Ultimately, this is an identical complaint also found in “The Declaration of Sentiments.” Rhetoric of immediacy could now be employed as the movement was no longer new. People had grown accustomed to hearing about the subordination of women. Stanton was cognizant of the fact that she had to devise newer, innovative angles to her message with the objective of enlightening the people as to the injustices that pervaded society. The subject of marriage is central to the discourse. Stanton offers a valid reason why, despite all the progress women have made thus far, inequality still acts as a friction between women in the church and state, because “men are not ready to recognize it in the home”. Man’s accepting women’s desire to gain political equality, will create a “domino effect” that will lead them to demand a greater degree of influence in the home, too. If voting rights signaled political liberation, then domestic liberation would surely soon follow. Men were fearful, to say the least, of this possible new reality. Stanton argues for reforms on the idea of whether marriage need be an indissoluble tie, writing in what may be the most powerful section of the speech, “from a woman’s standpoint, I see that marriage as an indissoluble tie is slavery for women, because law, religion, and public sentiment all combine under this relation, whatever it may be and there is no other human slavery that knows such depths of degradation as a wife chained to a man whom she neither loves nor respects.” In making an appeal to all the married women who are unhappy, mistreated, abused, the rhetor put into words the feelings of helplessness so many women were experiencing. On the concern of marriage as a sacred contract of the church, Stanton is quoted as saying, “the Bible can be quoted on both sides.” She raises the point that if marriage truly were a civil contract, “it should be subject to the laws of all other contracts, carefully made, the parties of age, and all agreements faithfully observed. This is a an argument rooted in sound logic, as marriage is often entered into, without legal consent of their parents, by boys and girls twelve and fourteen years of age. Stanton is quite effective at addressing any doubts or questions the audience may have without them ever having to question her. A final plea is made in the speech’s conclusion – when marriage is based more on equality, a “nobler type of manhood and womanhood will glorify the race!” This declaration may be interpreted as an attempt to widen the scope of the movement by suggesting that the equality of women will have an immensely positive impact on all of mankind, not just women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the modern quest for women’s rights. Her social vision was of liberating society from false perceptions, outdated customs, unjust laws and false religious doctrines is easily identified in all of her rhetorical activities (Foss 133). Unfortunately, Stanton did not live long enough to see her ultimate goal of the end of women’s suffrage. In my personal opinion, however, the rhetoric of Stanton’s works that propelled the movement to success and provide the women of this nation with the rights and dignity they so richly deserve.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Banner, Lois W. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women 's Rights. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1987. 3-159. Print.
Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. Man Cannot Speak for Her. Vol. 1. New York: Greenwood, 1989. Print.
Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1800-1925: A Bio-critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1993. 76. Print.
DuBois, Ellen Carol. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1992. 88-94. Print.
Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2009. 133. Print.
Gurko, Miriam. The Ladies of Seneca Falls: The Birth of the Women 's Rights Movement. Norwalk, CT: Easton, 1990. 27-28. Print.
Wood, Julia T. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1994. 66+. Print.
Bibliography: Banner, Lois W. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Women 's Rights. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1987. 3-159. Print. Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. Man Cannot Speak for Her. Vol. 1. New York: Greenwood, 1989. Print. Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1800-1925: A Bio-critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1993. 76. Print. DuBois, Ellen Carol. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton-Susan B. Anthony Reader: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1992. 88-94. Print. Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2009. 133. Print. Gurko, Miriam. The Ladies of Seneca Falls: The Birth of the Women 's Rights Movement. Norwalk, CT: Easton, 1990. 27-28. Print. Wood, Julia T. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1994. 66+. Print.
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