+ Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania, United States in November 29, 1832 and

raised by her parents, Amos and Abby, along with her other 3 sisters. Her parents were
transcendentalists, a philosophical movement that defends spirituality over logic and
accomplished through self-reflection and intuition.
+ As a result, her upbringing was heavily influenced by this philosophy not only by her
parents, but also Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson, founders of transcendentalism
with whom Alcott studied with.
+ As a child, she loved reading and writing. However, her family suffered from financial
difficulties, thus she had to switch to various schools and earn money from part-time
jobs such as teaching and washing laundry.
+ Furthermore, Alcott invested herself in writing to support herself emotionally and
financially. Her first poem was called “Sunlight”, published in a magazine, while her first
book was a collection of short stories was published in 1854.
+ Later in 1861, the Civil War started, a war fought between The Union and The
Confederacy due to the subject of slavery. In 1865 the war ended with The Union’s
victory and slavery was abolished. During the war, Alcott was working as a doctor at a
Union hospital, where she caught typhoid fever. Therefore, she took double roles as a
patient and a nurse. Her experiences had inspired her book “Hospital Sketches”.
+ Later, one of Alcott’s publishers asked her to write a novel about young women, which
led to “Little Women”, a novel that was inspired by her childhood life with her sisters
and published in 1868, which brought her great success.
+ In 1870, she moved to Europe with her sister May, where she took part in women’s
suffrage movement while publishing more works to promote women’s rights.
+ When her sister died, Alcott adopted her son. However, Alcott had never been married.
Her health also went worsening. Eventually, she died by age 56, 1888 due to stroke
which was attributable to mercury poisoning at her time as a nurse in the hospital during
war.

Her most famous novel, Little Women, talks about multiple themes such as the
importance of family strength, poverty, and individualism. It illustrates the struggles of
four sisters to overcome their flaws and setbacks (mainly poverty), to mature and grow
up and find their own place in society.

Since this book centers in the personalities and personal growths of each sister, I find ti
easier to relate to certain characters, especially Beth. For instance, both of us are
introverts who struggle wish some insecurities and public speaking, we both like helping
loved ones and we both are music lovers who play the piano.

I think this novel’s themes are universal and atemporal because it’s about personal
growth. It teaches us to discover our own path and principles, to never give up in life
despite certain adversities, always fight back and fight for what you believe in.