Inscriptions of Identity: May Alcott as Artist, Woman, and Myth

Abstract

May Alcott's identity as an artist is overshadowed by, and often confused with, that of the author Louisa May Alcott. Born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1840, Abbie May Alcott [later Nieriker], was the youngest of the Alcott sisters. Her capricious nature and artistic aspirations served as the inspiration for the character of Amy, the “little Raphael” of the March family, in Louisa's first popular novel,Little Women. Amy's desire to “go to Rome, and do fine pictures, and be the best artist in the whole world” (Alcott, quoted in Bedell, 248) was the embodiment of May Alcott's own fervent childhood dream of becoming a successful artist.