Annie Leibovitz – Advocating Powerful Women in her Art
December 11, 2016TheBoardlist’s Top 20 – Women Every Startup Should Fight to Have on Its Board
January 12, 2017Five Facts about the Great Author Behind Little Women
Louisa May Alcott, author of the iconic feminist novel Little Women would have been 184 years old when her birthday was celebrated with a Google Doodle on 29 November 2016. Little Women was one of the first popular novels that didn’t create a divide between males and females, and one of the first to portray women as complex, capable and ambitious. Here are five things about the author of the classical book that most people don’t know:
1. Louisa May Alcott began publishing her writing long before Little Women. She’d published short stories, poems, melodramas, and even thrillers, under the pen names Flora Fairfield and AM Barnard.
2. Alcott was strong-armed into writing the book even though she didn’t want to. She wasn’t particularly interested in writing a book for girls, as requested by her publisher. The only reason she agreed to write the book was to secure a publishing contract for her father Bronson Alcott.
3. Even though Alcott didn’t enjoy doing it, Little Women only took ten weeks to write. Alcott wrote in her journal that she did not like girls and did not enjoy ‘this sort of thing’. Despite the reservations that she voiced, the book was written in record speed and became an immediate success.
4. Little Women is Semi-Autobiographical. Much of the story was created by Alcott using childhood memories of her and her sisters’ lives. Jo is modeled on Alcott herself and gives voice to the author’s longing to be daring and to escape the antiquated gender-based restrictions.
5. Alcott refused to be swayed into writing in a stereotypical wedding. The novel was published in two parts, and while she was completing the second part fans were hoping that an announcement of a wedding between Jo and Laurie would form part of the story, but Alcott refused. Some suggested the reason is of a personal nature – Laurie’s character may have been based on Ladislas Wisniewski, a Polish musician with whom Alcott had a brief affair while in Paris in 1865. She crossed out any reference to him in her journal and wrote, ‘Couldn’t be’ in the margin. Others believe the reason was ideological. Alcott herself, who never got married, was a feminist, she believed it was wrong to assume that marriage is the ultimate goal of a woman’s life, and flat-out refused to oblige. In her journal Alcott wrote, ‘I won’t marry Jo to please anyone.’
10 Comments
One of my closest friends loves this book. I’ll have to show her this list!
Little Women is an inspiration to all women. The author, Louisa May Alcott stuck to her beliefs through thick and thin. The first half of the book is based on Louisa May Alcott’s own life. This article states facts about the author that a lot of people don’t know.
Little Women is one of my favorite novels. I like it very much.. Thank you for the writer.
Before she wrote Little Women she wrote Gothic pulp fiction under the nom de plume A.M. Barnard. She didn’t
advertise the writing as her own until AFTER Little Women became popular. Also, In 1862, she published Hospital Sketches,
which was a fictionalized account of her experiences as a wartime nurse.
One of my all time favorite authors! Before writing Little Women, she wrote Gothic pulp fiction under the nom de plume A.M. Barnard and she didn’t
advertise the writing as her own until AFTER Little Women became popular. I loved Hospital Sketches, which was a fictionalized account of her experiences as a wartime nurse.
What an interesting post. It is hard to believe such an amazing and inspirational story came from a woman being forced to write. I don’t work well under pressure. This just shows what an amazing author she really was.
Little Women is a very inspirational novel, and so is the author, Louisa May Alcott. She’s one of my favorite authors.
One of my favorite books from all times. Little Women is great.
Absolutely fascinating, I had no idea.
Really amazing also my favorite list on the top position so i really appreciate it.