ipl-logo

Analysis Of Margaret Fuller's Essay: The Great Lawsuit

695 Words3 Pages

Margaret Fuller fights for equality in her essay The Great Lawsuit. She discusses the idea that women are equal in every way to men and deserve the rights that men get just by being born male. Fuller’s argument shares a lot of similarities with Emerson’s idea of self-reliance. She discusses the idea of one universal order, and the notion of leaving the past in the past so as to move forward, although Fuller does share some ideas with Emerson, her essay held a different meaning of self-reliance for women than it did for men.
Margaret Fuller adopts Emerson’s idea of one universal order, and claims that “if the woman apparelled in flesh, to one master only are they accountable. There is but one law for all souls”. (752). She also lists instances of men’s fears of …show more content…

At one point during this discussion she talks about self-reliance, stating, “…because the position I early was enabled to take was one of self-reliance. And were all women as sure of their wants as I was, the result would be the same. The difficulty is to get them to the point where they shall naturally develop self-respect…” (754). She talks about how hard it was to develop this kind of independent mind set. For women who did not grow up with Fuller’s advantages, it was a very daunting task.
Fuller encouraged women to go against the grain and educate themselves. She told women to disregard society and learn to be an independent person. In these aspects she shows a few of Emerson’s main ideas. Fuller is different in her thought process though, because she is mainly talking to women in her essay. This is the most glaring difference and also shows how little Emerson understood of minorities in America. Emerson was addressing all of America, but in many cases only white-male America. Fuller was more aware of the hard ships for women in

Show More
Related

  • Transcendentalism In Psychology

    1586 Words  | 7 Pages

    Psychology has become the study the mind and behavior of humans. Throughout time, psychology has taken the form in multiple disciplines from therapy, research, perception, experimental, abnormal, and much more. What psychology has become was originally started with the founding fathers of the field with their ideas, theories, and research. The majority of these founding fathers as I would call them, were men. They founded the field, they advanced the field, they were the field of psychology, but what about the women?

    Read More

  • Abigail Adams Patriarchy And Argument

    77 Words  | 1 Pages

    4. Both Abigail Adams and Stanton are making it understood that change for women is long overdue. Both selections have a specific highlight on the “tyrannical” way men have ran their society and with no “impunity”. Stanton goes into great length with this among with many of instances marking the patriarchy, with Abigail Adams sticking mainly to addressing the men who have already recognized this discrimination and making an importune call for the change in women’s rights.

    Read More

  • Why Is Alice Paul Considered The Original Suffragettes

    843 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is for the Woman’s Party to decide whether there is any way in which it can serve in the struggle which lies ahead to remove the remaining forms of woman’s subordination” (Alice Paul, The Suffragist, 1921) Thereafter began a new battle, the Equal Rights

    Read More

  • Dbq Abigail Adams Miniseries

    637 Words  | 3 Pages

    She believed that women have no voice or representation in Congress, and this would cause a rebellion, because women should be treated as equals. Likewise to women, African Americans were also treated differently than that of white men in

    Read More

  • How Did Abigail Adams Impact Society

    957 Words  | 4 Pages

    These letters—later published into a book, which was the first by a first lady —showed that she was an advocate of women’s rights and believed in equality. In fact, her almost famous saying went “remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.” Her writings were the earliest known concerning gender equality. Although what she seemed to be most passionate about was changing the educational discrimination against women, she was also not shy in speaking against slavery and the discrimination taking place at the time. It was even noted that Adams taught an African American boy read, despite the opinions others had her actions.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Declaration Of Independence Dbq

    760 Words  | 4 Pages

    The idea of all men are created equal is specious because there were Slavery, and women did not have equal rights as men. Sources A, B, C, D, show how the statement “all men are created equal” is hypocritical. The Declaration of Independence, from Source A, provides the reader that the Declaration of Natural Rights is false. In Source B, the letter from Abigail Adams shows how men had “unlimited power,” and women did not have the ability to vote, own property, or speak out in Congress. In Source C, it conveys how Slavery provoked unfair rights, embittered lives, and the loss of natural rights.

    Read More

  • Why Is Elizabeth Cady Stanton Important To Women's Suffrage?

    1436 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Declaration of Independence once stated “we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal” and was not true to its promise as human equality was only promised to white men. After having experienced the status as an inferior women in society, Elizabeth Cady Stanton dedicated her life to ensure that women’s roles in society would be equal to those of men’s through fighting for women’s suffrage. As a young child, Stanton was exposed to the legal boundaries that prevented women from their rights and experienced the idea that women were lesser within her own family. Her father, Daniel Cady, was a lawyer that dealt with cases involving women living with their abusive fathers and husbands, who could not be protected by

    Read More

  • Sarah Grimke: The Inequality Of Men And Women

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    She grew up in Massachusetts and was very well educated by her schoolteacher. Margaret Fuller was part of the Transcendentalist circle. An article written by her in 1843 called, "The Great Lawsuit: Man Versus Men: Woman Versus Women" was featured. She furthered her feelings towards the inequality towards men and women through Woman in the Nineteenth Century. This talks about controversial topics such as prostitution and slavery, marriage, employment, and reform.

    Read More

  • Susan B Anthony Persuasive Speech

    1975 Words  | 8 Pages

    Thousands of women have screamed at the top of their lungs, clawed at the patriarchy, and tirelessly fought for their rights as citizens of the United States of America. From the beginning of mankind, women have been labeled as inferior to men not only physically, but mentally and intellectually as well. Only in 1920 did women gain the right to voice their opinions in government elections while wealthy white men received the expected right since the creation of the United States. A pioneer in women’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony publicly spoke out against this hypocrisy in a time when women were only seen as child bearers and household keepers. Using the United State’s very own Constitution and Declaration as ammunition, Anthony wrote countless

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Suffrage Analysis

    1491 Words  | 6 Pages

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a woman who was denied entry to the World Anti-Slavery Movement because she was a woman. After being denied entry, Stanton realised that women should have just as many rights as men, including women’s suffrage (History.com Staff). When men and women are compared, neither one is greater than the other. We are all equal. Stanton shared the same views stating that we are all equal.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Argument Of The Women's Rights Movement

    1135 Words  | 5 Pages

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton was, no doubt, one of the most important activists for the women’s rights movement in the nineteenth century. Not only was she the leading advocate for women’s rights, she was also the “principal philosopher” of the movement . Some even considered her the nineteenth-century equivalent of Mary Wollstonecraft, who was the primary British feminist in the eighteenth century . Stanton won her reputation of being the chief philosopher and the “most consistent and daring liberal thinker” of the women’s right movement by expounding through pamphlets, speeches, essays, newspaper and letters her feminist theory . However, despite being an ardent abolitionist during the Civil War who fought for the emancipation of all slaves , her liberal feminist theory was tainted by a marked strain of racism and elitism that became more conspicuous as she started pressing for women’s suffrage .

    Read More

  • Age Of Equality Dbq Essay

    800 Words  | 4 Pages

    The enlightenment period, also called the age of reason, was a period between the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that affected government and equality immensely. Religious, political, social, and economic equality became possible because of the ideas presented by these philosophers. Although the philosophers had variants with their ideas, they all pointed to equality. Documents A, B, C, and D, are perfect examples of how these philosophers had different views on equality. Total equality became possible because the philosophers argued and supported their points.

    Read More

  • African American Women In The 1800's

    867 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1800’s, all women were being controlled under the supervision of their husbands, females did not have an voice until the 1890’s. Women throughout the 1800’s were expected to stay home moms to care for their children's. As Susan B. Anthony teaches us that women had the right to have an education of their own and gain a profession of their very own when she says the following quote “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand” - (Susan B Anthony). I agree with Susan B Anthony, I believe that women should have the courage to be able to learn many things and not letting men encouraging them failure. Some of the issues that women had to face during

    Read More

  • Margaret Fuller's Rhetorical Analysis

    472 Words  | 2 Pages

    Woman versus Women”, Cole argues that Fuller went beyond both feminists by going beyond the political and social aspects of the movement to add new elements concerning the potential of humanity’s divine nature (Cole). Comparisons of Fuller to Wollstonecraft made due to similar views shared by both that women haven't been given the opportunity to succeed/ 'take their rightful place' without being met with restraint and opposition (Duran). Like Wollstonecraft, Sarah Grimke’s work appears in her writing but isn’t explicitly mentioned even though Fuller’s Great Lawsuit depends on Grimke’s “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes” (Cole). Though both sisters were controversial for their public speaking role, Fuller went beyond that in Woman to include the voices of women past and present who she saw as role models for being in harmony with the natural law to support her argument (Cole).

    Read More

  • Judith Sargent Murray On The Equality Of The Sexes

    594 Words  | 3 Pages

    The document "On the Equality of the Sexes" by Judith Sargent Murray reveals the author's arguments on gender inequality in America. Published in 1790 in the Massachusetts Magazine, Murray's thoughts on the matter of women's education stems from her own experience on denied opportunities because of her gender. She was not allowed to attend college for the simple fact that she was a female, but had studied alongside her brother while he was preparing for college. This shows that despite her sex, she was just as capable as a male in terms of intellectual capacity and it was unfair that she was not allowed to further this pursuit.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Margaret Fuller's Essay: The Great Lawsuit

Open Document