strong friendship will be ruined for good if they marry.
Jo cannot conform to becoming a society wife and fears that this would eventually be the expectation, no matter what Laurie says to her at the moment. However, she is also very tempted to accept the offer. It is a good match, she cares for Laurie very much as a friend, and she can see he is in anguish over the idea of losing her. Nevertheless, she feels it would be cruel to lead Laurie on with false hopes over what can never be.
Part of what gives this sentimental novel a strong realistic streak is that Jo does genuinely suffer from doing the right thing. Laurie goes abroad, Beth dies, and Jo ends up experiencing moments of profound loneliness and regret.