Ex Post Facto

Margaret Fuller’s “The Great Lawsuit” [1843], in The American Transcendentalists: Essential Writings, ed. Lawrence Buell (New York: Modern Library, 2006), 301-20.

As a woman who died fairly young, Margaret Fuller never quite achieved the same level of celebrity reached by her friend and collaborator Ralph Waldo Emerson, but she nevertheless firmly established herself as an American public intellectual. For several years, she earned money by leading a series of “conversations” for well-off women in Boston. As a writer, she completed notable translations of German texts, reported on the 1848 revolutions from Europe, and published Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845), and emphatic an erudite defense of women’s equality with men. Not only did she influence her fellow Transcendentalists (and other sympathetic writers), but she also helped lay the intellectual groundwork for the women’s rights movement that would soon emerge out of the antislavery movement.

It is fitting that Fuller began “The Great Lawsuit” with a discussion of the principle of liberty, because the liberation of women (and humanity in general) became her main theme. Although she recognized the limits of freedom in the United States, she declared: “still, it is not in vain, that the verbal statement has been made, ‘All men are born free and equal.’” “That, which has once been clearly conceived in the intelligence,” she hopefully asserted,” “must be acted out” (303).

Fuller’s argument reflected both Unitarian-style “self-culture” and Transcendentalist “self-dependence.” She postulated growth as a basic human need: “[H]uman beings are not so constituted, that they can live without expansion; and if they do not get it one way, must another, or perish” (306). Not only did male-dominated society impede this necessary growth in women, but it discouraged self-reliance: “This self-dependence, which was honored in me, is deprecated as a fault in most women. They are taught to learn their rule from without, not to unfold it from within” (309). Thus Fuller applied a basic Transcendental principle to help her assess the position of women in her society.

Although Fuller seemed prepared to concede that some real differences separated men from women, she denied that these differences were fundamental or definitive: “There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman” (319). Therefore, she drew her firm conclusion that “woman [should] lay aside all thought . . . of being taught and led by men” (320).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 10:31 am and is filed under American Thought. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

11 Responses to “Margaret Fuller’s “Great Lawsuit””

Erica Spurgeon Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Margaret Fuller in my opinion was a genius and it’s a shame that she could not have lived to be an old women and publish more works. Many of my main beliefs about feminism and the women’s movement stem from what Fuller said and believed. She noted the many set backs women endured and it would be interesting to see what she would say about the “progress” women have made today. She did in fact know that there were differences between men and women and I think that we can all agree that there are. However, she was right to believe that these differences should not set women back even though they continue too. One thing that I find amazing is the fact that she influenced Emerson. It just seems a shame that Emerson works are more noted for being more focused on men and how they should obey themselves and be free from the rest of mankind, instead of focusing more on women and their repression.
Eric Bansemar Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Although Margaret Fuller was one of the originators of American feminism, it would be difficult to consider her a radical, even in her own time, as much of what she wrote was an extenstion of previously established (unitarian and transcendentalist) ideas. Fuller did not, like modern feminists, spend much time arguing for specific rights or roles, and instead argued for the basic freedom for women to make themselves whatever they wanted to be.
Meghan Winter Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
It’s easy for me to see that the feminists of the early 1900s got some of their inspiration from Margaret Fuller and the women in her discussion circle. However, I think that Fuller’s writings are more Transcendental than feminist. Only Fuller applied these Transcendental ideas to woman as well as men. I think Fuller would have been even more influencial if she had been as radical in her actions as in her writings.
Adam Reidinger Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
In “The Great Lawsuit” by Margaret Fuller, there is a part in which Fuller talks briefly about how she is viewed by some of her friends of the opposite sex. She states that one intimate friend of hers had said that she deserved to be a man, and yet another friend had called her “a manly woman”, which was meant to be a compliment. If a man were to attempt to use that as a compliment in this day and age I can’t help but think it would be found to be most likely offensive. Fuller also goes on to say that “It is well known that of every strong woman they say she has a masculine mind” (pg. 309 in American Transcendentalists). It goes to show that even if a man respected or admired a woman during this time that they did not see that person as a woman, they placed her above her sex or tried to point out qualities in the woman that were considered “manly” to justify their respect or admiration.
Chase Hedrick Says:
October 18th, 2007 at 9:23 am
I think Margaret Fuller’s thoughts and writings were at the time, quite radical. Considering “The Great Lawsuit” is said to be the first feminist manifesto in the United States, I cannot doubt that many of her views were quite new and even foreign to a large percent of society. What I admire most about Margaret’s feminism is the transcendental perspective she bases it in. Fuller certainly wanted change, but it seems to me that she wanted it accomplished culturally. She never called out for specific roles women should play in a more equal society, but that women should be given equal opportunity to achieve their goals, whatever those may be. Though her actions may not be considered radical, her thoughts and views on the human soul, male or female, certainly was.
Anders Thompson Says:
October 18th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Fuller’s early feminism is an important step on the path to the feminism of the twentieth century which brought about actual societal and structural change. Her advocacy of female liberation did not ask for immediate equality on all levels with men; rather, it focused on the personal growth of women and the loosening of restraint. By not demanding a radical change in the power structure of the United States she helped foster a movement which in time could bring about measurable progress. As Adam pointed out, Fuller and society continued to use and view masculinity as the superior quality in regards to leadership, thought and ideals. By not creating an ideal of femininity which would threaten the male dominated power structure, Fuller established the beginnings of a school of thought not vehemently opposed by existing institutions.
Jan Cheney Says:
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:26 am
Margaret Fuller was a wonderful proponent for women’s rights and she seemed to go about it in a very civilized manner. She was able to get her ideas across without being too radical in her approach. Fuller’s ability to spread the message of equality without completely rejecting men made her commentaries more compelling. I believe,women of today owe a debt of gratitude to Margaret Fuller and her female counterparts for paving the way for the rights all women enjoy today.
Josh Kasper Says:
October 24th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Margaret Fuller was a very influential transcendental writer than feminist. Fuller points out very key feminine characteristics about the inequality of men and women, but she realized that she could not change things like other radical people. I agree with Chase that Fuller wanted to achieve her ideas culturally. Fuller seemed like if changed happen in favor of women that it would be good, but wasn’t expecting it to happen right away. Fuller was very revolutionary in later women’s rights movements.
william Schwartz Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I’m very impressed with Margaret Fuller for translating books, and especially for writing articles for woman rights. This was a big step for woman, because in the 1800 the only work a woman did was housework. I believe that her work was very important to give woman rights, and freedom. I believe that woman are still being discriminate against today, and we need more Margaret Fullers to stop this problem.
Adam Klug Says:
October 27th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I personally do not see Fuller as a radical. The writings that she produced did have a small hint of wanting change and reform, but she was basically branching off and combining it with her transcendental views at the same time. So calling Fuller a radical maybe taking it a little far, but I can see how people will think that of her.
Chris Gould Says:
October 29th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I really enjoyed reading and learning about Fuller. I have heard of her before but I never really read anything of hers. So this was interesting for me to learn about how she wrote and her thoughts on feminism. I would not agree with Adam though, I think she was a radical because not only did she want change and reform and also write about her transcendental views she was a women doing this. I think that fact makes her a bit of a radical.

Print This Post

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Margaret Fuller’s “Great Lawsuit”

11 Responses to “Margaret Fuller’s “Great Lawsuit””

Leave a Reply