Editing Louisa May Alcott (section)

=== Fruitlands and Hillside ===
{{Main|Fruitlands (transcendental center)}}
In 1843 Bronson and Lane established [[Fruitlands (transcendental center)|Fruitlands]], a [[utopia]]n community,<ref>{{harvnb|Cheever|2011|p=77}}; {{harvnb|Alcott|1988|p=xiv–xv}}</ref> in [[Harvard, Massachusetts]], where the family were to live.<ref>{{harvnb|Cheever|2011|p=77}}; {{harvnb|Alcott|1988|p=xiv–xv}}</ref> Louisa later described these early years in a newspaper sketch titled "Transcendental Wild Oats", reprinted in ''Silver Pitchers'' (1876), which relates the family's experiment in "plain living and high thinking" at Fruitlands.{{sfn|Richardson|1911|p=529}} There, Louisa enjoyed running outdoors and found happiness in writing poetry about her family, [[Elf|elves]], and spirits. She later reflected with distaste on the amount of work she had to do outside of her lessons.<ref>{{Harvnb|Matteson|2007|p=130-131}}; {{Harvnb|Delamar|1990|pages=22–23}}</ref> She also enjoyed playing with Lane's son William and often put on fairy-tale plays or performances of [[Charles Dickens]]'s stories.{{sfn|Delamar|1990|p=18}} She read works by Dickens, [[Plutarch]], [[Lord Byron]], [[Maria Edgeworth]], and [[Oliver Goldsmith]].{{Sfn|Elbert|1987|p=65}}

During the demise of Fruitlands, the Alcotts discussed whether or not the family should separate. Louisa recorded this in her journal and expressed her unhappiness should they separate.<ref>{{harvnb|Reisen|2009|pp=81–82}}; {{harvnb|Meigs|1968|pp=54–56}}</ref> After the collapse of Fruitlands in early 1844, the family rented in nearby [[Still River, Massachusetts|Still River]],{{Sfn|Reisen|2009|p=87}} where Louisa attended public school and wrote and directed plays that her sisters and friends performed.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|p=87}}; {{harvnb|Meigs|1968|p=57}}</ref>

In April 1845 the family returned to Concord, where they bought a home they called [[The Wayside|Hillside]] with money Abigail inherited from her father.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=25}}; {{harvnb|Saxton|1995|p=158}}</ref> Here, Louisa and her sister Anna attended a school run by John Hosmer after a period of home education.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|pp=25, 29}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|p=92}}; {{harvnb|Meigs|1968|pp=70–71}}</ref> The family again lived near the Emersons, and Louisa was granted open access to the Emerson library, where she read Carlyle, [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], and Goethe.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=27}}; {{harvnb|Meigs|1968|p=67–68}}; {{Harvnb|Moses|1909|p=43}}</ref> In the summer of 1848 sixteen-year-old Louisa opened a school of twenty students in a barn near Hillside. Her students consisted of the Emerson, Channing, and Alcott children.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=31}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|p=103-105}}; {{harvnb|Stern|2000|p=32}}</ref>

The two oldest Alcott girls continued acting in plays written by Louisa. While Anna preferred portraying calm characters, Louisa preferred the roles of villains, knights, and sorcerers. These plays later inspired ''Comic Tragedies'' (1893).{{sfn|Delamar|1990|p=31}} The family struggled without income beyond the girls' sewing and teaching. Eventually, some friends arranged a job for Abigail{{sfn|Cheever|2011|p=87}} and three years after moving into Hillside, the family moved to Boston. Hillside was sold to [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] in 1852.{{sfn|Ronsheim|1968}} Louisa described the three years she spent at Concord as a child as the "happiest of her life."<ref>{{harvnb|Alcott|1988|p=xiii}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|p=107}}</ref>