Fuller, Margaret b. May 23, 1810; Cambridgeport, Massachusetts d.July 19, 1850; near Fire Island, New York
One of the best-known female writers of her century, Margaret Fuller played a significant role in introducing German literature to her friends and associates in the Transcendentalist circle, above all to her close friend Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882), as well as to the educated elite in New England and beyond.
Influenced by the English writer Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) and Charles Follen (1796—1840), she began an intensive and systematic study of German literature, while virtually teaching herself the language. From 1834 to 1838 Fuller shared what had become a passionate interest in German culture with her students at Bronson Alcott’s (1799—1888) Temple School. During that time, she became increasingly immersed in her studies of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whom she came to regard as the greatest German writer, overcoming her initial preference for Friedrich Schiller. In 1839 her translation of Johann Peter Eckermann’s (1792—1854) Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of His Life (Gesprache mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens, 1823—1832, 1836— 1848) was instrumental in creating a more favorable image of the poet in the United States, who was now presented as a serene and mature thinker rather than the fiery, youthful author of The Sorrows of the Young Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, 1774), a long-standing American perception. Fuller furthered this reevaluation in her preface, in which she wrote a spirited defense of Goethe and a thoughtful discussion of his strengths as an artist and literary critic. Fuller’s ultimate goal was to write a biography of Goethe, a task to which she devoted her prodigious energies for a number of years but never came close to completing. However, she made further contributions to a positive reception of Goethe in articles and translations she wrote for the Dial, a journal associated with the Tran- scendentalists that she cofounded and edited for two years. In addition, she published translations and wrote articles on other German poets and writers. On the local level she regularly spoke about Goethe and other German writers in the lectures (her “Conversations”) she gave to
One of the best-known female writers of her century, Margaret Fuller played a significant role in introducing German literature to her friends and associates in the Transcendentalist circle. (Library of Congress)
the women of the Boston elite from 1839 to 1844. After 1844 her public role as an advocate of German literature came to an end, as she began her career as one of the first female journalists in the United States with her employment by Horace Greeley’s (1811— 1872) New York Tribune.
To Fuller, Goethe towered above all the German writers and poets. She defended him from the usual charge of immorality, which emerged especially from his Die Wahlverwandschaften (Elective Affinities, 1809), by maintaining that the work was indeed moral but that Goethe had framed it in accord with his personal moral code rather than that of religious authorities. She argued that he presented the world as it was, rather than as it should be, and those who were inclined to an ideal world should turn to Schiller, whom she continued to admire. Fuller presented Goethe as the best stylist in the German language, an acute observer of human beings, and an ardent believer in continuous human development. She viewed Faust as the summation of the great ideas of his life, and asserted that the Wilhelm Meister novels (Wilhelm Meister's Apprentice Years, 1795—1796, and Wilhelm Meister's Travels, 1821) were among one of the most significant educational works ever produced. Fuller also extolled Goethe’s portrayal of various feminine figures in his works in her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1855). In spite of her decade of study of Goethe’s works, and the voluminous notes she produced, she was unable to realize her dream of writing his biography.
She eventually concluded that she could not undertake the task until she could travel to Germany and interview those who had known him. However, personal circumstances prevented her from ever visiting the land of Goethe and those poets and writers she so ardently admired.Fuller promoted these other German poets and authors, as well as additional aspects of German culture, in her articles, reviews, and translations. She developed considerable enthusiasm for the German romantic poets and authors, especially Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg, 1772—1801), whose mysticism and spiritualism appealed to a prominent aspect of her complex personality. Fuller especially praised his Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802) and his Die Lehrlinge zu Sais (The Apprentices of Sais, 1798). She was also fascinated by the extravagant language and exotic themes of Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825), whose Titan (1800-1803) she particularly admired. Fuller also translated poems by Schiller, Karl Theodor Korner (1791-1813), and Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862). Her long article on the ballads of the Rhineland increased American interest in German folk poetry, the Volkslied. She communicated her intense involvement in German music, especially that of Ludwig van Beethoven, through a series of sketches of German composers published in the Dial. Realizing that her interests were more literary and artistic than metaphysical, she focused her prodigious energy on literary criticism and her translations, thereby encouraging others to follow in her footsteps. Fuller died July 19, 1850, at sea near Fire Island, New York.
John T Walker
See also Follen, Charles; Transcendentalism References and Further Reading
Capper, Charles. Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life: The Private Years. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Pochmann, Henry A. German Culture in America: Philosophical and Literary Influences, 1600-1900. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978.
Vogel, Stanley. German Literary Influences on the American Transcendentalists. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.