Analyzing the early publications of Louisa May Alcott

Doing what she does: Imagining a story.

Although born in Philadelphia in 1832, Louisa May Alcott grew up in Massachusetts around the areas of Boston and Concord. As a result of her father's position within the Bostonian society as an educator, Alcott considered an array of writers as personal acquaintances. Think about it for a second: if you borrowed books from Ralph Waldo Emerson on the reg, had Henry David Thoreau as a personal tutor (and visited his home at Walden Pond), and lived just down the street from Nathaniel Hawthorne, don't you think you'd be a little bit better at writing than you are now?

Exactly.

Louisa May Alcott is perhaps one of the better known female writers of the Civil War era because of her unique writing style that directly addressed the important issues of the time, such as, gender roles and race dynamics. Moreover, her writing invited the reader to become apart of the story by inviting them to examine the issues from the character's perspective. In a way, she took a leaf out of her father's book and learned how to be an educator to the people by telling a story.

Her father is perhaps one of the main reasons of her success. It is reported he was quite intent on stamping out her unique outlook on life (i.e., her individuality). Her writing, then, frequently included character's with a certain level of, shall we say, hard-headness as they struggled to remain true to their own nature.

 Like her character Jo March from Little Women, Alcott struggled at first to write the way she wanted or to write for the "popular" readings (that, obviously, may earn more money). Alcott wrote for several magazines during her time; so, for this blog, I wanted to know what the various magazines were like. Was she writing for Southern Living or was she writing pieces that could potentially be featured in today's Smithsonian? 

Alcott's first poem was published in this magazine.

1. Peterson's Magazine: 
   This is the magazine that first began to accept Alcott's work in 1852. Similarly to Jo March, we could imagine Alcott's excitement about becoming a printed author for the very first time. The magazine was known for its delicate articles that addressed women's roles in society. It also offered handy tips for homes (look to the right, they're knitting).
   
2. The Lady's Companion Magazine:
   This magazine also followed along the same guidelines for Peterson's, in that, it offered expert advice for women and whimsical poetry and short stories for entertainment. Alcott's writings became an instant hit with this magazine. More importantly, because the magazine was printed monthly, Alcott was given more opportunity to build up her resume.
   
3. The Atlantic Monthly:
   Getting in this magazine was today's equivalent of a football star playing in the Superbowl: it meant you had finally made it in the world.  Alcott's 1860 short story entitled "A Modern Cinderella" is what got her into the big game. Interestingly, the story served as a sort of prequel for her future March sister characters and story line. Although Jo March (who seemed to model more of Alcott herself) did not make an appearance in the work, her sister's attributes- meek, quiet, kind, dreamy- did. This was also the first time Alcott had a piece published her own name and not a pen name.The magazine loved her work so much that Alcott became a sort of "regular" for them.
   
   
   Her characters reflected the need to remain a sense a propriety and decorum, much like her early stories. Alcott wrote for magazines that would sell; she understood that before she could write the "heavy stuff" she had to earn her street cred amongst her peers and, better yet, the audience. Once she had established herself in the writing world, Alcott was able to expand upon her writings and emphasize social issues that concerned her. Through it all, though, Alcott remained true to her own personality by writing pieces that interested her; things that made people stop, think, and wonder.