Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt (March 16, 1831 – July 13, 1893) was the elder sister of American novelist Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of Little Women (1868), her sister's classic, semi-autobiographical novel. The eldest of the four Alcott sisters (being herself, Louisa, Beth, and May), Anna is remembered as a dutiful, self-sacrificing and loving sister, wife and mother who conformed to the mold of Victorian wo...
more
Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt (March 16, 1831 – July 13, 1893) was the elder sister of American novelist Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of Little Women (1868), her sister's classic, semi-autobiographical novel. The eldest of the four Alcott sisters (being herself, Louisa, Beth, and May), Anna is remembered as a dutiful, self-sacrificing and loving sister, wife and mother who conformed to the mold of Victorian womanhood more easily than did her sisters. To her family members, she served as an emotional shelter.
Anna Bronson Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on March 16, 1831. She was homeschooled by her parents, Amos Bronson Alcott and Abby May, and excelled in her studies.
From an early age, Anna was "stage-struck" and secretly longed "to shine before the world as a great actress or prima donna." In her youth she and her sister Louisa created romantic melodramas which they performed for friends.
In 1858, the year they moved to Orchard House...
less
