How Margaret Fuller and Fanny Fern Used Writing as a Weapon For Women's Rights

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In the nineteenth century the inequality of women was more than profound throughout society. Margaret Fuller and Fanny Fern both women of the century were much farther advanced in education and opinion than most women of the time. Fuller and Fern both harbored opinions and used their writing as a weapon against the conditions that were considered the norm in society for women. Margaret and Fuller were both influential in breaking the silence of women and criticizing the harsh confinement and burden of marriage to a nineteenth century man. Taking into consideration Woman in he Nineteenth Century by Fuller, Aunt Hetty on Matrimony, and The Working-Girls of New York by Fern, the reader can clearly identify the different tones and choice of content, but their purposes are moving towards the same cause. Regardless of their differences in writing, both Fern and Fuller wrote passionately in order to make an impact for their conviction, which was all too similar. As every well-read person knows, the background in which you grow up plays a huge role in how you write and your opinions. Fuller grew up with a very strict education, learning multiple classic languages before she was eight years old. Fern grew up with writers all throughout her family and had a traditional education and saw first hand the iniquities of what hard-working had to contend with. Through close analysis of their work, a reader can quickly find the connections between their tone, style, content, and purpose and their history of their lives and their educational upbringing. In Aunt Hetty on Matrimony and The Working Girls of New York Fanny Fern depicted a story of sadness and morose conditions that women had to deal with in order to have a parallel recognition to that o... ... middle of paper ... ...le would criticize them or call them unladylike, they did not care. They both had very unique styles of portraying their conviction, for example, Fuller’s tone was intellectual and demanded an argument and the content of her writing consisted of her side of the debate. Fern, attempted to attract readers by touching their emotions. Fern wasn’t interested in offering an argument, but she wanted an argument to arise out of her readers. Despite all of their differences in tone and content, their purpose was to inspire and make a change for women of the time. Through the works of Woman in The Nineteenth Century, Aunt Hetty on Matrimony, and The Working-Girls of New York, a reader can fully understand and realize the differences between the two, yet begin to see the reality of what women had to endure. Fanny Fern and Margaret Fuller are truly two sides of the same coin.

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