Margaret Fuller Transcendentalism

Of the scores of utopian concepts within the 1800’s, most remarkable of the influx was the birth of Transcendentalism. The roots of their religious philosophy extend much farther back into American history, but in essence, rests in the context of Unitarianism. It’s origins also reach overseas to Romanticism, from which they drew inspiration from. Transcendentalism was an important movement that shaped the course of American literature, it’s assertions commonly taking shape in novels, poems, short stories, and essays, the most famous of authors including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists sought for their sentiments to be present in the United States, to redefine man in response to the changing context of America. Since it’s emergence in the 1820’s, Transcendentalism had lasting religious, social, and political implications on the order of society.

Sarah Margaret Fuller, America’s first true feminist, was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts on May 23, 1810 to Timothy Fuller and Margaret Crane Fuller. Her father was a lawyer and congressman while her mother had a short teaching career. Margaret Fuller was born in a time period were women were raised to be well-cultured and obedient. On the other hand, Fuller was the opposite she was known to be assertive and a freethinking. She was the first women to be allowed into the all men library of Harvard University and later on to graduate from the university. Fuller is known today mainly as a transcendentalist, she surrounded herself with philosophers like Emerson and Henry David Thoreau because they shared similar believes and ideas of a new way of thinking (Allen 1981) .

Transcendentalism was a literary movement in the 19th century that deliberately pushed forth the exploration to define spirituality and nature in a new context. So much as it is to explore, the movement had an undertone of rebellion against current societal circumstances in which writers during this time sought to change not only their environment, but also the reinvention of oneself. Also simultaneously, the Industrial Revolution took place during this time and glorified the economic growth, which sparked an era of new human thinking.

collapse, a longer historical perspective suggests the pervasive and continuing influence of transcendentalist principles and goals in the shaping of American culture. (Robinson 1178)

Furthermore, according to Jeremy Bradley, Transcendentalism was a philosophical and literary movement in the 1800s. It was associated with a small yet active group of educators, activists, religious leaders that included Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Margaret Fuller. Ralph Emerson was the father of the group. However, he unenthusiastically accepted the role of leadership. He mostly favored to remain unnoticed,

In order to discuss the historical context which surrounded Fuller's "Leila", it is important to situate Fuller within the collective notion of Transcendentalism. Fuller's alternative conceptualization of the gender norm cannot be separated from her history as an intellectual. For Fuller, a large part of her

In her essay, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller discusses the state of marriage in America during the 1800‘s. She is a victim of her own knowledge, and is literally considered ugly because of her wisdom. She feels that if certain stereotypes can be broken down, women can have the respect of men intellectually, physically, and emotionally. She explains why some of the inequalities exist in marriages around her. Fuller feels that once women are accepted as equals, men and women will be able achieve a true love not yet known to the people of the world.

Transcendentalism was an age of revolution. Not only did this age bring about changes in literature, but it brought about reform in ideals, religion, and people. Movements were all the rage---with abolitionism, feminism, sectarianism, communitarianism, and temperance beginning to flourish. With shifting ideals, literature evolved. Perhaps one of the best known authors of the transcendentalism period would be Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson acted as a mentor to many individuals, with his infamous Divinity School Address. However, one author in particular Emerson guided by introducing her to Goethe and encouraging her to borrow books, and that author would be Louisa May Alcott. Being from the same literary time period, Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson have similar affinities displaying Transcendentalist ideals in their professional works.

Transcendentalism is the American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century that was rooted in the pure Romanticism of the English and the German (Goodman). Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered the father of Transcendentalism because his literature is the first to praise the notable spirituality of nature. The basic belief of the movement is to live authentically; being true to oneself (Day). The movement itself, in the years 1840-1860, is fertile in knowledge because people are now beginning to ask questions about religion. Questions about religion, at the time, would most likely consist of origin, morality, and rituals. Because of the complex level of

I would like to first congratulate the legacy of your involvement in the Transcendentalist movement. You were one of the vanguards that pioneer the pursuit of uncomplexed nature. I have questions that will be addressed later, but your commentary on materialistic society was inspiring. Your experiment in the wilderness was ambitious, and your work on civil disobedience paralleled the philosophy of later prominent figure, such as Gandhi. With the flattering comments aside, I wonder about the intricacies on your ideology.

The philosophy of Transcendentalism, according to the article “Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy” is believed to have been created and led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which is why he is considered by many literary scholars and historians to be the father of Transcendentalism. Throughout the years, this philosophy attracted other artists and thinkers such as the American Romantic novelist Henry David Thoreau. These prominent and poetic individuals created an insight for this movement, believing in the true and significant values of individualism, minimalism, and spirituality in their lives. These specific aspects can be found in Thoreau’s most famous work, and Transcendentalist staple, Walden. This novel was a reminiscence of his life

In a male dominated society, women were believed to be fragile weaklings that depended on men in order to survive and find happiness. In fact, they were seen as nothing more than selfless wives and mothers. The seemingly “perfect wife” then, was characterized by her dutifulness and obedient demeanor. This notion of male supremacy was undoubtedly the predominant basis of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rendered unable to voice their own opinions, women then turned to pen and paper as a way to communicate their thoughts. From this, arose the following pieces: Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” Emily Dickinson’s poem “She rose to His Requirement - dropt,” Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles, and Zora Neale Hurston’s novel

The time period of transcendentalism changed the views of many people through setting different principles otherwise known as tenets. These tenets I am going to focus on is: confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and the importance of nature. Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the 1800’s where people responded to the strict rules back then. They declared that they didn’t have to follow all of the rules and decided to go off of independent tenets. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones I’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focuses on self-reliance and stanza 1 and 52 from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which focuses on all tenets of transcendentalism. All of the 5 tenets are very important, but the one that overcomes all the others in my life is confidence. Many pieces of literature contain at least all tenets, but reference them in different ways.

Furthermore, the society believes that “no married woman can represent the female world, for she belongs to her husband” (747). In this passage, Fuller explains how society feels that the woman is the unequal property of the husband, as she can no longer represent females. She views this as a huge inequality because she feels in a marriage no partner should have more power over the other, much less consider them property. Ultimately, Margaret Fuller tries to stop the inequalities within society by describes the various rights that society tries to keep women from obtaining.

“If a person wished to know what transcendentalism was he should empty his mind of everything coming from tradition and the rest would be transcendentalism” (Boller 34). This literary period has dramatically shaped literature and religion, in America. Many writers like Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson have been influence by transcendental ideas. It is astonishing how an inspiring literature movement can change so much of the world’s view and still is around today.