Born in 1832, Louisa May Alcott was a beloved author who grew up in Concord, Massachusetts. A daughter of a Civil War veteran and the second-oldest of four sisters, Alcott was raised by her parents and educated at home. At a young age, Alcott began her writing career in poetry and lively dramatic plays that she put on with her sisters in their home. These plays became solemn short stories and a financial relief for her family during the hardships of the Civil War, as she set out to help her family by selling her written work to local magazines and aiding the war as a nurse. However, her poetry was only the beginning, as the descriptive and inquisitive writer began her first novel at age 22.
Leading up to Alcott’s most widely known novel Little Women (1869), she originally wrote her work under the pseudonym A. M. Bernard to gain popularity in the male-driven writing and publishing fields. At the start of Little Women, Alcott’s family heavily influenced her first novel, the struggles women faced with marriage, and what it meant to have a career in a male-driven generation. Little Woman succeeded by those principles, gearing toward an audience of female readers, gaining popularity and appreciation, thus developing her breakout novel under her name, Louisa May Alcott. As she received recognition for her book, she actively promoted Woman’s rights and utilized those influences in her poetry. After Alcott’s first novel and continued love for poetry, her fame grew, which led to two sequel novels about the storyline of Little Women.
Throughout Alcott’s literary fame, she continued to write as she battled with illnesses toward the end of her life. Before Alcott’s disease overtook her life, the author experienced loss from losing her sister at a young age, recovered from the poverty and sorrow of the Civil War, and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she continued her writing ventures and governess duties. While the author had never married, Alcott helped raise her niece after her sister’s death in 1879. With her life as a writer, governess, and activist, Louisa May Alcott passed away in 1888 at age 56. However, after her death, the writer and nurse continued to build a legacy for all women, and literary figures encapsulated the characteristics of relatability, intensity, and ambition.
For more information on Louisa May Alcott, her life, and her writings, please visit the following:
The Orchard House Louisa May Alcott https://louisamayalcott.org/louisa-may-alcott
Hannah J. Pasquini © 2022
