“It is simple and true, for we really lived most of it, and if it succeeds, that will be the reason of it.”- Louisa May Alcott
It is no secret Louisa May Alcott used herself and her family, particularly her sisters, as the inspiration for the characters of her most famous and influential novel, Little Women, and that many of the events of the novel are pulled directly from their real lives.
Despite this fact, however, not much is known about the real little women, who they were, and what happened to them. While plenty has been written about our beloved Louisa May and her fictional counterpart Jo, it’s time to meet the other Alcotts.
Meg- Anna Bronson Alcott
Like Meg in the novel, Anna was the oldest of the Alcott sisters. She and Louisa were particularly close and shared a love of performing, starting the Concord Dramatic Union, also known as the Concord Players, together. Anna loved the theatre and longed “to shine before the world as a great actress or Prima Donna.”
It was through the Concord Players that Anna met John Bridge Pratt, who starred opposite her in the play, “The Loan of the Lover”. Although she came from a highly unconventional family, Anna adhered closely to traditional expectations of Victorian womanhood. She married John and the pair later had two sons, but John died only ten years into their marriage. After he passed, it was the income from Louisa’s books that helped sustain the little family and allowed Anna to purchase the former home of writer and family friend Henry David Thoreau.
Beth-Elizabeth Alcott
Like the ailing and angelic Beth, Elizabeth Alcott (referred to interchangeably as Beth, Betty, and Lizzie by her sisters) was quiet and shy, so much so that her father referred to her as “Little Tranquility.” Even the pages of Elizabeth’s own journal reveal few clues to her emotional state, making Little Women the clearest historical indicator of her character.
Elizabeth loved kittens, piano, and her family. She caught scarlet fever from a poor family her mother had been caring for, and while she initially recovered, she died two years later of a “wasting illness” likely contracted due to being immunocompromised from the scarlet fever. She was only 22 when she passed.
Amy- Abba May Alcott Nieriker
Abba, known to her family as May, was the youngest of the Alcott sisters and the inspiration for Amy. From a young age, May had an intense appreciation for beauty and loved to paint. She studied art in Boston before Louisa’s sales of Little Women allowed her to travel to Europe to further pursue her craft.
In 1877 the prestigious Paris Salon accepted her still life, Fruit and Bottle, May wrote to her family, “Who would have imagined such good fortune and so strong proof that [Louisa] does not monopolize the Alcott talent. Ha! Ha! Sister, this is the first feather plucked from your cap!” Just like Amy indeed!
May married a Swiss Banker and had a daughter named Lulu, but tragically died only two months after giving birth. Prior to her death, May had stipulated that should anything happen to her, her daughter be raised by Louisa, which signaled a close relationship despite their competitive spirit. Louisa agreed and took in Lulu, who was the inspiration for her final novel, Lu Sings, published in 1888.
Mr. March- Amos Bronson Alcott
Born of humble beginnings, Amos was the son of a flax farmer who taught himself to read and write by scribbling letters on the wood floor of his childhood home in charcoal. Through sheer willpower and a love of learning, he became a progressive leader in education, responsible for such radical ideas as recess (thanks Amos!)
He was also a prominent philosopher for the Transcendentalists, who believed that people were innately good, should rely on intuition over logic, and could get closer to God through spending time in nature. The Transcendentalist movement allowed Amos to make friends with and mentor figures such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson (who wrote in his journal that Amos was a genius.) He even founded an abolitionist-feminist-anarchist collective called Fruitlands, and while the collective was short-lived, Amos would impart those social justice principles onto his daughters in the years to come.
Marmee- Abigail May Alcott
Louisa’s mother Abigail May Alcott was born to a prominent Boston family that included the first state governor of Massachusetts and signer of the Declaration of Independence John Hancock, as well as Samuel Sewell who oversaw the Salem witch trials.
In her own right, she was a pioneering social worker and passionate about causes such as abolition, women’s rights, and temperance. She spent much of her time doing missionary work that benefitted Boston’s poor as well as running an employment agency that helped domestic servants find jobs.
Abigail was introduced to Amos through her brother and fell for his passion for social causes. Throughout their courtship, Amos expressed his love for her by letting her read passages he had written about her in his journal. They were married in 1830.
While the Alcott family was far from affluent, Abigail believed in her husband and his ideals even when the rest of the world did not, and their love for one another was the bedrock of their family. She adored her daughters and encouraged them all in their artistic pursuits, getting Louisa a fountain pen for her 14th birthday.
Without Abigail, we would have no little women at all!
