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The Great Lawsuit
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Essay Summary: “The Great Lawsuit”
“The Great Lawsuit” is an essay by Margaret Fuller, an American writer known for her contributions to transcendentalism and the women’s rights movement of the 1800s. It was first published in 1843 in The Dial, a journal she edited at the time. Fuller expanded the piece to create Woman in the Nineteenth Century, a book published in 1845.
An early example of feminist writing and a vehicle for transcendental ideas, “The Great Lawsuit” centers on concepts such as the equality of all people and humankind’s struggle to reach an elevated state of being. Fuller argues that men and women should have the same set of rights, including the rights to own property and vote. She praises abolitionist principles throughout the essay, noting how American women face many of the same impediments as slaves in the South.
At the start of “The Great Lawsuit,” Fuller wonders if humans will ever reach an enlightened state that allows them to have a closer relationship with the divine. She compares humankind’s current state to slumber. As people’s eyes remain shut, selfishness runs rampant, keeping them from achieving a higher form of existence.
