Eight Cousins - Louisa May Alcott - Classic Literature Eight Cousins
Louisa May Alcott wrote "Eight Cousins". Rose Campbell is a sickly and despondent thirteen year old girl. She is grieving the recent death of her parents and is lost and alone.
She is sent to "The Aunt Hill" so named because it is the home of her six aunts. They fuss and fret over her, dress her with corsets and see her "vaporishness" as totally normal. She is suddenly surrounded by her seven cousins, all boys.
They are rowdy, boisterous, and very frightening to the sheltered Rose. Secretly, she is envious of them. They get to run and play, climb trees and do all sorts of things, while she is confined to the parlor and corsets and vast petticoats.
Along with the cousins comes her guardian, Uncle Alec. He is a doctor and is loud and rambunctious himself. He sees the condition Rose is in and immediately prescribes changes. To the horror of the Aunts (and Rose), he forbids her from wearing corsets. He makes her go outside and play with her cousins. He demands that she eat decent and heatly meals, rather than picking away like a little bird at small morsels.
Amazingly, the prescription works, Rose begins to bloom under his care and the fun she has with her cousins. She changes from a frail and sickly girl into a healthy, warm and caring young woman, complete with rosy cheeks. She gains confidence in her self and her own abilities.
