Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott (1832 - 1888) was a young adult writer during the realism period of American literature. Her most well known works include Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys. Alcott was also a Civil War nurse and an abolitionist.
- Louisa May Alcott's Orchard HouseOrchard House (c. 1650) is most noted for being where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set Little Women in 1868. This noble home also has a rich history stretching back two centuries beforehand, as well as more than 100 years of life as a treasured historic site open to the public.
- Louisa May Alcott: Library of AmericaLibrary of America page on Louisa May Alcott.
- Louisa May Alcott: National Women's History MuseumFamed author Louisa May Alcott created colorful relatable characters in 19th century novels. Her work introduced readers to educated strong female heroines. As a result, her writing style greatly impacted American literature.
Research & Reference
- Alcott, Louisa May: American National BiographAn American National Biography landing page on Louisa May Alcott.
- Louisa May Alcott: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on Louisa May Alcott. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
- Louisa May Alcott collection of papersThis is a synthetic collection consisting of manuscripts, correspondence by the author, and legal documents. The manuscripts include essays, stories, and poems in holograph, as well as a manuscript copied in Anna Alcott Pratt's hand. The correspondence, dating from 1865 to 1884, includes letters from the author to Edward Henry and Bertie Barton, Moncure Daniel Conway, Dean Grey, Mary Elizabeth Channing Higginson, and others.
Streaming Media
- American Dreamers: Hawthorne and AlcottThe 19th century was the "century of utopia" and also marked the transition from utopian to dystopian stories in popular literature. Look at Americans who attempted to build real-world utopias, and in turn examine the work of two authors who reacted to the American attempt at perfect societies. Consider the ways that optimistic, utopian thinking is integral to the idea of the American Dream.
- Little WomenLouisa May Alcott’s Little Women is one of the great young-adult novels of the 19th century. It describes the coming-of-age of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, whose loving mother cares for them while their father serves in the Civil War. Jo, who falls in love and becomes a writer, is clearly an analogue for Alcott herself. This 1949 film adaptation stars Elizabeth Taylor as Amy, Janet Leigh as Meg, June Allyson as Jo, and Mary Astor as Marmee. Also starring Margaret O’Brien, Peter Lawford, and Rossano Brazzi. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
- Little Women: PBS MasterpieceFollow the sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, on their journey from childhood to adulthood. Under the guidance of their mother Marmee (Emily Watson), they navigate what it means to be a young woman: from gender roles to sibling rivalry, first love, loss, and marriage. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, this story is as relevant and engaging today as it was on its original publication in 1868.
- Orchard House: Home of Little WomenGo inside the 350-year-old home in Concord, Massachusetts where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set Little Women in 1868. With a nurturing, talented family as owners and literary giants Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne as neighbors, Orchard House uniquely inspired Louisa May Alcott to write a book that has never been out of print and has been translated into over 50 languages.
Author's Works & Perspectives
Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys (LOA #156)
The beloved March family trilogy--presented in one "single, beautifully crafted volume" featuring original illustrations (John Matteson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author) From the incidents of her own remarkable childhood, Louisa May Alcott fashioned a trilogy of novels that catapulted her to fame and fortune and that remain among the most beloved works in all of American literature. Here, in an authoritative single-volume edition restoring Alcott's original text as well as her sister May (the original of Amy)'s illustrations, is the complete series. Set in a small New England town during the Civil War and Reconstruction, Little Women introduces Alcott's remarkable heroines, the March sisters--above all, her alter ego Jo March, with her literary ambition and independent spirit. The follow-up, Little Men, follows Jo into adulthood and marriage as she finds herself the caretaker of a houseful of rambunctious children at Plumfield School. Jo's Boys returns to Plumfield a decade later; now grown, Jo's children recount adventures of their own. At once heartwarming and true to life, Alcott's novels will continue to win over readers both young and old, as they have for generations. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
Louisa May Alcott on Race, Sex, and Slavery
Louisa May Alcott championed women's causes in gothic tales of interracial romance and in newspaper articles published during the Civil War. Drawn from her service as a nurse in a Union hospital as well as from her radical abolitionist activities, these writings allow Alcott to comment boldly on unstable racial identities, interracial sex and marriage, armed slave rebellion, war, and the links between the bondage of slaves and the conditions of white womanhood. A comprehensive introduction situates Alcott and her family within the network of antebellum reformers and unmasks her personal and literary struggles with the boundaries of race, sex, and class.