An American Jeremiah in Rome

A Study of Margaret Fuller’s Tribune Dispatches

  • Paola Gemme
Keywords: Margaret Fuller, Roman Republic, jeremiad

Abstract

In "An American Jeremiah in Rome: A Study of Margaret Fuller's Tribune Dispatches," Paola Gemme offers a new interpretation of Fuller's account of the Roman Republic, which has traditionally been read as a defense of Italian republicanism and an indictment of American democracy. She argues instead that Fuller's critique lies within the tradition of the jeremiad, a lament on the nation's failure to live up to its original promise which reaffirms national dreams while deploring that they are not being pursued, and that as such it confirms rather than denies the United States' identity as unsurpassed republican model.

 

Published
2023-12-15
Section
Homage to Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)