M. Fuller, The Great Lawsuit

Continuing my research on Margaret Fuller, I wanted to post about on is considered her greatest work. I did talk about it a little during my presentation.

Margret Fuller’s views and work is epitomized in The Great Lawsuit, which was later turned into a book called Woman in the Nineteenth Century. The piece was first published July 1843, in The Dial, IV, the leading Transcendentalist newspaper of the time. Recognized as probably Margaret’s greatest work towards feminism it is a complaint of women's rights in America. The lawsuit itself is against America and the statement, "All Men are created equal”, which suggests men’s continued oppression of women; she concluded the Men in the statement include both men and women. She suggests that much of our law and views are taken from traditional Europe. After stating her views she calls on women to take action:

“We would have every path laid open to woman as freely as to man. Were this done, and a slight temporary fermentation allowed to subside, we believe that the Divine would ascend into nature to a height unknown in the history of past ages, and nature, thus instructed, would regulate the spheres not only so as to avoid collision, but to bring forth ravishing harmony” (Fuller).

By having equality, she suggests that America would be able to reach a spiritual harmony. She also states that women need to be on an equal level with men in order to develop self-dependence. She refers to Christianity as an example, where women were just as divine as men. She then goes to argue that women need their intellectual and spiritual freedom. And also as a country it needs to be one to cause reform and change. In the end she also states that it is possible and encourages men and women to take it upon themselves to take action.

“The world at large is readier to let woman learn and manifest the capacities of her nature than it ever was before, and here is a less encumbered field, and freer air than anywhere else. And it ought to be so” (Fuller).

Now is the time to take action, she believes there is no better place in time but now to take action. According to her the world has actually been waiting for change.

In the piece she also criticizes the sanctity of marriage. She criticized most women's belief in marriage and deemed it compulsory, she realized it was often arranged for convenience and utility rather than for spiritual harmony; marriage should be a mutual union between two souls.

Of course her piece was not fully appreciated during her time and was met with criticism. She was recognized for her boldness and embodiment of ideals but she her beliefs were never taken seriously. During her time she was recognized more for the notion of challenging the social norms than recognized for her actual beliefs. The criticism of her work only comes to show the cultural and social norms that were prevalent in the 19th century.

Fuller, Margaret. "The Great Lawsuit. Man Versus Men. Woman Versus Women." The Dial, IV (1984). 24 July 2008

"The Great Lawsuit." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 Jul 2008, 03:59 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Aug 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Great_Lawsuit&oldid=226747555>.