"Families Are the Most Beautiful Things": The Myths and Facts of Louisa Alcott's March Family in Little Women

Abstract

"Families Are the Most Beautiful Things": The Myths and Facts of Louisa Alcott's March Family 1n Little Women by Daniel Shealy In 1853, the Boston publisher, James T. Fields, advised the young Louisa May Alcott: "Stick to your teaching. ... You can't write" (Stern 70). Fifteen years later, Flelds's own advice would come back to haunt him as Louisa Alcott became one of the most successful authors of the 19th century. By exposing the Hfe of the "Pathetic Family" (Letters 7), the Marches, she had unroofed the universal home. Her attempt at a "girl's book" would astound her and her publishers and capture the Imagination of readers for years to come. Little did Fields realize that the dark-eyed, black-haired, young woman of twenty-one who had stood before him would, In a matter of years, produce one of the best-selling books of all time, an American classic that would last for generations. In September 1867, Louisa Alcott made the now-famous entry 1n her journal: "Niles, partner of Roberts, asked me to write a girl's book. Said I'd try" (Cheney 186). Although many people believe this was the beginning of Little Women, the book's genesis was many years earlier. As a means of providing money for her own "Pathetic Family," Alcott had been constantly churning out stories for all types of magazines since the m1d-l850s, writing topical, polite literature for periodicals Hke the Atlantic Monthly and blood-and-thunder sensational stories for the penny dreadfuls such as Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Despite the popular myth about the beginnings of the March family in 1867, the real story about Alcott's famous creation 1s far more fascinating. Actually, the first appearance of the four little women came 1n the January 26, 1856 edition of W.W. Clapp's Saturday Evening Gazette. A story entitled "The Sisters' Trial" told of one year 1n the Hfe of the governess Ella, the writer Nora, the actress Agnes, and the artist Amy. In twelve years, these four sisters would be transformed Into the March girls, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. However, the story "A Modern Cinderella," which appeared 1n the March 1860 Atlantic Monthly probably presented the true framework for the classic novel. Alcott confessed 1n her journal that she had started with her sister Anna for the heroine and John Bridge Pratt, Anna's future husband, as the hero. It soon became Impossible, however, for Alcott to expand her tale without Introducing two other Important characters: her sister May and herself. Since the story's plot was simple (the young hardware clerk wooing her sister), Alcott focused on developing characterization. She made certain one of the girls was an artist and the other a tomboy. Without a doubt, the artist Laura was an early version of Amy, based upon Alcott's younger, artistic sister May, and the eldest girl became the capable Meg, based upon Anna Alcott, Louisa's older sister. Dl, who was determined to "make herself one great blot" (Hospital Sketches 262), became, 1n almost every detail, Jo March. In these two early stories, Alcott created the basis for the Immortal March family by drawing upon her own family and their experiences. Certainly, one can now see that the origin of Little Women had preceded the 1867 journal entry by over a decade; however, these stories would not be the last ones to Incorporate elements of the later work. 65 In the same month that Thomas Niles first approached Alcott to write "a girl's book," she was also asked by Horace B. Fuller to assume the editorship of Merry's Museum, a popular periodical for children. Merry's Museum had been established 1n 1841 by Samuel Grlswold Goodrich ("Peter Parley") but had now fallen on hard times. Fuller Intended to revamp the old magazine and boost Hs sales. To do this, he sought the leadership of Louisa May Alcott. Alcott, of course, had already published two collections of fairy tales, was well known as "Nurse Tribulation Periwinkle" of Hospital Sketches, and had established a reputation as an excellent short story writer. Thus, September 1867 was a turning point 1n Alcott...