Finding Margaret Fuller: A Novel

In the summer of 1836, 26-year-old Margaret Fuller stands on Emerson’s doorstep for the first time. He invited her for a visit to serve as a companion for Emerson’s pregnant wife, Lidian, for a few weeks. Margaret has already risen to prominence because of her own writing. She has been called the most well-read person, male or female, in the US, and her intellectual achievements have attracted Emerson’s notice.

He asks her about her advanced education, which was unusual for a woman during the early 19th century. Margaret says that as the eldest of eight children, her father gave her the education of an eldest son. Though she loved her father, Margaret says, “I very much felt—that his love was always conditional, determined by my performance. He expected excellence at all times and in all things” (14).

Margaret is still grieving the loss of her father, who died only a year earlier and whose estate was inadequate to provide for her mother and siblings. Emerson is curious that Margaret, an attractive woman, has chosen to remain a spinster. She replies flatly, “Until our great and free society should see fit to declare that freedom ought to apply not only to men but also to women, I cannot see that marriage would be a state I could abide” (20). Emerson is clearly enthralled with his houseguest and asks her to accompany him on a walk by the river as soon as she unpacks. He insists that she call him Waldo.

While Waldo and Margaret stroll, they get to know each other better. Margaret expresses her envy of Waldo and the other men who have attended Harvard. As a female, she isn’t even allowed to enter the school’s library. Waldo observes that her intellect is unsullied by the rote memorization that he was taught at school: “And self-reliance is the natural and beautiful result” (30). When they return to the house, Margaret notices that Lidian is standing in the open doorway, looking impatient.

Once the three go inside, Lidian stiffly welcomes Margaret to her home, saying that her pregnancy keeps her bedridden most of the time. The Emersons’ handyman, Thoreau, assisted her in their absence. (This is Henry David Thoreau, who later wrote Walden.) Margaret detects that Lidian is less thrilled by her visit than Waldo is. At the dinner table that evening, Thoreau entertains Waldo and Margaret with his skilled mimicry of bird calls. After the meal, Waldo escorts Margaret to her bedchamber and lingers outside her door when she retires for the night.

The following morning, Margaret hears a commotion in the street as a neighboring family returns from a trip. They’re famed educator and social reformer Bronson Alcott, his wife Abba, and their three daughters. (The middle child is Louisa May Alcott, who will grow up to write Little Women.) Waldo introduces Margaret to the family, but Bronson has already heard of Miss Fuller and is thrilled to meet her. Thoreau joins the group. He has established himself as a favorite with the children. They eagerly ask him about an exotic plant called the Queen of the Night that blooms only one evening a year. Thoreau tells Margaret that this is a Mexican cactus that he has potted in the Emerson’s yard. The plant is nearly ready to burst into bloom, and everyone anticipates viewing the phenomenon.

When the plant fails to open on time, Waldo insists that Margaret stay another week so that she can be present for the viewing. Lidian tensely agrees to extend the invitation to Waldo’s houseguest. Several days later, the Queen of the Night is ready to appear. Everyone except Lidian gathers in the yard to watch. Waldo stands unusually close to Margaret throughout the display. She thinks, “As we watch the Queen of the Night in her seductive, exotic dance, I can feel the hum that pulses between us, a heat, invisible and yet thick enough to touch” (48).

The next day, Margaret is surprised by her attraction to Waldo. She concludes that she has never met any man who sparked her intellectual interest before. Waldo manages to wheedle Lidian’s consent to Margaret’s visit being extended yet another week. That week extends to yet another as both Waldo and Margaret grow more attached to one another. Margaret increasingly worries about Lidian’s frosty attitude toward her.

One day, while Waldo is away, Lidian invites Margaret to take a stroll with her. She tells her visitor that Waldo has had female protegees in the past. Lidian confides that she sees herself as less intellectual than her husband and his young friends. Margaret tearfully confesses that Waldo’s friendship is important to her because she has never met anyone who could tolerate a woman with her mental abilities: “All my life, I’ve had to draw a veil over my real self. No one has ever wanted to know the real me” (65). She apologizes to Lidian for taking advantage of her hospitality. The older woman acknowledges the bond between Margaret and Waldo but also conveys that she’ll remain in her husband’s life long after Margaret is gone.

In the days that follow, Margaret notices Waldo withdrawing from their friendship. Eventually, he confesses that he’s deeply attracted to her but doesn’t want to sully their relationship with a carnal connection: “Ours can now stay a pure love, a bonding of two spirits, unprofaned by any baser or fleeting wants” (70). Margaret says that she views herself as a pilgrim passing through life, but Waldo’s friendship makes her realize that she may meet other kindred souls during her travels.

By the fall of 1836, Margaret rents an apartment in Boston and prepares to receive the students she tutors in private for the fall term. The money she earns helps support her mother and siblings, all of whom desperately need the help. One afternoon, Margaret receives a surprise visit from Bronson Alcott. She’s even more surprised when he offers her a teaching position at the school he has established in town. It will be very progressive. The students will be girls and boys from some of the city’s most affluent families. Bronson believes in advanced ideas, such as “[e]ducating girls, calling for the end of slavery, championing equality between the races, disavowing bodily punishment of students” (79). Even though Margaret’s tutoring schedule is already full, Bronson persuades her to become a teacher at his new institution. After she consents, she realizes that Bronson never tells her what her salary will be.

Bronson’s Temple School is housed in the old Masonic temple building. Margaret enjoys teaching there, yet a few weeks pass without any mention of her payment. Meanwhile, her family is enduring financial hardship as winter approaches. When Margaret finally confronts Bronson about her pay, he brushes off her request, saying that she’ll be paid every other week.

Margaret receives word from Concord that Lidian has given birth to a healthy baby boy. Waldo has written another book, and now Bronson says that he anticipates great success from his own upcoming publication. He intends to call it “Conversations with Children on the Gospels” (87). Margaret’s financial situation grows increasingly dire, but Bronson isn’t sympathetic to her plight. He says that several students haven’t paid their tuition yet. She begins to realize that Bronson has no head for business and says to herself, “Not for the first time I lament, with gritted teeth, the fact that I, as a woman, find my fate and well-being in the care of a man so much less capable” (90).

In early spring, Margaret’s financial crisis worsens. Bronson was counting on the proceeds from his new book to pay her. However, his publication shocks proper Bostonians. Critics and reviewers are equally appalled. Margaret says, “The words are as ludicrous and fitful as Bronson himself, his sentences overwrought and meandering, but it is the subject matter that fills me with the most roiling disquiet. Virginity. Conception. Childbirth. The sin of lust” (92). Boston’s puritanical families, offended, begin pulling their children out of his school.

By late spring, some members of the public are agitating to shut down the Temple School. There are even rumors that an angry mob might come for Bronson. To her surprise, Margaret learns that Bronson is preparing to leave the country with his family. She’s now without a job. Shortly afterward, Waldo arrives in a carriage to take her back to Concord for a brief period of rest.