Louisa May Alcott's Little Women

"Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when victory is won." Louisa May Alcott wrote many inspirational novels that explain her personality and her hardships in life. Her writing supported her family, no matter where she was. When Alcott died, her older sister was left and still received the money from her sister's still selling books. Alcott's books are still being sold today, though they may be hard to find. Her most known novel, Little Women, taught the world to appreciate what you have in life, though you may wish for more, what you have is as important as the "fancy" things. Throughout her career, Louisa May Alcott wrote about the many things
she experienced growing up; most relatable, Little Women, allows the reader to connect with the characters and relate to the ups and downs in life. Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She lived with her father, Bronson Alcott; her mother, Abby May Alcott; and her older sister, Anna Bronson, age 1. In 1834, the family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. A year later, on June 24, 1835, her sister Abigail May was born. Also in Boston, her father founded the Temple School to "practice his theories of education, which involved tapping into children's intuitive knowledge through free expression" (ABC-CLIO). Unfortunately, the school failed after six years, so the family moved to Concord, Massachusetts in 1840. Also that year, Alcott's youngest sister, May, was born. In Concord, they became neighbors and friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Louisa was nine years old when she started to be educated by her father, Emerson, and Thoreau. In 1843, her father unsuccessfully tried to found a utopian vegetarian community, called Fruitlands, which was near Harvard, Massachusetts. When her father failed to found Fruitlands, eleven year-old Louisa got a job as a teacher, a seamstress, and a domestic servant to help support her family. She began to write for publication around 1848, which eventually became the family's support. While living in Concord, Elizabeth caught scarlet fever from an immigrant family. The family moved to Walpole, New Hampshire in 1855 in hopes that the move would help Elizabeth get better. Though they were out of the city, Elizabeth did not recover from the disease and died in December of 1858. In May of 1860, her older sister, Anna, married and moved out of the house in Walpole. With less people in the house and more room, Louisa had a room to write in, which also allowed her to concentrate on her work. Her name became known when she published Hospital Sketches (1863), which "recounted her experience as a volunteer nurse in a military hospital in Washington D.C. during the Civil War" (ABC-CLIO). While she served, she came down with typhoid fever. She was treated with mercury, which was the treatment at the time. This lead to mercury poisoning, an illness that weakened her physically for life. On March 6, 1888, Louisa May Alcott died at the age fifty-five. In her lifetime, Alcott wrote many novels, for children and adults, that are still read and enjoyed today. Over the span of Alcott's career, many of her books touched the hearts of many though some revived negative feedback.
Her first book, Flower Fables, published in 1854, is a small collection of fairy tales. Hospital Sketches (1863) told the story of Alcott's experiences of a nurse during the Civil War. The Civil War had a huge impact on her, for there, thirty year old Alcott had the rest of her life decided for her when she caught typhoid fever and was treated with mercury. Her first novel, Moods (1864), was about an unsuccessful marriage. Two of the characters represented Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. These two had an enormous impact on Alcott's life, educating her and being there for her. The novel, Little Women (1868), recounted Alcott's life growing up, with each character representing someone important in her life. A short story, An Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), is about a young girl who does not fully fit in with everyone around her. She is made fun of, but in spite of all the teasing, she pushed through and makes the best of it. Three years after Little Women was published, Alcott published a sequel to the story. Little Men is about the boys at the school that Jo runs with her husband. However, Little Men did not receive as much praise as Little Women. Alcott's fourth novel, Work (1873), is about "the efforts of a poor girl to support herself by working as a seamstress, domestic servant, and a companion" (ABC-CLIO). This story seems to be about Alcott
herself, who worked as a domestic servant and seamstress to support her family. This connection helps readers relate to Alcott's life. A year later, she wrote a memoir, Transcendental Wild Oats (1874), about her father's effort to successfully found Fruitlands. This memoir revealed that Alcott really cared for her father and that her publishing books allowed her father to have food and a roof over his head. Alcott's next two novels, Eight Cousins (1875) and Rose in Bloom are about an orphan girl who goes to live with her six aunts and seven male cousins. Rose in Bloom tells the story of the same girl, older, who is trying to find her way in society. A Modern Mephistopheles (1877) is the story of a failed poet who makes a pact with the devil. Jack and Jill (1880) takes place in a town depicted from Alcott's home town, Concord. The story focuses on the adventures of three boys and three girls. "Three boys, Jack and Frank Minot, modeled after Alcott’s nephews John and Fred Pratt (the name Minot was one of their father’s family names) and Ed Devlin, transformed from Ellsworth Devens, whose death inspired Alcott to write the book" (The Other Juveniles). Alcott's last novel, Jo's Boys and How They Turned Out (1886), was very hard for her to write. Written fifteen years after Little Men, "the originals for Marmee, Amy, and Mr. Laurence were gone, so that writing about them simply renewed Alcott’s mourning for her mother, her sister, and Emerson" (The March Family Stories). All of Alcott's writings inspired others to keep pushing through life, even when things were rough. The Little Women series are stories that people have connected to for years, which allows the name "Louisa May Alcott" be known. Alcott's most famous series, consisting of Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys and How They Turned Out, have been loved over the years and really draw the reader in to learn about the lives of the March sisters.
Little Women is the first book in series and received reviews that gave it a four out of five rating. The other two books both received reviews that gave them a three point eight out of five. According to Critical Reception, some critics say that Little Women is "an ideologically purified and strained realism". However, according to The March Family Stories, "Little Women was an overnight success, not just with girls but with the reading public in general". Both critics have their own opinion on Little Women, one negative, one positive. Overall, critics thought Alcott to be "a writer of charming stories for children which show them both in happy situations and in problematic ones" (The March Family Stories). Though all of Alcott's works received fairly positive praise, Little Women and the books that followed received the most due to readers' appreciation to the connections that Alcott
created. Little Women is Alcott's most remembered novel, with the characters representing someone special in her life. The people who were most important and were represented in her novel were her mother, father, her sisters, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Her mother, Abby May, was named 'Marmee' in Little Women. Just like Abby May, Marmee ran the household and was loved by her children. Bronson Alcott, was called 'Father' in the story, but was not "seen" in the book. Alcott's older sister, Anna, was Margaret (Meg). Meg was portrayed as a girl who wished to have gorgeous gowns and go to fancy parties. Alcott herself was introduced as tomboy Jo, who longed to be free of womanly duties and go on adventures. Her two younger sisters, Abigail and Elizabeth, were portrayed as Amy and Beth. Amy, Abigail, thought herself as no longer a child and mature as her two older sisters. Beth, Elizabeth, was the youngest and kept to herself most of the time. She did not go out much and did not go to school. When she died in the book, it reflected Elizabeth's death in Alcott's life. The March's next door neighbors, Mr. Laurence and Laurie, were kind people and treated the March's nicely. Mr. Laurence, Ralph Waldo Emerson, is portrayed as a stiff, introverted man. As the story progresses, he becomes closer to the girls. Laurie is said to be a combination of several young men that Alcott knew. Little Women was an insight on Alcott's eventful life, with the death of her youngest sister and having to support her family. As time goes on, Alcott's stories never seem to get old. No matter how many times people read them, they keep going back. This is because they care. They care that Louisa May Alcott spent her life writing to support her family and for the world to read her stories. Writing was her passion so she devoted her life to it. Her devotion produced wonderful novels that children and adults enjoy. Children love the books because they immediately connect with Beth and Amy without realizing it. Adults enjoy reading because it helps them take their minds off their priorities for a while. Teens relate to Jo and Meg's wants and struggles. Every time someone reads Little Women, they fall in love with the characters all over again. Nevertheless, Alcott has made an impact on the world in a way she never imagined, by changing American literature forever.