Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was an American writer and educational thinker from the nineteenth century. Movements such as German and British Romanticism and American Transcendentalism heavily influenced her work. Alcott was a prolific writer with over 30 novels, short stories, poetry collections, and novellas published. Considering her long-standing impact on American literature, her work, representing American feminism, is of primary importance. Alcott lived when a woman’s contribution to literature was undervalued at best and disregarded at worst. Her work stressed the importance of education for all, particularly women and children, and focused on the implications of love and marriage. Her characters and heroines were representative of these ideals. Their lives reflected new ideals on marriage and the power of education and learning for women and girls. In this chapter, we chronicle the influences, contributions, and insights of Louisa May Alcott.