Louisa May Alcott Research Paper

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1855, to Amos Bronson and Abba May Alcott. From an early age, Alcott loved to write, and her imagination fueled her “sensational” stories. But her life was not an easy one. She grew up in poverty, brought on by her father’s refusal to compromise on his views and settle down, and at age fifteen she vowed to end her family’s monetary struggles. As she said herself, “I will do something by and by… anything to help the family,” and as it turns out she was able to use her passion for writing to do just that. This was her motivation; it was the desire to help her family that drove her to cultivate her gifts and write the great works we know today.
Though her childhood was unorthodox to say the least,

Their first child, Anna, was born on March 16, 1831. Though many would find her plain and lovely, Anna was some what of a black sheep in her family. She was an ideal woman of that day. Dutiful, studious, and loving in temperament, she provided the emotional shelter through the family’s many storms. She made a wonderful wife to the good John Pratt, and a loving mother to her two boys John Sewall and Fredrick Pratt. A few years after Louisa Alcott was born, Abba Alcott had Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, or Lizzie. Lizzie was the quietest of the alcott sisters. She loved children and kittens, and she spent her time at home playing music or sewing. Unfortunately, Lizzie, like her alter ego Beth, contracted scarlet fever from an impoverished family she was caring for. Though she recovered, the illness weakened her, and she died two years later. May Alcott was the youngest of the Alcott sisters. She was blue-eyed with golden hair who loved beauty, elegance, and art. More so than the rest of the family, May was not well suited for poverty. Though she craved things she could not have, it would be wrong to call her a snob or insensitive. She was in fact a loving, talented child. In 1878, May married Ernest Nieriker, a successful Swiss banker, but in 1879, she died tragically after giving birth to her only child Louisa May Nieriker, of Lulu. May’s dying wish was that the child be sent to live with Louisa Alcott, so that her

She set off on her first trip to Europe in July 1865, working as a companion for a young invalid girl. When she returned she found that the family had run up debts while she was gone, so, with a new mindset, she set out to write her way out of this problem. It was around this time when she was approached by her publisher to write, “a story for girls.” Alcott never considered writing for children, let alone girls. She was the epitome of a tomboy, as she said herself in her journal, “Never liked girls or knew many, except my sisters; but our queer plays and experiences may prove interesting, though I doubt it.” Though she highly doubted the success of such a novel, she decided to write anyway, as an experiment. About two months later she emerged with the first twelve chapters