Amy: artistic, ambitious, and self-centered. Amy is a little bit spoiled as the youngest child in a big family. She tends to be indulged by Marmee, Meg, and Beth, although tempestuous Jo keeps her in check. Amy's prone to melodrama and selfishness and can lash out at others when they slight her.
From childhood, Amy's tried every kind of visual art, from painting to sketching to sculpting. Most nineteenth-century young women dabbled in these arts, but Amy hopes to make a career out of them. In fact, she wants more than a career; she wants to do the work of a genius.
Beth: Beth was kind, sweet, shy, and quiet. Her purity was often a supportive characteristic that kept the family strong in times of hardship. She loved to sing and enjoyed the company of her kittens. Out of all the girls, Beth had by far the least amount of flaws.
Beth has debilitating social anxiety. One of the very first things we're told about her backs this up: Beth was too bashful to go to school; it had been tried, but she suffered so much that it was given up, and she did her lessons at home with her father.