Fruitlands : The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia

by Richard Francis

• ISBN13: 9780300177909
• ISBN10: 0300177909
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2011-10-25
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Fruitlands was one of history's most unsuccessful û but most significant û utopian experiments. It was established in Massachusetts in 1843 by Bronson Alcott (whose daughter Louisa May, future author of Little Women, was among the members) and an Englishman called Charles Lane. They believed people could transform society by following a strict regime of veganism and celibacy, looking back towards the Garden of Eden while anticipating our present preoccupations with ecology and environ mental ism. But physical suffering and emotional conflict - ultimately developing into a battle between Lane and Abigail Alcott for possession of her husband - brought the experiment to an untimely end.

Author Biography

Richard Francis has taught at universities on both sides of the Atlantic and has previously written on Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, and on the Salem witch trials. He is also a novelist.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
The Seed
To Reproduce Perfect Men	p. 15
Now I Know What Thought Is	p. 32
A Joy in a Winding Sheet	p. 46
Fabling of Worlds	p. 69
Rembrandt's Pot	p. 84
The Fruit
Hesitations at the Plunge	p. 97
The Mind Yields, Falters, and Fails	p. 107
The Little Wicket Gate	p. 117
The Principle of Inverse Ratio	p. 137
Diffusive Illimitable Benevolence	p. 155
The New Waves Curl	p. 173
Utter Subjection of the Body	p. 185
The Consociate Family Life	p. 199
Penniless Pilgrimages	p. 211
Softly Doth the Sun Descend	p. 227
Nectar in a Sieve	p. 240
Cain and Abel	p. 253
Tumbledown Hall	p. 269
Conclusion	p. 278
Notes	p. 284
Sources	p. 303
Index	p. 311
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