This collection concentrates on the secondary works of Louisa May Alcott and looks at the idea that Alcott was as heavily influenced by her times as by her transcendentalist upbringing. Her work often subverts the conventional and includes the new, the practical, and the real. The sections include: (1) the gothic and the monstrous feminine, (2) the theme of useful work, (3) the themes of physical and mental health, and (4) Alcott’s philosophy concerning creativity and genius. Contributors emphasize Alcott’s belief in women’s agency and argue that Alcott can be considered as a brilliant bridge between the Transcendental idealism of the early nineteenth century and later reforms.

lgrsnf/Beyond Little Women.pdf

zlib/no-category/Lauren Hehmeyer/Beyond Little Women_117854909.pdf

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Switzerland, Switzerland

Acknowledgments
Chronology of Books
Contents
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction
Notes
References
Part I Re-defining the Gothic: The Sensational has a Modern Edge
2 The Sensational Possibilities of the Double-Proposal Marriage Plot in Alcott’s Moods
Notes
References
3 Reading the Monstrous Feminine in the Works of Louisa May Alcott
Introduction
Skeletons in the Closet
The Witch in the Woods
Transgressive Women and the Demon Lover
Feminism and the Witch; or, the Hag in the Home
“Maid, Mother, Crone”
References
Part II Re-Defining Woman’s Identity Through Work
4 Louisa May Alcott’s Literary Activism: A Realist Reading of Hospital Sketches
Introduction
Feminist Altruism
“I Want Something to Do”
Burgeoning Literary Activism
“A Piece of Excellence”
No Laughing Matter but Infused with Humor
Upending Discrimination
References
5 “Louisa May Alcott’s Work: A Story of Experience and the Heroine’s Educational Journey to the Professions”
Christie’s Departure
Hepsey’s Story
Lucy’s Story
Helen’s Story
Rachel’s Story
Christie’s Philanthropic Ending
Conclusion
References
6 Louisa May Alcott’s Re-“Work”ing of Thoreau’s Walden
References
7 Circus, Gender, and Class in Under the Lilacs
Circus Reconsidered
Gender Rendered
Alcott Differs
Alcott’s “Freaking”?
The Abused Apprentice Tale
The Abused Apprentice Tale: Urtext
The Abused Apprentice Tale: Alcott’s Challenge
Conclusion
Notes
References
Part III Re-defining Health and Strength
8 “Health Should Come First”: Alcott’s Model of Hygienic Female Development in Eight Cousins
Hygienic Health in the Late Nineteenth Century
The Nurse with the Bottle: Louisa May Alcott and Hygiene
“My Hygienic Model”: Eight Cousins as Hygienic Health Guide
Hygienic Health for Rose
Hygiene as Path to Feminine Agency
Maturing Through Health Education
Conclusion
Notes
References
9 “Cozy Corners” and “Pebbly Beaches”: Resolving Emotional Distress Through Nature Connectedness in Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, and Jack and Jill
Introduction
Ecotherapy and Health
Healing Trauma
The “Wrong” Treatment
Bringing the Outdoors In
Gardens and Gardening
Unstructured Outdoor Play and Activity
Cozy Corners
Pebbly Beaches
Conclusion
References
10 “A Sweeter Poem Than Any They Could Write”: Female Mental Resilience and Genre Limitations in “A Whisper in the Dark” and A Modern Mephistopheles
References
Part IV Re-defining Creativity: A Challenge to Emersonian Ideas
11 Women in Search of the Sublime: Louisa May Alcott and May Alcott Nieriker
The Inheritors
The Beautiful, the Picturesque, and the Sublime
Women and the Mountain Ascent
Sensitivity to the Sublime
Louisa May Alcott on Mt. Washington
May Alcott Nieriker on Mt. St. Bernard (8–10 July 1870)
Conclusion
Notes
References
12 Hospital Sketches and Celebrity Authorship in the Civil War Era
Introduction: From Struggling Writer to Celebrity Author
Celebrity Theory and Celebrity Authorship in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
The Unexpected Splash of Hospital Sketches
Alcott and the Making of Mark Twain
Conclusion: Alcott, Twain, and Comparative Celebrity Studies
References
13 The Care and Feeding of Genius: Louisa May Alcott’s Jo’s Boys
Nineteenth-Century Ideas About Genius
Genius, Illness, and Madness
Little Women and Genius
Genius as Self-Sacrifice
May’s Influence
Encouragement and Genius in Jo’s Boys (1886)
Patronage
Ideal Androgyny—Sensitivity (Female) and Strength (Male)
Mentors
Writers, Time, and Publishers
Alcott as Genius
Notes
References
Index

2025-03-13