– At Home and Abroad
“ If any woman of genius was ever trapped by conditions of time and place, it was surely Margaret Fuller in the early 1800’s, when male superiority was assumed, […]”
William Randel (p.283)
In the American Constitution of 1789, women were not mentioned at all and were seen as naturally dependent on their husband. Just a few years later, in 1792, the first women’s rights declaration was published, and during Fuller’s lifetime in the 1830s and 40s, the activism for women’s rights thrived (DuBois 2-3).
Margaret Fuller, born in 1810, experienced an extraordinary education by her father: She learned Latin at the age of six, read Roman authors like Cicero and Virgil at the age of nine, when she also had lessons in Greek, Italian and French. Later, she also learned German and translated Goethe’s writings (Kelley 34). This “early forced intellectual feeding” was unusual for the early 19th century (Randel 283), and despite her knowledge and intellect, she was not allowed to go to college – because of her gender (Kelley 35).
When her father died in 1835, Fuller, who had already published essays, had to earn money to support her family. Therefore, she taught at several schools in European Literature, laying the focus on the intellectual potential of women, introducing “her students to models of female achievement, including the Greek poet Sappho […]” (Kelley 36). Furthermore, since 1839, she has held discussion classes for other educated women, which became famous as the “Conversations”. This intellectual institution was the female counterpart to the meetings of the Transcendentalism Club (Kelley 36-37).
This club was a “loosely allied group” of intellectuals who believed in the individual perception of truth and consciousness (Deese 151-152). Fuller was a central figure in the group and believed in change on an individual level to achieve women’s equal opportunities (Deese 152+154). Due to her intellect, Fuller caused controversial opinions about her character: Some saw her as a fallen woman, others as a True Woman (Warren 234). Another debate was whether she could be female and not intellectual or intellectual but unwomanly (Kelley 38). Seemingly, it was not possible to be both, a woman and an intellectual. Interestingly, this debate is connected to her feminist conviction: she tried to newly define the female as “separate and positive” from the male and stressed the importance of being an individual (Warren 234). The descriptions for her character traits include insecurity and ambition (Kelley 33), the ability for close friendships and deep thinking (Randel 283).
„… the book has great literary value, as the note-book of an intelligent traveller, who had eyes to see as well as a heart to feel whatever was most noteworthy in men and things.“
The North American Review (p. 264)
In a review of her book At Home and Abroad, the critic mentions the deep-thinking character of Fuller as well. The style is described as subjective and dominated by personal experiences, which show a cultivated and “large-hearted” woman (The North American Review 261). On the other hand, the author describes her as impatient, impulsive, and stresses her talent for conversation and improvisation (The North American Review 262).
Margaret Fuller is a highly educated woman who expands her wealth of knowledge on her travels through encounters with people and an awareness of art and culture.
Hypothesis
In the preface of At Home and Abroad, written by her brother, who also published her writings, it is distinguished between “[…] at least three classes of persons who travel in our own land and abroad“. (Fuller IV). Since Margaret Fuller moves in very educated circles, she can be classified in the third class with people “who see indeed the outward, and observe it well“ (Fuller IV).
At the beginning of chapter two, three people have a conversation. “M.” seems to be Margaret herself because she refers to her travels to Niagara in 1843.
Fuller’s thoughts wander and flow from one to the other. She assumes that readers have their own wide range of literary and classical learning. Because of this, she frequently makes innuendos that few readers will actually recognize, especially these days.
Fuller often includes Greek mythology, which is rarley understood without previous knowledge at the first reading. For instance “You would make a pretty Undine […]“ (Fuller 11) does not just refer to a female name; it refers to a mythological figure of European tradition, a water nymph fabled to be the wandering spirits of love-lorn women.
Ongoing, Fuller refers to Greek mythology with lines like “I only offered myself as a Triton“ (Fuller 11). Triton is the Greek god of the sea. She refers to herself as „boisterous Triton of the sounding shell“ (Fuller 11), which also refers to her future travels, in which she explores most areas by ship.
In 1846 Fuller moved to Europe on her own initiative. First she traveled to England and then to the Italian peninsula, where she served as a foreign correspondent for Greeley (Fuller 119-221). In England, she met two Italians who would remain prominent in her life: Giuseppi Mazzini, an Italian patriot and republican leader then in exile, and Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, whom she eventually married (Fuller VI). Fuller never attended a wedding ceremony in At Home and Abroad, so it’s unclear when or if she got married. On September 5, 1848, their son Angelo Eugene Philip Ossoli, nicknamed Angelino or Nino, was born.
A Roman republic was proclaimed in February 1849. In the war that followed, both spouses fought in the name of the republic, Giovanni as a soldier and Margaret as a nurse, but the French prevailed. The Ossolis fled into exile in Florence. That’s an example why Fuller can be described as a traveling feminist. She didn’t stay in a safe place with her son, but just like her husband went to war (Fuller 441-443).
Bibliography
Deese, Helen R. Massachusetts Historical Review, vol. 10, 2008, pp. 151–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25478701. Accessed 10 Jun. 2022.
DuBois, Ellen Carol. “Women’s Rights, Suffrage, and Citizenship, 1789–1920.” The Oxford Handbook of American Women’s and Gender History, Oxford UP, 2018, pp. 1–22.
Fuller Ossoli, Margaret. At Home and Abroad: or, Things and Thoughts in America and Europe. Boston: Crosby, Nicholas and Company, 1856. https://www.gutenberg.org
/files/16327/16327-h/16327-h.htm. Accessed 24 May 2022.
Kelley, Mary. “Thinking Women/Women Thinking.” Reviews in American History, vol. 23, no. 1, 1995, pp. 33–39. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2703232. Accessed 31 May 2022.
Randel, William. American Literature, vol. 51, no. 2, 1979, pp. 282–84. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2925594. Accessed 31 May 2022.
The North American Review, vol. 83, no. 172, 1856, pp. 261–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25104749. Accessed 10 Jun. 2022.
Warren, Joyce W. The American Historical Review, vol. 100, no. 1, 1995, pp. 234–35. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2168128. Accessed 31 May 2022.
Picture:
Humanities and Social Sciences Library / Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art