Margaret Fuller

Margaret Fuller – Life, Criticism & Legacy

Explore the life and legacy of Margaret Fuller (1810–1850)—American critic, journalist, transcendentalist, early feminist. Read her biography, major works, famous quotes and enduring influence.

Introduction

Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850) was a towering intellectual figure in 19th-century America: a critic, editor, journalist, and early advocate for women’s rights. She is remembered for her bold ideas, her role in the Transcendentalist movement, and her seminal work Woman in the Nineteenth Century, often regarded as one of the earliest full-length feminist manifestos in America.

Fuller’s life combined literary ambition, social reform, and tragic fate. Her voice challenged norms of her era, and her ideas continue to inspire modern debates on gender, identity, and intellectual independence.

Early Life and Family

Sarah Margaret Fuller was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts (now part of Cambridge) on May 23, 1810. Timothy Fuller, a lawyer and U.S. congressman, and Margaret Crane Fuller.

From a very young age, Fuller’s father provided her a rigorous home education. She was reading and writing by the age of three, and by her early years was learning Latin under his guidance.

Though she briefly attended girls’ schools (such as the Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies and a school in Groton), much of Fuller’s education was independent, involving wide reading, language study, and self-directed inquiry.

Fuller dropped the name “Sarah” by around age nine and preferred to be called “Margaret.”

Intellectual and Social Formation

Her intellectual milieu brought Fuller into contact with the rising transcendentalist and reformist circles in New England. Ralph Waldo Emerson and others who sought to expand American literature, philosophy, and social ideals beyond tradition.

She also launched “Conversations” (circa 1839) in Boston — gatherings in which women discussed literature, philosophy, and current ideas, compensating for the fact that women at the time had limited access to higher education.

By the early 1840s, Fuller had begun to write and publish critical essays and literary commentary, consolidating her reputation.

Career, Criticism & Major Works

Role in The Dial and Criticism

In 1840, Margaret Fuller became editor of The Dial, a transcendentalist journal, where she oversaw and contributed literary criticism.

She was known for erudite literary criticism, blending philosophical insight, moral vision, and a social conscience.

Work at the New-York Tribune

In 1844, Fuller left The Dial and joined Horace Greeley’s New-York Tribune as a literary critic and columnist. She became the first full-time book reviewer in American journalism — and one of the earliest women in that role.

During her tenure, she published over 250 columns under a byline (often using “*”). Her topics ranged beyond literature to include social and political issues — slavery, women’s status, moral reform.

Woman in the Nineteenth Century and Feminist Thought

Fuller’s landmark work, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845), made her a foundational figure in early American feminism.

Famous ideas from the book include:

• That women should have access to the same paths of education, employment, and public life as men.

• That marriage should be a contract of intellectual and spiritual equality, not a subservient arrangement.

• That gender is not a fixed barrier — she famously wrote that “men and women… are perpetually passing into one another.”

European Correspondence & Later Writings

In 1846, the Tribune sent Fuller to Europe as a foreign correspondent — making her one of America’s first female war correspondents.

She also met Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, an Italian patriot, and became romantically involved. They had a son, Angelo (nicknamed “Angelino”).

Death and Tragic End

In 1850, Fuller, Ossoli, and their child attempted to return to the United States aboard the ship Elizabeth. On July 19, 1850, the ship ran aground near Fire Island, New York, and sank. All three perished.

In hindsight, Fuller had sensed a looming crisis; letters from earlier in 1850 reflect her intuition of some turning point or closure.

Legacy, Influence & Reception

Margaret Fuller occupies a complex place in American intellectual and feminist history:

• Her Woman in the Nineteenth Century is often viewed as a pioneering feminist text, influencing later figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

• Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote that Fuller “possessed more influence on the thought of American women than any woman previous to her time.”

• She expanded the role of women in intellectual life: full-time journalism, literary criticism, foreign correspondence—areas previously closed to women.

• Yet Fuller’s reputation faded in the decades following her death. Her letters and works were edited (sometimes censored) by others who believed her importance would not endure.

• In the 20th and 21st centuries, scholars have reappraised her work, recognizing her as a key figure in American Romanticism, Transcendentalism, feminist thought, and cultural criticism.

• In 1995 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Her intellectual courage and boundary-crossing life continue to inspire those who see gender, intellect, and creativity as interlinked.

Personality, Strengths & Challenges

Fuller’s life and writings reveal a striking blend of qualities:

• Intellectual vigor and erudition: Her reading was broad and deep; she engaged literature, philosophy, politics, and art with confidence.

• Bold moral vision: She believed in reform — in women’s access to education, in abolition, in social responsibility.

• Restlessness and tension: Fuller often felt caught between roles — woman, intellectual, public figure — and expressed ambivalence in personal correspondence.

• Courage in public life: At a time when few women entered public commentary, she did so boldly, with sharply critical assessments of her contemporaries.

• Personal vulnerability: Fuller’s journals and letters reveal insecurity, the burden of expectation, and a sense of isolation sometimes accompanying her intellect.

• Tragic foresight: She often sensed that her life would face dramatic turns; her final writings suggest anticipation of “some crisis.”

Famous Quotes of Margaret Fuller

Here are some enduring quotes that capture her thought and voice:

“Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow.”

“What woman needs is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely, and unimpeded to unfold such powers as were given her when we left our common home.”

“In order that she may be able to give her hand with dignity, she must be able to stand alone.”

“It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods.”

“Next to invention is the power of interpreting invention; next to beauty the power of appreciating beauty. And of making others appreciate it.”

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it.”

“It should be remarked that, as the principle of liberty is better understood, and more nobly interpreted, a broader protest is made in behalf of women.”

These lines reflect her confidence in growth, equality, moral clarity, and the ethical duty to share one’s insight.

Lessons from Margaret Fuller

1. Pursue intellectual freedom
   Fuller’s life shows that one’s mind and integrity should not be confined by social expectations or roles.

2. Stand for equality in principle and practice
   Her advocacy for women’s education and social roles remains a reminder that structural change requires sustained moral argument.

3. Combine criticism with compassion
   Fuller’s work demonstrates that critique is more powerful when informed by empathy and moral conscience.

4. Embrace complexity of identity
   Fuller’s struggles to balance personal, intellectual, and social dimensions show that identities are not fixed but evolving.

5. Live with purpose, even amid uncertainty
   Her awareness of life’s fragility and drive to create meaning encourages us to act boldly even when outcomes are unknown.

Conclusion

Margaret Fuller was more than a 19th-century critic or feminist: she was a transformational thinker whose life, writings, and example challenged her society’s limits. Though her life ended in tragedy, her influence endures in the fields of literature, social reform, feminist theory, and intellectual history.

She teaches us that being true to one’s mind, insisting on moral integrity, and striving for equality are timeless imperatives. Her writings and ideas still invite us to nurture our intellect, deepen our purpose, and speak boldly for justice.