Little Women and Jo’s Boys serve as a useful comparison of Louisa May Alcott’s early and later views on the nature of genius. Her classic book Little Women (1868–9) considers genius through the career ambitions of characters who choose to limit or end those ambitions, reflecting Alcott’s initial negative ideas. Eventually, her own life and career experiences refined Alcott’s views on genius and human fulfillment, making her more optimistic. Her last major work, Jo’s Boys (1886), provides a template for the encouragement of the would-be artist. Alcott demonstrates that the artist needs a patron, a balance of male–female characteristics (ideal androgyny), a mentor, and time. Jo’s Boys makes plain Alcott’s growing belief that genius can mature from talent and need not spring wholly formed from prodigy.