Bibliograph

Fruitlands, the Alcott family and their search for utopia, by Richard Francis

Type

Label

Fruitlands, the Alcott family and their search for utopia, by Richard Francis

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Illustrations

illustrationsplates

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Fruitlands

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

601347994

Responsibility statement

by Richard Francis

Sub title

the Alcott family and their search for utopia

Summary

This is a definitive account of Fruitlands, one of history's most unsuccessful, but most significant, utopian experiments. It was established in Massachusetts in 1843 by Bronson Alcott (whose ten year old daughter Louisa May, future author of Little Women, was among the members) and an Englishman called Charles Lane, under the watchful gaze of Emerson, Thoreau, and other New England intellectuals. Alcott and Lane developed their own version of the doctrine known as Transcendentalism, hoping to transform society and redeem the environment through a strict regime of veganism and celibacy. But physical suffering and emotional conflict, particularly between Lane and Alcott's wife, Abigail, made the community unsustainable. Drawing on the letters and diaries of those involved, the author explores the relationship between the complex philosophical beliefs held by Alcott, Lane, and their fellow idealists and their day to day lives. The result is a vivid and often very funny narrative of their travails, demonstrating the dilemmas and conflicts inherent to any utopian experiment and shedding light on a fascinating period of American history

Table Of Contents

Part I. The seed -- ch.1 . To reproduce perfect men -- ch. 2. Now I know what thought is -- ch. 3. A joy in a winding sheet -- ch. 4. Fabling of worlds -- ch. 5. Rembrandt's pot -- Part II. The fruit -- ch. 6. Hesitations at the plunge -- ch. 7. The mind yields, falters, and fails -- ch. 8. The little wicket gate -- ch. 9. The principle of inverse ratio -- ch. 10. Diffusive illitimable benevolence -- ch. 11. The new waves curl -- ch. 12. Utter subjection of the body -- ch. 13. The consociate family life -- ch. 14. Penniless pilgrimages -- ch. 15. Softly doth the sun descend -- ch. 16. Nectar in a sieve -- ch. 17. Cain and Abel -- ch. 18. Tumbledown Hall

Classification