Louisa May Alcott Research Paper

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott, and she had three sisters Anna, Elisabeth, and Abigail. Growing up, they were very poor. They went hungry often, and everybody had to contribute to doing different smalls jobs to earn a little bit of money. Louisa’s father was not very talented at many things, so he would go from job to job, moving them around to different homes often. He had even tried to start a school at one time, but that failed as well.
Louisa also held multiple jobs as well, such as a teacher and a seamstress and she started writing at a young age. She wrote a book called, “Flower Fables” that was not produced until six years later.

She wrote many other stories and plays that were not published, but in 1860, the Atlantic Monthly started publishing some of them. Louisa also served as a nurse during the Civil War, until she was unable to do so any more due to her health. She had developed typhoid fever after only a month and a half, but eventually recovered. She did not start earning much money until 1865 when she wrote a book called, “Moods” and had accepted a position as an editor of a magazine for juveniles called, “Merry’s Museaum” in 1867. In 1868, she wrote the book she is most famous for, “Little Women”.
“Little Women” was a book written about Louisa’s own childhood growing up. Her older sister, Anna, was represented by Meg, Jo was the character that she wrote about herself, Beth was about her sister Elizabeth, and her youngest sister Abigail was represented by the character Amy. She wrote about the troubles the March family goes through in their own poverty, even though it was not as severe as her family’s growing up. Even the part about Beth’s illness and passing was very much a part of her life, as her own sister, Elizabeth, passed away when she was just 23 years old.
“Little Women” was immediately successful and she began receiving more and more income from it. Her family was finally able to live a comfortable life, not in poverty any longer.
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She decided to write Part Two of the book, which was originally known as, “Good Wives”, just one year later. Two years after that, she wrote the book, “Little Men”, continuing the story of the Plumfield school the Jo and Bhaer started together. “Little Women” appealed to all ages, which is why it was and has continued to be so popular.
Louisa May Alcott was a big advocate for women’s rights and for speaking out against the dangers of drinking alcohol. After she had finished writing all of her books about the March family, Louisa took up an active roll in speaking about these things and standing up for them. She rallied for the rights of women to vote often, until she became ill with different chronic illnesses. Some thought her illnesses may have come from mercury poisoning, from her time of having typhoid fever, and a certain treatment for that. Others think that her illnesses were possibly from an autoimmune disorder. Louisa May Alcott passed away suddenly at the age of 55 from a stroke on March 6, 1888.
Louisa’s life is one example of someone who comes from a life of poverty, without privileges, and takes her life story to do something great with it. She worked hard and loved hard. She was very passionate about whatever she did, so that she could provide for her family. Because of her books, her life and her legacy will continue to live on for many many more years.