Hospital Sketches is a fictionalized record of Louisa May Alcott’s own career as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War. Thus, its heroine, Tribulation Periwinkle, is no other than Alcott herself behind the veil of a fictional character. The story begins accordingly when the protagonist takes a decisive step outside her conventional life by declining all the social positions, which gender roles, at the time, had suffered her to occupy. She refuses marriage, declines teaching, opposes writing, and only settles on the bold career of a field nurse.
This meaningful opening sets the tone of the work, and gives Tribulation the characteristics of a new woman and a feminist character, who would let nothing get in the way of her ambitions. Frustrated with the endless barriers set by a patriarchal society, she finally decides to set sail into the big wide world, and create opportunities where she finds none. So far, these aspects paint her character in the colors of an independent and strong woman very similar to Alcott’s other fierce heroine, namely Jo March, the protagonist of Little Women.
The road towards independence, however, is depicted as neither easy nor pleasant. Tribulation exchanges the comfort of her home with the coarseness of an unfamiliar and harsh field hospital. The journey itself is a challenge for a young unmarried woman in the midst of an unprejudiced patriarchal society. This part of the narrative throws the light upon two very important key points in the plot. The first takes the form of a message addressed to the women of the time. Determination and hard-work are the characteristics which Alcott wanted her female readers to adopt just like Tribulation had done, for only through perseverance in the face of the most difficult situations would they finally reach the state of independence which they had so long desired. The second communicates the fact that the emancipation of women is not sought as a luxury, but as a means to prove that women were as capable as their male counterparts.
By and large, Alcott is considered as one of the most outspoken feminists in recorded history. Her protagonists are often strong women, who would go against anything in order to reach their goals and live up to their potential. Inspired from Alcott herself, Tribulation is no different. Thus, the creator is but a replica of her creations; namely a strong, determined, and independent woman.
