Conti 1

Janelle Conti

CAS 305

Professor Groenendyk

5 December 2016

Elizabeth Cady Stantons The Solitude of Self

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Thomas

Jefferson penned this brilliant statement when creating the Declaration of Independence for the

United States of America. One thing Jefferson didnt consider when drafting the historical

document were the rights of women. After decades of not being regarded as equal to men,

women decided to fight for their right to be seen as citizens of the United States of America.

Thus began the Womens Suffrage Movement, which took place from 1840-1920. Throughout

the course of the movement, multiple leaders and organizations crafted campaigns to promote

their case for gender equality. One of these leaders was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Throughout her

life, Stanton published and delivered multiple rhetorical works, but the masterpiece of her career

was her speech, The Solitude of Self. This speech implemented multiple persuasive strategies

that created a sense of identity within the movement, and pushed its members to advocate for a

change in policy and perspective. Therefore, The Solitude of Self effectively persuaded

Stantons audience to join the Womens Suffrage Movement through its narrative structure,

emotional appeals, definition of self-perception, and construction of social reality.

The first way that The Solitude of Self effectively persuaded the audience was through

its narrative structure. Solitude did not follow an argumentative stance. According to Stanton,

all of the arguments about Womens Suffrage have been discussed in the past, and therefore it
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was not necessary that [she] should repeat them again (1). In this speech, Stanton did not

mention any facts or statistics about Womens Suffrage, nor did she list the reasons why it was

necessary. Instead, she presented her speech in the form of a story, without a logical structure

(Campbell 305). Karlyn Kohrs Campbell in her article published in the Quarterly Journal of

Speech, called this type of narrative the lyric mode, which was intimate in tone, relied on

personal experience, and used sensual or aesthetic materials (305). The lyric mode was quite

different from womens public speeches at the time, because it stayed away from argument and

logical appeals (304). Though it may seem unconventional, the speechs narrative structure

worked as a compelling persuasive strategy because it highlighted Stantons main point

concerning the persistence of solitude throughout a persons lifetime. Through this strategy, the

audience truly felt the sense of isolation that people, not just women, had to deal with. Stanton

wanted to focus on this isolation because it was the reason why women needed to be treated as

equal in terms of politics and education. Although Solitude was not a typical story that flowed

from start to finish, it did not fail to present a classic statement of the principles and values

underlying the struggle for womens rights (Tell 173).

Stantons focus on isolation was not only present in the narrative of the speech but also

through her implementation of emotional appeals. Emotional appeals were present in Solitude

through Stantons use of anecdotes, and her creation of an unusual atmosphere. According to

Susanna Kelly Engbers, an author published in Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Stantons use of

powerful, sensory languageindicated her wish to seduce her auditors into feelingemotionally

and physicallythe pain of women during that time period (314). This sensory language was

evident in the various poignant anecdotes incorporated into her speech. Each anecdote described
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women at different points in their lives. For example, Stanton included a short vignette about a

young girl who was thrown wholly on herself for consolation when she was not able to receive

a gift for Christmas (Stanton 3). She also described how elderly women needed to be granted

self-sovereignty for a time when they must fall back on their own resources (4). The emotional

appeals present in the short scenarios were an impactful strategy because they engaged her

audience, especially the male members, in a deeper way. Stanton hoped to help her male

auditors... practice this habit of sympathy and, by extension, see the world more as she did

(Engbers 316). In order to make the men in the audience feel why women needed to be granted

control over their own beings, Stanton vividly illustrated how the lack of preparation for a

solitary life majorly affected women of all ages. These stories helped everyone in the audience

understand why women needed to be recognized not only as citizens, but as human beings.

Emotional appeals were not only present in these short anecdotes, but also in the unusual

atmosphere that Stanton constructed through her speech. When Stanton addressed her audience,

she appeared to speak to a close friend rather than to a large audience of congressmen or

NAWSA members (Engbers 325). Rhetorical scholars, such as David Tell in his article for the

journal, Communication Studies, suggested that the intimate atmosphere that Stanton established

through her language can be attributed to the rhetorical strategy of indirection. Throughout her

speech, Stanton only directly addressed her audience twice. Besides that, she sympathized with

[them] indirectlyby refracting her emotions through a third party (Tell 175). This gives the

audience a sense that they were not the primary listeners of the speech, but rather they were

eavesdropping on a private conversation of sorts between Stanton and a hypothetical intimate

friend, or at Stantons private musings to herself (Engbers 327). By establishing this tone with
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the audience, Stanton stripped the members of the crowd of their titles. They were no longer

congressmen or activists they were just isolated people who were listening to a speech about

fellow Americans at a disadvantage. These emotional appeals were effective because they

heightened peoples sympathies and awareness to the state of solitude (Engbers 328). This

atmosphere not only evoked genuine feelings of compassion from the audience, but it also

helped them understand why the public sphere was an advantage for women, who would

inevitably spend part of their lives in solitude. Ultimately, this intimate atmosphere bore the

weight of solitude and closely related her audience to the situations Stanton was describing.

Another way that The Solitude of Self persuaded its audience to join the Suffrage

Movement was through identification. Throughout her speech, Stanton employed multiple

strategies that provided a solid vision and identity for the members. Part of the creation of this

unified identity involved constituting the members of the social movement. According to Charles

J. Stewart, the constituting of members has four features, which are: inviting, defining an

identity, structuring the community, and relating to others (Stewart, et. al 176). Stanton chose to

focus only on inviting, defining an identity, and relating to others. The first one present in her

speech was inviting the audience. Stanton delivered this speech three times towards the end of

her career (Campbell 304). First, she recited it before the House Judiciary Committee on the 18th

of January 1892. That afternoon, she recited the speech again before the 24th national convention

of the National American Womens Suffrage Association (NAWSA) as their retiring president

(Campbell 304). The final time she delivered the speech was in front of the Senate Committee on

Woman Suffrage two days later. These groups of people were invited by Stanton to listen to her

fight for gender equality, and they were all captivated by the rhetorical strategies that she
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employed in her speech. This created a unifying identity between three distinct groups of

activists and policymakers.

In addition to attracting a large crowd, Stanton defined a shared identity between the

members of her audience. Her speech alluded to poignant stories that highlighted a womans

need for personal responsibility of her own individual life (Huxman 319). These relatable

stories helped women find their identity within the Suffrage movement and understand the need

for its advancement.

The last feature present in her speech was the way her rhetoric related to others.

Throughout her speech, Stanton used gender-inclusive language, alluding to a common body,

in which she made it clear that perceived differences between men and women should not serve

as foundations for the exclusion of women from the public sphere (Poirot 197). By using this

kind of language, Stanton utilized dialogic opposition, which provided a vision of inclusion

between the established order (men) and the outsiders (women) (Stewart, et. al 179). Through

her constitution of the people, Stanton successfully provided a vision of unified identity for the

campaign. Instead of seeing themselves as a divided group, this speech inspired the audience to

see themselves as a coherent group. Through the construction of their self-perception, Stanton

convinced these crowds that Suffrage and gender equality were an absolute necessity for the

American population.

The last strategy that Stanton employed in her speech was her construction of social

reality. According to Stewart, the construction of reality involves transforming how people see

their environmentthe past, the present, and the futureto convince them that an intolerable

situation exists (Stewart, et. al 30). Although Solitude did not seem to have a logical
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structure, it functioned in a loose, chronological order. The speech moved from the past to the

present and projected Stantons vision for the future. Through the various metaphors and stories

that she included in her speech, Stanton analyzed how solitude was a characteristic that

transcended through time. She began her speech by characterizing the past as a solitary

struggle that was only associated with suffering (Reyes 390). However, as Stanton moved on

from the past, she rhetorically constructed a present that considered solitude as a persistent part

of human life. Stanton highlighted the fact that both men and women experienced solitude, and

therefore we couldnt expect one gender to bear the burdens of the other (Stanton 5). Stanton

argued that solitude was something that women experienced at multiple stages in their life, and

yet society says women do not need knowledge of this world or the liberal training that

experience in public life must give (Stanton 4). This construction of the present stressed the

importance of self-sovereignty to the audience. Denying the knowledge and power that the

public sphere holds was a disservice to women and an inconvenience for men. After providing

this rationale, Stanton rhetorically constructed a future in which women would be empowered

enough to take on the world on their own. She claimed that when women are well-prepared to

take on the inevitable force of solitude, then solitude could be seen in a more positive light. No

longer was it only considered in the context of suffering, but rather it transformed into

something that functions, for those equipped, as a means of self-actualization (Reyes 393). By

rhetorically constructing the chronological stages of womens development, Stanton effectively

convinced her audience that this movement was necessary. Through these persuasive strategies,

she also gave her listeners a clear vision of what the future of this movement should look like, in

order to inspire them to move forward. Ultimately, Stanton showed her audience how women
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must be equipped to rely on themselves, because men, society, industrynone of them can

protect the individual soul from its own solitude (Reyes 392).

With the effectiveness of Stantons strategies comes the question of whether or not it was

an ethical form of persuasion. By establishing a common identity in solitude, some people may

argue that Stantons speech manipulated her audience into relating to others who are already

involved in the movement. Are the persuasive strategies that she employed ethical because they

made her audience sensitive to the emotions and isolation that women have felt for years? After

analyzing her rhetorical strategies, it is clear that Stanton did not force her audience to adopt her

opinion. She did not even force them to act; she simply created an environment in which they

could empathize with the disadvantaged people in the movement. Through her words, Stanton

made her audience understand why this movement was a complete necessity, but that does not

mean that she forced them to take on her point of view. Her audience still had a choice to agree

with her or not, and it was up to the Congressional board and potential members to plan to join

the Suffrage movement. Overall, Stantons speech was able to persuade her audience through

ethical means, leaving the choice of action to her audience.

In conclusion, the strategies that Stanton implemented in her speech worked in

conjunction with each other to form a cohesive form of oral rhetoric. Her focus on solitude

effectively persuaded her audience to join the Suffrage Movement through the speechs lyrical

structure, emotional appeals, construction of social reality, and its definition of self-perception.

By employing all of these strategies, Stanton powerfully conveyed a sense of vulnerability and

sympathy for her cause. These strategies proved to be an effective form of persuasion, because

the speech became a rhetorical marker for the movement. After Stanton delivered this speech,
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she was highly praised by her auditors and colleagues (Campbell 305). Other leaders in the

Suffrage Movement such as Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw complimented her

outstanding delivery, calling it her masterpiece (Campbell 305). Her speech was reprinted by

the Congressional record almost 10,000 times, and it appeared in The Womans Journal shortly

after her presentation to the congressional committee (Reyes 389). The wide acceptance of

Stantons speech proved that it was an effective tool in persuading people to join the Womens

Suffrage movement. The strategies that she incorporated into her speech worked together not

only to culminate Stantons public speaking career, but also to push the Womens Suffrage

Movement forward.
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Works Cited

Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. "Stanton's 'The Solitude Of Self': A Rationale For Feminism."

Quarterly Journal Of Speech 66.3 (1980): 304. Communication & Mass Media Complete.

Web. 4 Dec. 2016.

Engbers, Susanna Kelly. "With Great Sympathy: Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Innovative Appeals

To Emotion." RSQ: Rhetoric Society Quarterly 37.3 (2007): 307-332. Communication &

Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Huxman, Susan Schultz. "Perfecting The Rhetorical Vision Of Woman's Rights: Elizabeth Cady

Stanton, Anna Howard Shaw, And.." Women's Studies In Communication 23.3 (2000):

307. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Poirot, Kristan. "(Un)Making Sex, Making Race: Nineteenth-Century Liberalism, Difference,

And The Rhetoric Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton." Quarterly Journal Of Speech 96.2 (2010):

185-208. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Reyes, G. Mitchell. "The Rhetorical Cultivation Of Time: Stanton's "The Solitude Of Self."

Conference Proceedings -- National Communication Association/American Forensic

Association (Alta Conference On Argumentation)(2010): 389-395. Communication & Mass

Media Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2016.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "The Solitude of Self." Women's Political Communication Archives.

Iowa State University, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

Stewart, Charles J., Craig Allen Smith, and Robert E. Denton. Persuasion and Social

Movements. 6th ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2012. Print.

Tell, Dave. "Stanton's Solitude Of Self As Public Confession." Communication Studies 61.2

(2010): 172-183. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.