Margaret Fuller

Name: Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Author: Margaret Fuller

Summary

Published in 1845, Woman in the Nineteenth Century by Margaret Fuller is a foundational feminist essay advocating for gender equality, intellectual liberation, and spiritual growth. Originally serialized in The Dial in 1843, it builds upon Fuller’s transcendentalist beliefs, critiquing the limitations placed on women and drawing parallels between their subjugation and slavery.

The work explores marriage, women’s roles, and the necessity of self-sufficiency, contending that genuine equality between the sexes would elevate human spirituality. Fuller’s demand for women’s independence and her challenge to male-centered conventions remain essential to early feminist discourse.

Quotes from Woman in the Nineteenth Century (Margaret Fuller)

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ For were these not portrayed, our human fate,— Which is to be all high, majestical, To grow to goodness with each coming age, Till virtue leap and sing for joy to see So noble, virtuous men,—would brief decay; And the green, festering slime, oblivious, haunt About our common fate. O, honor them! But what to all true eyes has chiefest charm, And what to every breast where beats a heart Framed to one beautiful emotion,—to One sweet and natural feeling, lends a grace To all the tedious walks of common life, This is fair Woman,—Woman, whose applause Each poet sings,—Woman the beautiful. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ The conflicts in Agamemnon's mind, and the imputations of Menelaus, give us, at once, the full image of him, strong in will and pride, weak in virtue, weak in the noble powers of the mind that depend on imagination. He suffers, yet it requires the presence of his daughter to make him feel the full horror of what he is to do.
"Ah me! that breast, those cheeks, those golden tresses!"
It is her beauty, not her misery, that makes the pathos. This is noble. And then, too, the injustice of the gods, that she, this creature of unblemished loveliness, must perish for the sake of a worthless woman. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ All three exhibit very high and pure ideas of Woman, and a knowledge, very rare in man, of the ways in which what is peculiar in her office and nature works. Her loftiest elevation does not, in his eyes, lift her out of nature. She becomes, not a mere saint, but the goddess-queen of nature. Her purity is not cold, like marble, but the healthy, gentle energy of the flower, instinctively rejecting what is not fit for it, with no need of disdain to dig a gulf between it and the lower forms of creation. Her office to man is that of the muse, inspiring him to all good thoughts and deeds. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ He wondered when he saw them, and inquired thus of Panthea: 'And have you made me these arms, woman, by destroying your own ornaments?' 'No, by Jove!' said Panthea, 'not what is the most valuable of them; for it is you, if you appear to others to be what I think you, that will be my greatest ornament.' And, saying that, she put on him the armor, and, though she endeavored to conceal it, the tears poured down her checks. When Abradatus, who was before a man of fine appearance, was set out in those arms, he appeared the most beautiful and noble of all, especially being likewise so by nature. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ A babble now, A huge and wind-swelled babble, fills the place Of that great adoration which of old Man had for Woman. In these days no more Is love the pith and marrow of Man's fate. Thou who in early years feelest awake To finest impulses from nature's breath, And in thy walk hearest such sounds of truth As on the common ear strike without heed, Beware of men around thee! Men are foul With avarice, ambition and deceit; The worst of all, ambition. This is life, Spent in a feverish chase for selfish ends, Which has no virtue to redeem its toil, But one long, stagnant hope to raise the self. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ More native is it to her to be the living model of the artist than to set apart from herself any one form in objective reality; more native to inspire and receive the poem, than to create it. In so far as soul is in her completely developed, all soul is the same; but as far as it is modified in her as woman, it flows, it breathes, it sings, rather than deposits soil, or finishes work, and that which is especially feminine flushes, in blossom, the face of earth, and pervades, like air and water, all this seeming solid globe, daily renewing and purifying its life. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ That thou, to woman's claim, And man's, might join, beside, the angel's grace Of a pure genius, sanctified from blame, Till child and maiden pressed to thine embrace, To kiss upon thy lips a stainless fame! TO THE SAME.
A RECOGNITION. True genius, but true woman! dost deny Thy woman's nature with a manly scorn, And break away the gauds and armlets worn By weaker woman in captivity? Ah, vain denial! that revolted cry Is sobbed in by a woman's voice forlorn:— Thy woman's hair, my sister! ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ Women of my country!—Exaltadas! if such there be,—women of English, old English nobleness, who understand the courage of Boadicea, the sacrifice of Godiva, the power of Queen Emma to tread the red-hot iron unharmed,—women who share the nature of Mrs. Hutchinson, Lady Russell, and the mothers of our own revolution,—have you nothing to do with this? You see the men, how they are willing to sell shamelessly the happiness of countless generations of fellow-creatures, the honor of their country, and their immortal souls, for a money market and political power. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ Thou, child of an unprofaned wedlock, brought up amid the teachings of the woods and fields, kept fancy-free by useful employment and a free flight into the heaven of thought, loving to please only those whom thou wouldst not be ashamed to love; I ask of thee, whose cheek has not forgotten its blush nor thy heart its lark-like hopes, if he whom thou mayst hope the Father will send thee, as the companion of life's toils and joys, is not to thy thought pure? Is not manliness to thy thought purity, not lawlessness? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ Those who till a spot of earth scarcely larger than is wanted for a grave, have deserved that the sun should shine upon its sod till violets answer.
So great has been, from time to time, the promise, that, in all ages, men have said the gods themselves came down to dwell with them; that the All-Creating wandered on the earth to taste, in a limited nature, the sweetness of virtue; that the All-Sustaining incarnated himself to guard, in space and time, the destinies of this world; that heavenly genius dwelt among the shepherds, to sing to them and teach them how to sing. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ Laurie. I can never comprehend the cruelty in your way of viewing human beings, Aglauron. To err, to suffer, is their lot; all who have feeling and energy of character must share it; and I could not endure a woman who at six-and-twenty bore no trace of the past.
Aglauron. Such women and such men are the companions of everyday life. But the angels of our thoughts are those moulds of pure beauty which must break with a fall. The common air must not touch them, for they make their own atmosphere. I admit that such are not for the tenderness of daily life ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ What majesty in the cadence of the line; what dignity, what reverence in the attitude, both of giver and receiver!
The woman who permits, in her life, the alloy of vanity; the woman who lives upon flattery, coarse or fine, shall never be thus addressed. She is not immortal as far as her will is concerned, and every woman who does so creates miasma, whose spread is indefinite. The hand, which casts into the waters of life a stone of offence, knows not how far the circles thus caused, may spread their agitations. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ No; for she knows that one law rules, one heaven contains, one universe replies to them alike. It is with women as with the slave.
Tremble not before the free man, but before the slave who has chains to break.
In slavery, acknowledged slavery, women are on a par with men. Each is a work-tool, an article of property, no more! In perfect freedom, such as is painted in Olympus, in Swedenborg's angelic state, in the heaven where there is no marrying nor giving in marriage, each is a purified intelligence, an enfranchised soul,—no less! ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ Each Orpheus must to the depths descend; For only thus the Poet can be wise; Must make the sad Persephone his friend, And buried love to second life arise; Again his love must lose through too much love, Must lose his life by living life too true, For what he sought below is passed above, Already done is all that he would do Must tune all being with his single lyre, Must melt all rooks free from their primal pain, Must search all nature with his one soul's fire, Must bind anew all forms in heavenly chain. If he already sees what he must do, Well may he shade his eyes from the far-shining view. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ There is usually a slight degree of regret; so deeply rooted is the idea of the superiority of Man in happiness and dignity; and yet, as she looks upon this child, she is more and more softened towards it. A deep sympathy—a sentiment of identity with this delicate being—takes possession of her; an extreme pity for so much weakness, a more pressing need of prayer, stirs her heart. Whatever sorrows she may have felt, she dreads for her daughter; but she will guide her to become much wiser, much better than herself. And then the gayety, the frivolity of the young woman have their turn. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ After a moment he said, "I believe Aglauron to be as free from prejudice as any man, and most true and honorable; yet who can judge in this matter but ourselves?"
"No one shall judge," said Emily; "but I want counsel. God help me! I feel there is a right and wrong; but how can my mind, which has never been trained to discern between them, be confident of its power at this important moment? Aglauron, what remains to me of happiness,—if anything do remain; perhaps the hope of heaven, if, indeed, there be a heaven,—is at stake! Father and brother have failed their trust. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ We, no more than they, delight in the picture of the poor woman digging in the mines in her husband's clothes. We, no more than they, delight to hear their voices shrilly raised in the market-place, whether of apples, or of celebrity. But we see that at present they must do as they do for bread. Hundreds and thousands must step out of that hallowed domestic sphere, with no choice but to work or steal, or belong to men, not as wives, but as the wretched slaves of sensuality. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ The noble thought that gave unity to all our knowledge, harmony to all our designs;—the thought that the progress of history had brought on the era, the tissue of prophecies pointed out the spot, where humanity was, at last, to have a fair chance to know itself, and all men be born free and equal for the eagle's flight, flutters as if about to leave the breast, which, deprived of it, will have no more a nation, no more a home on earth. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ A book lies carelessly on her lap; one hand yet holds it at the place where she left off reading; her lovely face is turned towards us; she appears to muse on what she has been reading. When we see a woman in a picture with a book, she seems to be doing precisely that for which she was born; the book gives such an expression of purity to the female figure. A large window, partially veiled by a white curtain, gives a view of a city at some little distance. On one side stand the harp and piano; there are just books enough for a lady's boudoir. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ Better be hurled abroad On the vast whirling tide, than, in thyself Concentred, feed upon thy own applause. Thee shall the good man yield no reverence; But, while the Idle, dissolute crowd are loud In voice to send thee flattery, shall rejoice That he has 'scaped thy fatal doom, and known How humble faith in the good soul of things Provides amplest enjoyment. O, my brother If the Past's counsel any honor claim From thee, go read the history of those Who a like path have trod, and see a fate Wretched with fears, changing like leaves at noon, When the new wind sings in the white birch wood. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century

“ Next comes a closer tie, which takes the form either of mutual idolatry or of intellectual companionship. The first, we suppose, is to no one a pleasing subject of contemplation. The parties weaken and narrow one another; they lock the gate against all the glories of the universe, that they may live in a cell together. To themselves they seem the only wise; to all others, steeped in infatuation; the gods smile as they look forward to the crisis of cure; to men, the woman seems an unlovely syren; to women, the man an effeminate boy. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ Take the Paladin, take the Poet. Did they believe purity more impossible to man than to woman? Did they wish woman to believe that man was less amenable to higher motives, that pure aspirations would not guard him against bad passions, that honorable employments and temperate habits would not keep him free from slavery to the body. O no! Love was to them a part of heaven, and they could not even wish to receive its happiness, unless assured of being worthy of it. Its highest happiness to them was, that it made them wish to be worthy. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

“ In the sphere of Jupiter, energy is predominant—with Venus, beauty; but each comprehends and apprehends all the others.
When the same community of life and consciousness of mind begins among men, humanity will have, positively and finally, subjugated its brute elements and Titanic childhood; criticism will have perished; arbitrary limits and ignorant censure be impossible; all will have entered upon the liberty of law, and the harmony of common growth.
Then Apollo will sing to his lyre what Vulcan forges on the anvil, and the Muse weave anew the tapestries of Minerva. ”

Margaret Fuller

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Quotes from Woman in the Nineteenth Century (Margaret Fuller)

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