Луиза Мэй Олкотт: жизнь и творчество

Louisa May Alcott Biography and life's work Done by: Kutbiddinov Timur

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 — March 6, 1888) was an American writer who became famous for the novel "Little Women" published in 1868, which was based on memories of her growing up in the company of three sisters. The future writer was born in a friendly poor family.

Louisa May Alcott was the second of four daughters. When the girl was two years old, the family moved to Boston, after several failures with school, the Olcotts moved to Concord, where they joined the utopian settlement "Fruitlands". Louise and her three sisters (Anna, Elizabeth and May) received their education at home under the guidance of their father, and her circle of friends had a great influence on her. The financial situation of the family has always been difficult, and from an early youth, Louise made attempts to find a living: she was a seamstress, a maid, a companion, and then a teacher. All this experience later became a source of material for her work. At the age of 22, Louise wrote her first book, Fables of Flowers.

During the Civil War, she served as a nurse at a military hospital in Georgetown. The impressions of the war years were reflected in the "Hospital Essays" published in 1863, which attracted considerable interest in their author. The positive evaluation of this work by critics convinced Olcott that success awaits her on the path of depicting real life rather than in describing flights of fancy. And she was right – true fame came to her in 1868, when the first part of the story "Little Women" was published, telling about the growing up of four daughters of the March family: Meg, Joe, Beth and Amy. Meg's prototype was her older sister Anna, she expressed herself in the image of Joe, and the images of Beth and Amy were based on her younger sisters Elizabeth and May, respectively. Unlike Jo March, her literary incarnation, Louisa May Alcott has never been married. The writer found herself in the center of public attention, and the proceeds from the sale of this and the following books allowed her to ensure the material well-being of her parents and devote herself entirely to literary creativity. The success of the book prompted the writer to compose several novels related to this work.

Olcott later became an active campaigner for women's rights and was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts. The last years of Olcott's life were overshadowed by a painful illness. The death of her mother, and a few years later of her father, with whom Louise had a particularly good relationship, was a heavy blow for her. Despite her declining health, Olcott continued to write until her death. She died in Boston on March 6, 1888 from the effects of prolonged mercury poisoning (due to typhoid fever, she took calomel for a long time), two days after her father's death and is buried in Concord.