Louisa May Alcott – Biography Of A Non-conformist

Louisa May Alcott was the author of the famous novel Little Women (Småfrøkner in Norwegian), a literary work that left its mark on an entire era and which still arouses interest today. The book has been translated into more than 50 languages, and the book’s success can be measured by countless film adaptations.

Little Women became a benchmark in literature. Not only because it is beautifully written, but also because of the realism of the content.

When this book was published, the feminine presence in literature was quite overshadowed by male authors. In addition, Little Women moved away from romance and immersed herself in realism, in real women’s everyday lives. Therefore, Louisa May Alcott’s novel became an immediate success. It was different from everything that circulated around at that time.

In addition to this, Alcott’s book reflects on well – founded ideas and values. She writes about women who are thinkers and build their own destiny. This was revolutionary at the time. The author’s abolitionism and radical democratic ideas can also be felt in the background.

Louisa May Alcott and a special family

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She was the second of four siblings, all of them girls, since her only brother died at a very young age.

It was no surprise that she became an enlightened and independent woman, as her father was a well-known teacher ahead of her time. His name was Amos Bronson Alcott, teacher, author and transcendentalist philosopher. Her mother, Abigail, was a determined and curious woman. Therefore , Louisa grew up in a very stimulating intellectual and artistic environment.

Her own father devoted himself completely to his daughter’s education in his own home. He was a man who regarded education as a liberating process, whose function was mainly to teach people to think. This perspective was very revolutionary at a time when emphasis was placed on teaching based on memory and discipline.

The transcendentalist philosophy

Louisa’s father belonged to the transcendentalist movement, a philosophy strongly permeated by religion. One of the most fundamental areas was to reflect on the deepest aspects of humanity. He stood out as an educator, especially because of a school he founded, and he was inspired by progressive pedagogy.

At his school there were microscopes, rulers and other things, whose goal was to offer an education based on evidence instead of memorization. However, due to his radical decision (at the time) to accept African-American students, his school was closed.

Amos Alcott also strongly believed in women’s equality and was convinced that women should have the right to vote. Therefore, he encouraged his young daughter to dedicate herself to what would become her great passion: writing.

He also made decisions that probably influenced the imagination of the future author. He created a utopian society at Harvard which he called Fruitland . It was a group of people who lived in a remote place and only ate vegetarian products out of respect for animals.

However, they were struck by poverty and the experiment did not last long. Thus, they were forced to seek new horizons.

A successful writer

Louisa May Alcott held various positions, as governor, seamstress and nurse during the Civil War. She also began writing and publishing in women’s magazines in her youth.

Her goal was to help with household finances, even though her father always insisted that she do what she loved instead of thinking about money.

She wrote the novel Little Women Reluctantly. By that time, she had already written several novels, almost all of them thrillers. That was the genre she was really passionate about. Publisher Thomas Nile, however, spoke to her about his interest in a novel aimed at the young women of the time. Thus, Louisa tried to write about it, albeit reluctantly.

The book was a success from the start. She wrote it in just two months, and in the first two weeks after publication, it sold more than 2,000 copies. From then on, sales continued to grow until today. Louisa May Alcott became a famous and wealthy woman and managed to lift the family out of poverty.

The author never married. When her mother died, she became the head of the family until her death on March 6, 1888. People say that Little Women was above all an autobiographical work. It went down in history as one of the novels that is able to capture the really important, and that is precisely why it has never gone out of fashion.