Transcendental Wild Oats
Encyclopedia
Transcendental Wild Oats: A Chapter from an Unwritten Romance is a prose satire
written by Louisa May Alcott
, about her family's involvement with the Transcendentalist
community Fruitlands
in the early 1840s. The work was first published in a New York newspaper in 1873, and reprinted in 1874, 1876, and 1915 and after.
In her account, Alcott provides the real people involved with thin pseudonymous disguises. Her father Amos Bronson Alcott
is "Abel Lamb," while his partner and community co-founder Charles Lane
is "Timon Lion;" Abigail May Alcott
, Louisa's mother and Bronson's wife, is "Sister Hope." Alcott depicts her father as dominated by his more forceful partner, and both men as feckless and impractical dreamers. The men of the community spend their time in pointless debates while Sister Hope works from dawn to dusk to maintain their existence.
A crisis arises at harvest time, when the grain crop is threatened by an approaching storm. In Alcott's words, "About the time the grain was ready to house, some call of the Oversoul
wafted all the men away." Sister Hope organizes the only available help, three little girls and a boy, and manages to save the crop.
The little community collapses as soon as the weather turns cold, when it becomes clear that their provisions are too meager to last the coming winter. Timon Lion and his son abscond to join the Shakers
— though Timon is unhappy to learn that life among them is "all work and no play." Abel is crushed by the failure of the enterprise; after days of despair he begins to eat again only when he realizes that his family needs him. Sister Hope finds a way for them to subsist and persevere.
Alcott's view of male arrogance and female exploitation in this piece is paralleled in her novel Work
, published in the same year as "Transcendental Wild Oats."
"Transcendental Wild Oats" has been reprinted in several modern editions.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
written by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
, about her family's involvement with the Transcendentalist
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian...
community Fruitlands
Fruitlands (transcendental center)
Fruitlands was a Utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s, based on Transcendentalist principles...
in the early 1840s. The work was first published in a New York newspaper in 1873, and reprinted in 1874, 1876, and 1915 and after.
In her account, Alcott provides the real people involved with thin pseudonymous disguises. Her father Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a...
is "Abel Lamb," while his partner and community co-founder Charles Lane
Charles Lane (transcendentalist)
Charles Lane was an English-American transcendentalist, abolitionist, and early voluntaryist. Along with Amos Bronson Alcott, he was one of the main founders of Fruitlands.-Fruitlands:...
is "Timon Lion;" Abigail May Alcott
Abby May
Abigail "Abby" Alcott was the wife of Transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott and mother of four daughters, including Civil War novelist Louisa May Alcott...
, Louisa's mother and Bronson's wife, is "Sister Hope." Alcott depicts her father as dominated by his more forceful partner, and both men as feckless and impractical dreamers. The men of the community spend their time in pointless debates while Sister Hope works from dawn to dusk to maintain their existence.
A crisis arises at harvest time, when the grain crop is threatened by an approaching storm. In Alcott's words, "About the time the grain was ready to house, some call of the Oversoul
Over-soul
“The Oversoul” is an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, first published in 1841. The broad subject of the essay, considered one of Emerson's best, is the human soul...
wafted all the men away." Sister Hope organizes the only available help, three little girls and a boy, and manages to save the crop.
The little community collapses as soon as the weather turns cold, when it becomes clear that their provisions are too meager to last the coming winter. Timon Lion and his son abscond to join the Shakers
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
— though Timon is unhappy to learn that life among them is "all work and no play." Abel is crushed by the failure of the enterprise; after days of despair he begins to eat again only when he realizes that his family needs him. Sister Hope finds a way for them to subsist and persevere.
Alcott's view of male arrogance and female exploitation in this piece is paralleled in her novel Work
Work: A Story of Experience
Work: A Story of Experience, first published in 1873, is a semi-autobiographical novel by Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, set in the times before and after the American Civil War....
, published in the same year as "Transcendental Wild Oats."
"Transcendental Wild Oats" has been reprinted in several modern editions.