TORIma Academy Logo TORIma Academy
Louisa May Alcott
Literature

Louisa May Alcott

TORIma Academy — Novelist

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott ( ; November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women…

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet, primarily recognized for her novel Little Women (1868) and its subsequent installments: Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871), and Jo's Boys (1886). Reared in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, she was exposed to numerous prominent intellectuals of her era, such as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. With her family's encouragement, Alcott commenced her writing endeavors at a young age.

The Alcott family encountered financial difficulties, prompting Louisa May Alcott to undertake diverse employments from an early age to contribute to the family's sustenance, concurrently pursuing writing as a means of income. During the 1860s, she garnered critical acclaim for her literary work, notably with the publication of Hospital Sketches, a volume derived from her experiences as a nurse during the American Civil War. In the nascent stages of her career, she occasionally employed pseudonyms, including A. M. Barnard, under which she authored sensational novels and vivid short stories intended for adult audiences. Little Women emerged as one of her initial successful novels and has subsequently been adapted into various film and television productions. This work is broadly inspired by Alcott's formative years alongside her three sisters: Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott Pratt.

Alcott was a staunch abolitionist and feminist, maintaining her unmarried status throughout her life. Furthermore, she dedicated her life to active participation in reform movements, including temperance and women's suffrage. For the final eight years of her life, she assumed responsibility for raising her deceased sister's daughter. Her death occurred on March 6, 1888, in Boston, due to a stroke, merely two days after her father's passing; she was interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Louisa May Alcott has been extensively documented in numerous biographies, novels, and a documentary, and her influence extends to other writers and public figures, including Ursula K. Le Guin and Theodore Roosevelt.

Early life

Birth and early childhood

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, an area now incorporated into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Amos Bronson Alcott, a transcendentalist and educator, and Abigail May, a social worker. Alcott was the second of four daughters; Anna was the eldest, while Elizabeth and May were the youngest. She was named after her maternal aunt, Louisa May Greele, who had passed away four years prior. Following Alcott's birth, Bronson meticulously documented her developmental progress, observing her strong will, a trait potentially inherited from her mother's side of the family. He characterized her as "fit for the scuffle of things."

In 1834, the family relocated to Boston, where Alcott's father founded the experimental Temple School and engaged with fellow transcendentalists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Bronson contributed to childcare responsibilities but frequently struggled to generate income, leading to familial discord. Both at home and within the school environment, he imparted lessons on morals and self-improvement, whereas Abigail fostered imagination and encouraged Alcott's writing pursuits at home. Amidst the prevailing unrest of the period, writing served as a therapeutic outlet for managing her emotions. Alcott was frequently cared for by her father's friend, Elizabeth Peabody, and subsequently, she often attended Temple School during the day.

Alcott maintained a personal journal from her early years. Bronson and Abigail regularly perused her journal, often leaving brief messages for her on her pillow. She exhibited tomboyish tendencies, favoring boys' games and preferring friendships with boys or other tomboys. Although she desired to participate in sports with the boys at school, she was prohibited from doing so.

Alcott received her primary education from her father, who implemented a rigorous schedule and espoused the principle of "the sweetness of self-denial." During her early childhood, prior to formal schooling, Bronson instructed her in the alphabet by physically forming letter shapes and having her vocalize their names. For a period, she was educated by Sophia Foord, whom she would later commemorate in a eulogy. Additionally, she received instruction in biology and Native American history from Thoreau, a naturalist, while Emerson provided mentorship in literature. Alcott developed a distinct affection for both Thoreau and Emerson; in her youth, they served as "sources of romantic fantasies for her." Her preferred authors encompassed Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sir Walter Scott, Fredericka Bremer, Thomas Carlyle, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Goethe, John Milton, Friedrich Schiller, and Germaine de Staël.

Hosmer Cottage

Following various challenges with Temple School and a short residence in Scituate, the Alcott family relocated to Hosmer Cottage in Concord in 1840. Ralph Waldo Emerson, instrumental in persuading Bronson Alcott to bring his family to Concord, provided financial assistance by covering their rent, as the family frequently experienced economic hardship. During their tenure at Hosmer Cottage, Alcott and her sisters cultivated friendships with the neighboring children from the Hosmer, Goodwin, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Channing families. The children of the Hosmer and Alcott families frequently staged theatrical productions, often inviting other local children to participate. Louisa May Alcott and her sister Anna were enrolled at the Concord Academy; however, Alcott also spent a period attending a school for younger pupils conducted at the Emerson residence. At the age of eight, Alcott composed her inaugural poem, titled "To the First Robin". Upon presenting the poem to her mother, Abigail Alcott expressed her satisfaction.

In October 1842, Bronson Alcott returned from a tour of English schools, accompanied by Charles Lane and Henry Wright, who subsequently resided at Hosmer Cottage. Concurrently, Bronson Alcott and Lane began formulating plans for a utopian community they termed a "New Eden". Lane assumed responsibility for the children's education, instituting a rigorous daily regimen. Alcott developed an aversion to Lane and found the altered domestic situation challenging.

Fruitlands and Hillside

In 1843, Bronson Alcott and Lane co-founded Fruitlands, a utopian community located in Harvard, Massachusetts, intended as the family's new residence. Alcott subsequently chronicled these formative years in a newspaper sketch titled "Transcendental Wild Oats," later republished in Silver Pitchers (1876). This account details the family's endeavor in "plain living and high thinking" during their time at Fruitlands. While residing there, Alcott found pleasure in outdoor activities and derived joy from composing poetry centered on her family, elves, and spirits. She later recalled with displeasure the extensive labor required of her beyond her academic studies. Additionally, she enjoyed playing with William, Lane's son, and frequently staged fairy-tale plays or adaptations of Charles Dickens's narratives. Her literary consumption included works by Dickens, Plutarch, Lord Byron, Maria Edgeworth, and Oliver Goldsmith.

As Fruitlands approached its dissolution, the Alcott family deliberated the prospect of their separation. Alcott documented these discussions in her journal, conveying her distress at the potential fragmentation of the family. Following the collapse of Fruitlands in early 1844, the family secured a rental property in the adjacent community of Still River. There, Alcott enrolled in public school and both authored and directed plays performed by her sisters and friends.

In April 1845, the family relocated to Concord, acquiring a residence they named Hillside, purchased with funds Abigail Alcott inherited from her father. Subsequently, Alcott and her sister Anna attended a school operated by John Hosmer, following a period of homeschooling. The family once more resided in proximity to the Emersons, affording Alcott unrestricted access to the Emerson library, where she engaged with works by Carlyle, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe. During the summer of 1848, at the age of sixteen, Alcott established a school for twenty students in a barn situated near Hillside. Her student body comprised children from the Emerson, Channing, and Alcott families.

The two eldest Alcott sisters persisted in performing plays authored by Alcott. Anna favored the depiction of serene characters, whereas Alcott gravitated towards roles such as villains, knights, and sorcerers. These theatrical endeavors subsequently served as inspiration for Comic Tragedies (1893). The family faced financial hardship, with income limited to the girls' earnings from sewing and teaching. Ultimately, friends secured employment for Abigail, and three years after their relocation to Hillside, the family moved to Boston. Hillside was subsequently sold to Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1852. Alcott characterized her three childhood years spent in Concord as the "happiest of her life".

Boston

Upon the Alcott family's relocation to the South End of Boston in 1848, Alcott undertook various occupations, including teacher, seamstress, governess, domestic helper, and laundress, to contribute to the family's income. Alcott and her sister jointly operated a school in Boston, despite Alcott's aversion to teaching. Her sisters similarly contributed to the family's sustenance through seamstress work, while their mother engaged in social work among Irish immigrants. Elizabeth and May had the opportunity to attend public school; however, Elizabeth subsequently withdrew from her studies to manage household duties. Confronted by financial pressures, Alcott found a creative and emotional release in writing. In 1849, she established a family newspaper, the Olive Leaf, deriving its name from the local publication, the Olive Branch. This family periodical featured stories, poems, articles, and practical housekeeping advice. It was subsequently retitled The Portfolio. Additionally, she authored her inaugural novel, The Inheritance, a work published posthumously and inspired by Jane Eyre. Driven by a desire to transcend poverty, Alcott articulated her aspirations, writing, "I wish I was rich, I was good, and we were all a happy family this day."

Early adulthood

Life in Dedham

Abigail managed an intelligence office, assisting indigent individuals in securing employment. In the winter of 1851, James Richardson approached Abigail, seeking a companion for his ailing sister and elderly father who could also perform light housekeeping duties. Alcott offered her services, joining a household on Highland Avenue that was characterized by its extensive collection of books, music, artwork, and congenial atmosphere. Alcott reportedly envisioned this experience as analogous to a Gothic novel heroine's predicament, particularly since Richardson's correspondence depicted their residence as simultaneously grand and dilapidated.

Elizabeth, Richardson's 40-year-old sister, suffered from neuralgia. Elizabeth was reserved and appeared to have little need for Alcott's companionship. Conversely, Richardson frequently engaged Alcott by reading his poetry and discussing his philosophical concepts. Alcott reminded Richardson that her primary role was Elizabeth's companion and conveyed her weariness with his "philosophical, metaphysical, and sentimental rubbish." In response, Richardson assigned Alcott more arduous tasks, such as chopping wood, scrubbing floors, shoveling snow, drawing water from the well, and polishing his boots.

Alcott resigned after seven weeks, as neither of the two prospective replacements sent by her mother accepted the position. While walking from Richardson's residence to Dedham station, she opened the envelope containing her payment. According to one report, her dissatisfaction with the four dollars enclosed was so profound that she contemptuously returned the money by mail. Conversely, another narrative suggests that Bronson himself might have returned the funds and reprimanded Richardson. Subsequently, Alcott composed a semi-fictionalized narrative of her Dedham experience, titled "How I Went Out To Service," which she submitted to Boston publisher James T. Fields. Fields rejected the manuscript, informing Alcott that she possessed no future as an author.

Early publications

In September 1851, Alcott's poem "Sunlight" was published in Peterson's Magazine under the pseudonym Flora Fairchild, marking her initial successful publication. The year 1852 saw the publication of her inaugural story, "The Rival Painters: A Tale of Rome," which appeared in the Olive Branch. In 1854, she received a complimentary pass to attend performances at The Boston Theatre. Her first book, Flower Fables, was published in 1854, comprising a collection of stories she had initially recounted to Ellen Emerson, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Lidian Emerson, having read these narratives, encouraged Alcott to publish them. Despite her satisfaction, Alcott expressed a desire to transition her writing "from fairies and fables to men and realities" over time. Additionally, she authored The Rival Prima Donnas, a theatrical adaptation of her story bearing the identical title.

In 1855, the Alcott family relocated to Walpole, New Hampshire, where Alcott and Anna became involved with the Walpole Amateur Dramatic Company. Alcott received commendation for her "superior histrionic ability." Following the conclusion of the theater season, and buoyed by the success of Flower Fables, Alcott commenced writing Christmas Elves, a compilation of Christmas stories illustrated by May Alcott. In November, Alcott journeyed to Boston and endeavored to publish this collection while residing with a relative. However, November proved too late in the year for the publication of Christmas-themed books, and consequently, Alcott was unable to publish The Christmas Elves. Subsequently, she authored and published "The Sisters' Trial," a narrative featuring four female characters inspired by the Alcott sisters.

Family changes

Alcott returned to Walpole in mid-1856, discovering her sister Elizabeth afflicted with scarlet fever. Alcott assisted in nursing Elizabeth, and when not engaged in caregiving, she contributed to housekeeping duties and continued her writing. That year, Alcott prepared Beach Bubbles for publication; however, the manuscript was rejected. By year's end, her work appeared in the Olive Branch, the Ladies Enterprise, The Saturday Evening Gazette, and the Sunday News. Alcott subsequently resided in Boston for a period, during which she encountered Julia Ward Howe and Frank Sanborn. In the summer of 1857, Alcott and Anna rejoined the Walpole Amateur Dramatic Company, aiming to amuse Elizabeth with anecdotes of their theatrical endeavors. The family subsequently traveled to Swampscott, hoping to improve Elizabeth's health, which remained debilitated by the scarlet fever's effects; however, her condition did not ameliorate. During this period, Alcott read Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë, drawing inspiration from Brontë's experiences.

In September 1857, the family returned to Concord, where the Alcotts resided in rented accommodations while Bronson undertook repairs on Orchard House. Concurrently, the two eldest Alcott sisters established the Concord Dramatic Union. Elizabeth Alcott passed away on March 14, 1858, at the age of twenty-three. Three weeks subsequent to this, Anna became engaged to John Pratt, whom she had encountered through the Concord Dramatic Union. Alcott suffered from depression following these occurrences, perceiving Elizabeth's death and Anna's engagement as factors contributing to the dissolution of their sisterly bond. Upon the family's relocation to Orchard House in July 1858, Alcott once more traveled to Boston in pursuit of employment. Facing unemployment and profound despair, Alcott considered suicide by drowning; however, she ultimately resolved to "take Fate by the throat and shake a living out of her." Subsequently, she accepted a position as a governess for Alice Lovering, who was an invalid.

Later years

Civil War service

In her adulthood, Alcott championed abolitionism, temperance, and feminism. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Alcott sought to enlist in the Union Army but was precluded due to her gender. Consequently, she contributed by sewing uniforms and awaited reaching the minimum age of thirty for army nurses. Shortly after her thirtieth birthday in 1862, Alcott submitted an application to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, directed by Dorothea Dix, and on December 11, she received an assignment to the Union Hotel Hospital in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Upon her departure, Bronson expressed a sentiment akin to "sending [his] only son to the war." Her arrival revealed deplorable hospital conditions, characterized by overcrowding, unsanitary quarters, inadequate food, unstable bedding, and poor ventilation. Patients were afflicted by prevalent diseases including scarlet fever, chicken pox, measles, and typhus. Alcott's responsibilities encompassed wound cleaning, patient feeding, amputation assistance, wound dressing, and subsequent patient ward assignments. Additionally, she provided entertainment for patients through oral readings and theatrical skits. Her nursing service spanned six weeks during 1862–1863. Although she had planned for a three-month tenure, she contracted typhoid fever and became critically ill midway through her service. In late January, Bronson journeyed to the hospital and escorted Alcott back to Concord for her recovery.

Lulu Nieriker

In 1877, while composing Under the Lilacs (1878), Alcott provided care for her ailing mother, Abigail. Alcott herself subsequently fell gravely ill, prompting the family to relocate and reside with Anna Alcott Pratt, who had recently acquired Thoreau's house with Alcott's financial assistance. Following Abigail's death in November, Alcott and Bronson established permanent residence in Anna's home. At that period, her sister May resided in London and married Ernest Nieriker four months thereafter. May conceived and was expected to deliver her child towards the close of 1879. Despite Alcott's desire to travel to Paris to be with May for the delivery, she opted against it due to her precarious health. On December 29, May succumbed to complications arising from childbirth, and in September 1880, Alcott undertook the guardianship of her niece, Lulu, who was named in her honor. Nieriker conveyed this news to Emerson, requesting that he inform Bronson and his daughters. Only Alcott was present when Emerson arrived; she anticipated the news prior to his disclosure and subsequently shared it with Bronson and Anna after his departure. In the period of mourning subsequent to May's death, Alcott and her father Bronson found solace in composing poetry. Alcott articulated in a letter to her friend Maria S. Porter, "Of all the griefs in my life, and I have had many, this is the bitterest." During this same period, she completed Jack and Jill: A Village Story (1880).

Alcott occasionally employed a nanny when her declining health impeded her ability to care for Lulu. During Lulu's upbringing, Alcott's literary output was limited. Notable among her publications from this era are the volumes of Lulu's Library (1886–1889), which comprise stories specifically penned for her niece, Lulu. Following Bronson's stroke in 1882, Alcott assumed responsibility for his care. In the subsequent years, she divided her time among residences in Concord, Boston, and Nonquitt. In June 1884, Alcott sold Orchard House, which the family had ceased to inhabit.

Decline and death

In her later years, Alcott experienced chronic health issues, including vertigo, dyspepsia, headaches, fatigue, and limb pain, which were diagnosed as neuralgia during her lifetime. Unsuccessful with conventional medical treatments, she explored alternative therapies such as mind-cure, homeopathy, hypnotism, and Christian Science. Her persistent poor health has been variously attributed to mercury poisoning, morphine consumption, intestinal cancer, or meningitis. Alcott herself believed mercury poisoning was the origin of her illness. This belief stemmed from her treatment with calomel, a mercury-containing compound, for typhoid fever contracted during her American Civil War service. Drs. Norbert Hirschhorn and Ian Greaves propose that Alcott's chronic conditions might have been linked to an autoimmune disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, potentially triggered by mercury exposure compromising her immune system. An 1870 portrait of Alcott depicts her with flushed cheeks, possibly indicating the butterfly rash characteristic of lupus. However, this proposed diagnosis, derived from Alcott's journal entries, remains unproven.

With her health deteriorating, Alcott frequently resided at Dunreath Place, a convalescent home managed by Dr. Rhoda Lawrence, which she had previously supported financially. Ultimately, a physician recommended that Alcott cease writing to safeguard her well-being. In 1887, she legally adopted Anna's son, John Pratt, making him the heir to her royalties, and subsequently drafted a will bequeathing her assets to her surviving family members. Alcott visited Bronson on his deathbed on March 1, 1888, expressing a desire to join him in death. On March 3, 1888, the day preceding her father's demise, she suffered a stroke and fell unconscious, remaining in this state until her own death on March 6, 1888. She was interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, alongside Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau, on a section now designated as Authors' Ridge. Her niece, Lulu, who was eight at the time of Alcott's death, was cared for by Anna Alcott Pratt for two years before rejoining her father in Europe.

Literary success

Works

Alcott commenced her writing career for the Atlantic Monthly in 1859. With encouragement from Sanborn and Moncure Conway, Alcott revised and published her letters from her time as a nurse in the Boston anti-slavery newspaper Commonwealth, subsequently compiling them into Hospital Sketches (1863), which was republished with additions in 1869. She intended to travel to South Carolina to educate freed slaves and produce publishable letters, but her ill health prevented the journey, leading her to abandon the endeavor. Following the success of Hospital Sketches, Alcott released her novel Moods (1864), which drew upon her personal experiences and advocated for "woman's right to selfhood." Initially, Alcott encountered difficulty securing a publisher due to the novel's considerable length. After undergoing abridgments, Moods was published and achieved popularity. In 1882, Alcott revised the novel's conclusion. During a European tour in 1870, she expressed dissatisfaction upon discovering that her publisher had released a new edition without her authorization.

Alcott undertook the editorship of the children's magazine Merry's Museum to alleviate family debts, which had accumulated during her 1865–66 European tour as a companion to the affluent invalid Anna Weld. Despite her disinclination for the role, Alcott became the magazine's primary editor in 1867. Concurrently, her publisher, Thomas Niles, commissioned her to write a book specifically for a female readership. Initially reluctant, believing she possessed greater insight into boys than girls, she ultimately commenced work on her semi-autobiographical novel, Little Women: or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (1868). Following the publication of Little Women, she and her sister May relocated to Europe. During her European tour with Weld, Alcott formed a close bond with Ladislas Wisniewski, a young Polish revolutionary. Their acquaintance began in Vevey, where he instructed her in French, and she, in turn, taught him English. Alcott initially documented a romantic relationship between herself and Wisniewski, but subsequently removed these details. Wisniewski was identified by Alcott as one of the inspirations for the character Laurie in Little Women. Another model for Laurie was fifteen-year-old Alfred Whitman, whom she met shortly before her sister Elizabeth's death and with whom she maintained correspondence for several years. The heroine, Jo, was based on Alcott herself, while other characters were drawn from individuals in her life. Subsequently, Niles requested Alcott to compose a sequel. This sequel, also known as Good Wives (1869), chronicles the March sisters' progression into adulthood and marriage.

In 1870, Alcott embarked on a European tour with her sister May and a companion. Despite numerous requests from publishers for new narratives, Alcott produced minimal written work during her time in Europe, prioritizing rest instead. Concurrently, unsubstantiated reports circulated claiming her death from diphtheria. Her experiences during these travels were subsequently documented in her 1872 work, Shawl Straps. During her European sojourn, Alcott commenced writing Little Men following the news of her brother-in-law John Pratt's demise. The impetus for this work was to secure financial assistance for her sister Anna and Anna's two sons. Alcott expressed a personal conviction that she needed to assume a paternal role for her nephews. Upon her return from Europe, the book was published on the very day of her arrival in Boston. The completion of Jo's Boys (1886), the sequel to Little Men, spanned seven years for Alcott. Initiated in 1879, the novel's progress was halted following her sister May's death that December. Work on the novel recommenced in 1882, prompted by a request for a new serial from Mary Mapes Dodge of St. Nicholas. Jo's Boys (1886) concluded the "March Family Saga," which comprises Alcott's most recognized literary contributions. Alcott was reportedly surprised by the widespread popularity of her initial published works. Throughout her literary career, she consistently avoided public scrutiny, occasionally adopting the guise of a domestic servant when admirers visited her residence.

Critical reception

Prior to her death, Alcott requested that her sister, Anna Pratt, incinerate her personal correspondence and journals; Anna complied partially, entrusting the surviving documents to family friend Ednah Dow Cheney. In 1889, Cheney initiated the first comprehensive examination of Alcott's life, meticulously compiling these journals and letters for publication as Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals. This compilation has subsequently undergone numerous reissues. Cheney further authored Louisa May Alcott: The Children's Friend, a work specifically addressing Alcott's resonance with juvenile audiences. Additional collections of Alcott's correspondence emerged in subsequent decades. Belle Moses's 1909 publication, Louisa May Alcott, Dreamer and Worker: A Study of Achievement, is recognized as the inaugural significant biographical account of Alcott. Katharine S. Anthony's 1938 biography, Louisa May Alcott, pioneered a focus on Alcott's psychological dimensions. A truly comprehensive biography of Alcott did not appear until Madeleine B. Stern's 1950 work, also titled Louisa May Alcott. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed a rise in feminist analyses of Alcott's fiction, alongside scholarly attention to the dichotomy between her domestic and sensation narratives.

Martha Saxton's 1978 work, Alcott May: A Modern Biography of Louisa May Alcott, presented Alcott's life in a way deemed "controversial" by Karen Halttunen, a Professor of History and American Studies at the University of Southern California. Alcott biographer Ruth K. MacDonald critiqued Saxton's biography as overly psychoanalytical, characterizing Alcott as a victim of her family dynamics. However, MacDonald commended Saxton's portrayal of Alcott's associations with contemporary intellectuals. MacDonald also lauded Sarah Elbert's 1984 biography, A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott and Little Women, for integrating Saxton's psychological insights with Madelon Bedell's broader examination of the Alcott family, as presented in The Alcotts: Biography of a Family. Nevertheless, MacDonald suggested that Elbert's biography would benefit from a more extensive analysis of Alcott's literary output. Kate Beaird Meyers, from the University of Tulsa, considered the 1987 edition, titled A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott's Place in American Culture, to be "much more sophisticated" due to Elbert's incorporation of other scholarly perspectives and her contextualization of Alcott within American literary traditions. Alcott scholar Daniel Shealy compiled and edited the volume Alcott in Her Own Time. Roberta Trites described it as "fascinating and thorough" but noted a need Trites characterized Harriet Reisen's biography, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, as "far more balanced than some of her predecessors" for its adherence to John Matteson's approach in illustrating the emotional complexities of the relationship between Alcott's parents and their daughters. This reference was to John Matteson's Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, which received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Taylor Barnes of The Christian Science Monitor generally commended Reisen's biography but observed that its "microscopic examination" of Alcott's life occasionally led to confusion. Cornelia Meigs's 1934 biography, Invincible Alcott: The Story of the Author of Little Women, was awarded the Newbery Medal. The edited volume Critical Insights: Louisa May Alcott, by Gregory Eiselein and Anne K. Phillips, features a collection of essays analyzing Alcott's life and literary contributions.

Genres and style

Sensation and adult fiction

Louisa May Alcott expressed a preference for crafting sensation stories and novels over domestic fiction, noting in her journal, "I fancy 'lurid' things." These narratives drew inspiration from authors such as Goethe, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The thematic content of these stories often encompassed incest, murder, suicide, psychological exploration, secret identities, and sensuality. Alcott's characters frequently engaged in opium experimentation or mind control, occasionally experiencing insanity, with both male and female figures vying for dominance. Female characters frequently challenged the prevailing "Cult of Domesticity," instead investigating the counter-ideals of "Real Womanhood." These sensation stories were crucial to Alcott's income due to their lucrative nature and appeared in publications such as The Flag of Our Union, Frank Leslie's Chimney Corner, and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Her thrillers were typically released either anonymously or under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard. Despite repeated requests from J. R. Elliott of The Flag to submit works under her own name, Alcott persisted in using pseudonyms. Scholar Leona Rostenberg posits that Alcott employed pseudonyms for these publications to safeguard her standing as a writer of realistic and juvenile fiction. In 2021, during his dissertation research, doctorate candidate Max Chapnick identified a potential new pseudonym, E. H. Gould. Chapnick located a story, referenced in Alcott's personal records, published in the Olive Branch under the name E.H. Gould. Although Chapnick remains uncertain about the definitive attribution of this pseudonym to Alcott, other stories he uncovered contain references to individuals and locations from her life.

American studies professor Catherine Ross Nickerson attributes to Alcott the creation of one of the earliest works of detective fiction in American literature, her 1865 thriller "V.V., or Plots and Counterplots," which was preceded only by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and his other Auguste Dupin narratives. This anonymously published story centers on a Scottish aristocrat attempting to demonstrate that a mysterious woman murdered his fiancée and cousin. Antoine Dupres, the detective in the narrative, functions as a parody of Poe's Dupin, exhibiting less interest in solving the crime than in orchestrating a dramatic revelation of its solution. Alcott's gothic thrillers remained unacknowledged until the 1940s and were not compiled into collections until the 1970s.

Alcott's adult novels did not achieve the level of popularity she desired. These works lacked the optimistic tone characteristic of her juvenile fiction, instead delving into themes of challenging marriages, women's rights, and gender conflict.

Juvenile and domestic fiction

Alcott possessed minimal personal interest in writing for children but recognized it as a significant financial opportunity. She perceived the creation of children's literature as a tedious endeavor. Alcott's biographer, Ruth K. MacDonald, proposes that her reluctance to author children's novels might have stemmed from the societal view that writing for children was a profession primarily undertaken by impoverished women for financial gain. Her juvenile fiction depicts women who conform to Victorian domestic ideals alongside women who pursue careers and choose to remain unmarried. Within her domestic narratives, Alcott primarily features women and children as central characters, with some adult figures engaging in discussions about social reform, including women's rights. The child protagonists frequently exhibit imperfections, and the narratives often incorporate didactic elements. While her juvenile fiction draws extensively from her own childhood, it notably omits detailed portrayals of her family's experiences with poverty.

Style

Alcott's literary style has been characterized as "episodic," given that her narratives are structured as distinct events with minimal transitional elements. Her early literary endeavors were patterned after the works of Charlotte Brontë. The stylistic elements and conceptual frameworks evident in her writing were also shaped by her transcendental upbringing, simultaneously endorsing and critiquing transcendentalist principles. As a realist author, she investigated social conflict and advocated for progressive educational perspectives. Alcott integrated slang into her characters' dialogue, a practice for which she received criticism from her contemporaries. Furthermore, she employed intertextuality, often incorporating references to plays, prominent statues, and other cultural artifacts.

Social involvement

Abolition

During Alcott's youth, her family operated as station masters for the Underground Railroad, providing shelter to fugitive enslaved people. Alcott could not precisely recall when she first embraced abolitionism, attributing her early commitment to either an attack on William Lloyd Garrison for his abolitionist work or a childhood incident where a young African-American boy rescued her from drowning in Frog Pond. Her abolitionist convictions were partly shaped by overhearing discussions between her father and his brother, Samuel May, or between her father and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Additionally, she drew inspiration from the abolitionist stances of Rev. Theodore Parker, Charles Sumner, Wendell Phillips, and William Lloyd Garrison, all of whom she knew personally. In her adult life, she also became acquainted with Frederick Douglass. As a young woman, Alcott participated with her family in educating African Americans in literacy. Following John Brown's execution on December 2, 1859, for his anti-slavery activities, Alcott characterized the event as "the execution of Saint John the Just." Alcott participated in numerous abolitionist gatherings, including one at Tremont Temple that championed Thomas Simm's freedom. She also advocated for the complete integration of African Americans into society. Her literary contributions included several anti-slavery narratives, such as "M. L.", "My Contraband", and "An Hour." According to Sarah Elbert, Alcott's anti-slavery narratives reflect her admiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's similar works.

Women's rights

Following her mother's passing, Alcott dedicated herself to emulating her mother's activism by vigorously championing women's suffrage. In 1877, Alcott co-founded the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston. She studied and esteemed the Declaration of Sentiments, a document from the Seneca Falls Convention on women's rights, and subsequently became the inaugural woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts, participating in a school board election on March 9, 1879. Although she urged other women in Concord to vote, she expressed disappointment at the low turnout. Alcott joined the National Congress of the Women of the United States during her attendance at the Woman's Congress in 1875, an experience she later documented in "My Girls." She delivered speeches promoting women's rights and ultimately persuaded her publisher, Thomas Niles, to issue suffragist texts. Her advocacy extended to reforms in dress and diet, alongside promoting access to higher education for women, occasionally concluding her correspondence with "Yours for reform of all kinds." Alcott also affixed her signature to the "Appeal to Republican Women in Massachusetts," a petition aimed at securing voting rights for women.

Alcott, alongside Elizabeth Stoddard, Rebecca Harding Davis, Anne Moncure Crane, and other contemporaries, belonged to a cohort of female authors during the Gilded Age who explored women's issues with a modern and forthright approach. Their literary contributions were, as a contemporary newspaper columnist observed, "among the decided 'signs of the times'." Alcott also became a member of Sorosis, an organization where participants deliberated on women's health and dress reform, and she assisted in establishing Concord's inaugural temperance society. From 1874 to 1887, numerous works by Alcott, featured in the Woman's Journal, addressed the topic of women's suffrage. Her essay "Happy Women," published in The New York Ledger, contended that marriage was not a prerequisite for women. In an interview with Louise Chandler Moulton, she elucidated her choice of spinsterhood, stating, "I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man's soul put by some freak of nature into a woman's body.... because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man." Following her demise, Alcott was commemorated at a suffragist meeting held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Legacy

Alcott homes

The Alcott family's Concord residence, Orchard House, where they resided for 25 years and where Little Women was authored, is accessible to the public and honors the Alcotts through its emphasis on public education and historic preservation. The Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association, established in 1911 and responsible for the museum's operation, enables visitors to tour the house and gain insights into Louisa May Alcott's life. The Alcotts' previous Concord home, Hillside, is also open to the public as a component of the Minute Man National Historic Park. Her Boston residence is highlighted on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.

Film and television

The novel Little Women has been adapted into several film versions, released in 1933, 1949, 1994, 2018, and 2019. Additionally, the novel served as the basis for television series in 1958, 1970, 1978, and 2017, anime adaptations in 1981 and 1987, and a musical production in 2005. A BBC Radio 4 adaptation was also produced in 2017. Similarly, Little Men led to film adaptations in 1934, 1940, and 1998, alongside a 1998 television series. Further cinematic adaptations derived from Louisa May Alcott's novels and stories include An Old-Fashioned Girl (1949), The Inheritance (1997), and An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (2008). The documentary "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'" premiered in 2009 as part of the American Masters biography series and was re-broadcast on May 20, 2018. Nancy Porter directed this production, with Harriet Reisen authoring the script, which was developed from primary sources pertaining to Alcott's life. Elizabeth Marvel portrayed Alcott in the documentary, which utilized on-location filming for the depicted events. The film featured interviews with prominent Louisa May Alcott scholars, such as Sarah Elbert, Daniel Shealy, Madeleine Stern, Leona Rostenberg, and Geraldine Brooks.

Popular culture

Louisa May Alcott is featured as the protagonist in the Louisa May Alcott Mystery series, authored by Jeanne Mackin under the pseudonym Anna Maclean. The first installment, Alcott and the Missing Heiress, depicts Alcott residing in Boston in 1854, engaged in writing sensation stories. In this narrative, she discovers the deceased body of a fictional friend, recently returned from a honeymoon, and subsequently resolves the mystery. Alcott and the Country Bachelor portrays Alcott's She then undertakes to investigate what she suspects is a murder. The third and concluding volume of the series, Alcott and the Crystal Gazer, sees her solving the murder of a divination woman in Boston in 1855.

Kelly O'Connor McNees's The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is set in Walpole in 1855, depicting Alcott's romantic experiences. Alcott develops a romantic attachment to the fictional character Joseph Singer but ultimately prioritizes her writing career over their relationship. Lorraine Tosiello's Only Gossip Prospers portrays Alcott's Little Women. During this journey, Alcott endeavors to maintain anonymity due to an undisclosed past event. Michaela MacColl's The Revelation of Louisa May Alcott is set in 1846, where a young Alcott investigates and solves the murder of a slave catcher. Patricia O'Brien's The Glory Cloak narrates a fictional friendship between Alcott and Clara Barton, detailing Alcott's involvement in the Civil War and her relationships with Thoreau and her father. The epistolary novel The Bee and the Fly: The Improbable Correspondence of Louisa May Alcott and Emily Dickinson, co-authored by Lorraine Tosiello and Jane Cavolina, presents a fictional exchange of letters between Alcott and Dickinson, initiated by Dickinson in 1861 seeking literary counsel from Alcott.

Influence

Numerous contemporary authors have drawn inspiration from Alcott's literary contributions, especially Little Women. Simone de Beauvoir, in her childhood, identified with the character of Jo, stating, "Reading this novel gave me an exalted sense of myself." Cynthia Ozick identifies as a "Jo-of-the-future," while Patti Smith attributes to Alcott the provision of "a positive view of my female destiny." Notable writers influenced by Louisa May Alcott's oeuvre include Ursula K. Le Guin, Barbara Kingsolver, Gail Mazur, Anna Quindlen, Anne Lamott, Sonia Sanchez, Ann Petry, Gertrude Stein, and J. K. Rowling. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt reportedly held Alcott's books in high esteem, stating he "worshiped" them. Other political figures influenced by her works include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Hillary Clinton, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Alcott was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996. In July 1967, a street in Co-op City, Bronx, was designated Alcott Place in her honor.

Works

The Little Women Tetralogy

  1. Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (1868)
  2. Good Wives (1869)
  3. Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys (1871)
  4. Jo's Boys and How They Turned Out: A Sequel to "Little Men" (1886)

Novels

As A. M. Barnard

Published anonymously

Novellas

Short story collections

Short stories

As A. M. Barnard

Published anonymously

Poems

Posthumous

References

Works cited

Books

Çavkanî: Arşîva TORÎma Akademî

About this article

About Louisa May Alcott

A short guide to Louisa May Alcott's life, books, literary style and influence.

Topic tags

About Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott biography Louisa May Alcott books Louisa May Alcott works Louisa May Alcott literature Louisa May Alcott writing style

Common searches on this topic

  • Who was Louisa May Alcott?
  • What books did Louisa May Alcott write?
  • What is Louisa May Alcott's literary style?
  • Why is Louisa May Alcott important?

Category archive

Torima Akademi Neverok: Archive of Literary Works and Authors

Delve into the rich world of literature with our comprehensive collection of articles. Discover biographies of influential authors, analyses of classic and contemporary works, and explorations of literary movements from

Literature Authors Literary History Kurdish Literature Poetry Literary Criticism

Related articles

Home Back to Literature