Biography of Louisa May Alcott

Female analysis

29 November 1832 6 March 1888 Louisa May Alcott was born on 29 November 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania (USA). Her parents are Amon Transcendentalist philosopher and educator, Bronson Alcott and Abigail May. The second child of a large family, Louisa receives privately educated, among his teachers include the naturalist Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller and Ralph Waldo Emerson. To address mainly the education of daughters is the father. Already in childhood the Alcott and her sisters live in very difficult economic conditions, because they are forced to follow the lifestyle chosen by the family according to the dictates of poverty and ideals Transcendentalists of the father. In the years 1843-1844 the Alcott moved for a short time in a community called Fruitlands Utopiah. This community is heading towards bankruptcy and soon the family, with support from family friend Emerson, bought a cottage in Massachusetts, in the city of Concord. The young man grows and lives for the rest of his life in the small town of Massachusetts. Due to the difficult economic and financial situation of the family, the girl started to work very young, in various tasks: housekeeper, teacher, seamstress, adjutant and later also the writing. She starts writing inspired by his favorite writers, the Brontë sisters and Goethe. In 1848 law with great attention and admiration "Declaration of sentiments" prepared by the Seneca Falls Convention describing the rights of women. Six years later he published his first novel entitled "Flower Fables". Happiness for the publication of his novel, however, does not last long, since his sister Lizzie dies of scarlet fever and his sister Anne marries. The writer, in adulthood, supports the movement for the abolition of slavery and the feminist movement, for which he worked as a journalist in The Woman's Journal. Fighting for voting rights for women, it is also the first woman to vote in the town of Concord. In 1862-1863, during the American civil war, he served as a nurse in the hospital in Georgetown. On this occasion unfortunately contracted typhoid, but managed to survive. In this biennium Louisa May Alcott writes the book "Tales from the hospital", which gets a great rating from critics and a great literary success. The following year he writes another novel, "Moods", which is published. In these years he writes novels that are meeting with great success; among them we mention the following works, "Pauline's Passion and Punishment" and "A Long Fatal Love Chase." These tales have a great success commercially and become very important over time for many writers who take them as literary models. In 1868-1869 the Alcott writes his greatest literary success, "little women". The novel tells the story of the American family of March. The main protagonists of the story are Margaret, Josephine, Elizabeth and Amy, four sisters who try in every way to lead a life of dignity, because their family is poor. The four girls play of small jobs, so that they can lead a modest lifestyle. Other characters in the novel are the girls ' mother, the family's loyal housekeeper Hannah and Josephine's friend, Laurie. Since the father of the young is away from home, as enlisted in the army during the American civil war, the family must do everything possible to make the most of it. The work is published by American publisher Thomas Niles that, realizing business success had the novel, asks the author to write more novels; among these include "little women grow", "the children of Jo", "good wives" and "little men". His love life nothing is known, because she remains unmarried. After her mother's death in 1879 her younger sister dies May. On this occasion the writer adopts her niece Louisa May Nieriker. Two days after he visited the dying father Louisa May Alcott, only 56 years old, died of mercury poisoning: is the 6 March 1888; its production has more than three hundred literary works.