A Biography: The Life of Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott, about age 25

The classic and popular book, Little Women, is made even richer by learning more about the life of the author, Louisa May Alcott. She was an avid writer, and her passion for writing grew increasingly throughout her life.

Louisa was born in 1832 and died at the age of fifty-five in 1888. In her spare time, she liked to write stories and plays for her and her sisters to dramatize. She had three sisters: Anna, the oldest, Elizabeth, the second youngest, and May, the youngest. Louisa based the sisters of Little Women on her own sisters.

Louisa and her sisters received the majority of their schooling through their father at home. In addition, they received education through close family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Poverty forced Louisa and her sisters into the work force at a young age. Some of her work included being a teacher, seamstress, governess, domestic helper, and writer. She did these roles in many different locations, because her family moved multiple times.

The Alcott family moved to a home in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1840. There, Louisa adapted many stories and childhood memories she had with her sisters and used them in her book, Little Women. The Alcotts finally purchased and settled in a different home in Concord, which they named “Hillside.” Similar to the story-line in the book, Louisa’s younger sister, Elizabeth, died from scarlet fever, and Louisa’s older sister, Anna, married and moved away from their family. At this time, Louisa felt a strong breaking of their sisterhood. With these changes, Louisa had to work more to support the rest of her family.

One thing she did to support her family was serve in the American Civil War. This contrasts with the book, Little Women, in which the fictional father served in the war. Louisa served as a nurse in the Union Hospital for six weeks. Her letters to home were revised, published, and titled Hospital Sketches. She published many other stories and novels, often under the pen name A. M. Barnard, but Louisa used her real name in her book Little Women.

At age twenty, Louisa May Alcott published Little Women, which has become a classic and popular novel. Each of the fictional characters in the book had different traits taken from her family and friends. Louisa portrayed her passion for writing through her main character, Jo. Although, many events which occur in the book mirror the author’s life, some events which happened in Little Women never happened in Louisa’s life. For example, Louisa never married and had not planned for Jo to get married either, but her editor insisted that Jo marry.

In conclusion, Little Women is more than just a classic, fiction book. It has the Alcott family history intertwined throughout many events of the book. Understanding Louisa May Alcott’s personal life helps bring real life aspects to her fiction book. Though Louisa loved to write, her true passion was for her family and friends and the impact they made on her life.

– By Kate Wetherall