Louisa May Alcott and Miles Franklin lived in different countries and different generations, yet their lives reveal striking similarities. Both overcame financial hardship, family responsibilities and social expectations to become influential writers whose works continue to resonate today. This course explores their lives, their semi-autobiographical novels and the cultural worlds that shaped them, while considering how each navigated questions of independence, ambition and personal fulfilment. Discover what these two pioneering women shared and what set them apart. Suitable for anyone interested in literature, history and women's lives.
Face to face
Louisa May Alcott
- Little Women
- Good Wives
- Little Men
- Jo’s Boys
- The Inheritance
- Moods
- An Old Fashioned Girl
- Work
- Eight Cousins
- Rose in Bloom
- Under the Lilacs
- Jack and Jill
- A Marble Woman
- Behind a Mask
- A Long Fatal Love Chase
Miles Franklin
- My Brilliant Career
- Some Everyday Folk and Dawn
- Old Blastus of Bandicoot
- Bring the Monkey
- All That Swagger
- Pioneers on Parade
- My Career Goes Bung
- The Thorny Rose
- On Dearborn Street
- Up the Country
- Ten Creeks Run
- Back to Bool Bool
- Prelude to Waking
- Cockatoos
- Gentleman at Gyang Gyang
Comparing the lives of Alcott and Franklin according to:
- Country
- Time period
- Parents
- Siblings
- Friends and influences
- Education
- Occupation
- Ambitions
- Love life
- Writing
- Fame
- Legacy: definitions of success
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Describe the life stories of Alcott and Franklin
- Discuss their similarities and differences, personally and culturally
- Assess their achievements as writers and their ongoing significance
