Margaret Fuller
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During her short lifetime, Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was known as a daughter, a sister, a friend, a teacher, a writer, a conversationalist, an editor, a journalist, a foreign correspondent, a wife and a mother. Balancing these roles was not always easy, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Fuller's correspondence. While in New England, her growth as an intellectual came through her "Conversations" with other women and her friendships and interactions with the Transcendentalists. Nevertheless, it was not until she finally left the comfortable nest of New England that she truly began to mature.
As a journalist-correspondent, Fuller functioned in two capacitiesas a literary and artistic critic and as a social and political reform commentator. As a critic in New York, Fuller reviewed books, essay collections, plays, and art exhibits, always giving her readers a sense of the artistic style and level of artistry inherent in the pieces. She also gave the reader her opinion on where the artist was headed in his/her career. If she felt a piece did not reflect an artist's best, Fuller also made it a point to let her readers know.
Interestingly, her position as a literary and artistic critic changed only slightly when she went to Europe. Her dispatches, though, particularly her earlier dispatches from England and France, have an added dimension of travel commentary...