Gift Book for Young Ladies (1853)

AUTHOR: Alcott, William Andrus

SUMMARY (Ridvan Askin, edited Deborah Madsen)

Alcott promotes plain food and simple dress for health reasons and calls on (young) women to prevent and counteract any kind of cruelty against animals as a means to foster pacifism. He proposes that young women should lead by way of example: “Your conversation, your reading, your dress, your eating and drinking, even, are parts of your example. In truth, your whole life is example, for good or for evil. And is not only example in general, it is example in particular. It is example, to your brothers and sisters, as we have seen already. It is example also, to your parents” (108). Alcott repeatedly emphasizes the importance of female self-denial and self-sacrifice: “[I]t is not in the matter of self-indulgence at the table alone that she is loudly called, as a missionary, to self-denial and self-sacrifice; it is in regard to sleep, dress, and many other things” (298), and all this “for Christ's sake” (305).

The book barely touches on questions of diet and nutrition. Alcott does, however, promote plain food and simple dress for health reasons. In an interesting passage, he advises young women to discourage their (male) relatives, friends, and acquaintances from killing animals, whether flies, snakes, or fish, as a means to preempt cruelty in general and war in particular:

You have heard of the Roman Emperor, who, from the habit of sporting with the lives of flies, went on till he took a similar delight in sporting with the lives of men. But are there no fly-killers within the circle which Providence has assigned you? Or if no fly-killers—have you no bird or fish or snake-killers?
[...]
And whatever may be the apology, are not most of the animals around us, whether slain in one way or another—for food or for defence—are they not slain for sport? Where is the boy or young man to be found who hunts, entraps, fishes, &c, for any better reason—were the matter closely examined—than because it is an amusement to him? Where is there one who is not by these sports developing and cultivating the spirit of cruelty?
But need I tell a young woman of your sense and experience, that all this is war and murder in the bud? Need I say that without this and other small beginnings which I could name, neither war nor murder—in a few generations more—could be entailed upon the world? (272-273)

Alcott clearly proposes that the killing of animals is a precursor to the killing of humans and consequently, for Alcott, the inverse also holds, that kindness and tenderness towards animals is a precondition for pacifism.