Woman in the Nineteenth Century

Woman in the Nineteenth Century

Author's Introduction

A real feminist of America, Sarah Margaret Fuller, holds a special status in the history of America's literature. With multifaceted personality and emancipated intellect, she made an everlasting impression worldwide. Remembered as woman rights' activist, writer, teacher and journalist, she was undoubtedly, a woman of substance. She eventually, transformed herself into a political activist who, in her short life span of forty years, gave a new delineation to the womanhood in America and the outside world. She was greatly respected and admired by her contemporary literary friends, such as Emerson, Greeley, Mazzini and Carlyle.

The book under review is one of the remarkable works by Fuller, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century”. This book is a true manifestation of the author's personal emotions, audacity and self-determination. She highly esteemed and favored women's freedom and their equality against men which earned her a fame and glory locally as well as internationally.

Among her achievements, she was the first woman editor of America's most renowned newspaper. With this, research was mainly considered being the manly field in those days, but Fuller was again the first woman to step in Harvard with the purpose of research. Her intellect and daring attitude added another feather in her cap when she began to edit publication in the “Dial”, which was the Transcendentalist journal. Margaret Fuller will remain inspiring and motivational because her literary work is eternal.

Fundamentals

Born on 23rd May, 1810, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Margaret Fuller was a daughter of Timothy Fuller. As a child, she received the maximum attention and love of her father. Under her father's guidance and early teachings, she picked the idea of aim-oriented life. He taught Fuller basic subjects along with Latin by the age of five. From very early age, Fuller started reading. Her father encouraged her to read study books, but she also quenched her thirst by reading a variety of books, such as a political philosophy, English and European literature, plays, historical books and travelogues.

She learned very much in conversations with her father who emphasized on logical reasoning skills ( Mehren, 1997). She developed a great knowledge on different subjects and the prevailing issues those days. She built confidence to speak with eloquence and required vocabulary (Myerson, 1998). . Her father wanted to make her daughter an independent and a role model woman in the American society. The early teachings created moral values in Fuller's personality and gave her a broader view of life.

Later in her life, she also studied French and German. She developed a friendship with some of the Harvard students who were vigorous participants in the intellectual and literary activities of the college. The quest of knowledge took Fuller to those friends like Fredrick Henry Hedge and Freeman Clarke. In 1833, Fuller's family moved to Groton where she was responsible for teaching her siblings. With this, she invited some children from neighborhood to join the home-based class and started to ...