Beyond Little Women: The Literary Legacy of Louisa May Alcott

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Louisa May Alcott, a prolific American writer, born in 1832 in Pennsylvania, was way ahead of her time. She was the second child of Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott and had three sisters. Her education was mostly provided at home by her father, a transcendentalist. Her upbringing allowed her to interact with many prominent literary figures in her father’s circle like Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had a major impact on her writings and worldview.

Determined to lift her family out of the depths of poverty from a young age, Alcott worked in many roles, such as seamstress, domestic helper, and governess. Writing became both a creative outlet and a source of income for her. Rather than using old chronicles as her sources for writing, she drew inspiration directly from her life and experiences. This made her works deeply personal, therefore, truly understanding her works requires insights into her life.

Alcott was an Abolitionist and a feminist. She saw from an early age how society limited the roles of women. Her contribution to the women’s suffrage movement and her choice of remaining unmarried is a reflection of her progressive ideas.

Early Life And Childhood

Despite the poverty, Louisa largely enjoyed a happy childhood. She loved animals, as portrayed in many of her stories. Louisa and her sisters also loved playing with dolls, and she would reenact all kinds of life experiences with her dolls.  Their father read them stories like Pilgrim’s Progress, which she later included in Little Women as well. She found delight in spending time outdoors, and nature taught her lessons that books alone could never provide. She loved playing in the barn with her sisters where they would put their creative takes on classic fairy tales like Cinderella rolling away in a vast Pumpkin. 

Her happy childhood ended early when she was faced with the trials of life. The Alcotts were suffering financially due to her father’s inability to provide for them. On some days, they even survived on bread and milk.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Teenage Infatuation and a Lifelong Inspiration

At fifteen, Louisa May Alcott began embracing her romantic side and started writing poetry. Around this time, she found a book named “Correspondence with a Child” in Mr. Emerson’s Library, their family friend. Inspired by the book’s character, Bettine, who wrote letters to Goethe, She began crafting letters for him that she never sent and even left wildflowers on his doorstep. Many years later, when she told Mr. Emerson about this, he was amused and asked if he could see the letters. Although the crush faded away,  Emerson continued to be a significant inspiration throughout her life, often influencing her literary works.

The Lesser Known Works Of Louisa May Alcott

Alcott’s works were not restricted to a single genre. She published two of her poems named “Sunlight” and “Shadow” in a local magazine.

 Flower fables (1855)

A natural storyteller even at the young age of 16, Alcott published her first novel, Flower Fables. It is a collection of imaginative stories written for Ella Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughter. The stories include adventures of elves and fairies in a fairyland. 

In 1855 she published another Children’s story called The Rose Family, also a fairy tale.

Hospital sketches

In 1862, Alcott enlisted as a nurse during the Civil War in an army hospital in Washington, DC, where she attended to the wounded soldiers.

She wrote letters to her family about her experiences at the hospital which she later used as an inspiration for her work “hospital sketches”. It is a lightly fictionalized version of her letters. She was forced to return home after she was taken ill with typhoid fever.

MOODS (1864)

Moods, her third novel, reflects her feminist ideas. The heroine of the novel is a 17-year-old girl who is an unconventional tomboy and loves adventure. She goes on a camping trip with her brother and his two friends, and both of them develop feelings for her. Making the wrong decision, she marries the wrong person. Guided by her impulses and moods, the ending is disastrous.

In 1882, she published a revised version where things inevitably work out in the end.

A.M. Barnard: The Pseudonym of Louisa May Alcott

At the age of 20, She started publishing melodramatic and sensational stories anonymously under the pseudonym of A. M. Barnard. This gave her the freedom to write about various genres like thrillers and gothic tales, while providing her with financial support.

Little Women (1868)

Louisa’s most widely acclaimed novel Little Women has inspired thousands of little girls and continues to do so. This semi-autobiographical novel follows the adventures of the four March sisters as they come of age. Little Women is a heartwarming novel filled with endearing characters. The book has also inspired numerous screen adaptations.

Read Little Women for free here. If you’re intrigued by Little Women and want to delve deeper into Classic Literature, check out How To Read Classic Literature in 6 Easy Steps.

Little Men (1871)

A sequel to Little Women, this novel centers on the life of Jo and her husband, who run a transcendentalist school named Plumfield, and explores the lives of its students.

She proceeded to publish Eight Cousins (1875), Rose in Bloom (1876), and Under the Lilacs (1878).

Jo’s Boys (1886)

This is the concluding book in the Little Women Series. Ten years later, the students revisit Plumfield to meet Jo and her husband.

Later Works

Louisa went on to explore a wide variety of genres with more mature themes like the Modern Mephistopheles ( 1877), Work: A Story of Experience (1873), and an Old Fashioned Girl (1870).

Subsequently, she published more stories for children, such as Aunt Jo’s Scrap Bag, A Garland for Girls, and Lulu’s Library.

Louisa May Alcott took her last breath on March 6, 1888, two days after her father’s death. She was a generous soul who worked tirelessly for the causes she believed in. Alcott did not let societal constraints or the hardships of life discourage her from becoming a writer. Her unwavering spirit and burning resolve to hold onto her pen made her one of the most notable writers of all time while laying the groundwork for other women.

To delve into the life of another groundbreaking writer who made a lasting impact on literature, consider reading The Life Of Sylvia Plath: From Ink To Immortality.

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