ipl-logo

Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 'The Destructive Male'

391 Words2 Pages

One of the key elements that makes Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s, “The Destructive Male”, speech so memorable and inspiring, is her use of creative language. This speech glides effortlessly into the deep ravines of our memories as the loaded words such as, “destructive force”, “loving war”, and “discord”, carry heavy connotations. “I urge a sixteenth amendment”, says Stanton. She isn't demanding or violently requesting, she’s urging and pleading which is an important factor to take note of as it is the opening line of her speech, which up the initial moving tone. In the beginning of her speech Elizabeth Cady Stanton lists adjectives and loaded words to describe male dominated society. “The male destructive force, stern, selfish, aggrandizing, loving war, violence, conquest, acquisition, breeding in …show more content…

The first Paragraph is the most important, as it sets the tone for the rest of the speech; however, the tone shifts from the harsh and abrasive harping on men, to how society can move forward and bring about balance if women have more of a say in how things are run. Towards the end of the speech Stanton’s tone remarkably differs from the initial tearing down of men, to the pleading for equality, “There is a striking analogy between matter and mind, and the present disorganization of society warns us that in the dethronement of women we have let loose the elements of violence and ruin that she only has the power to curb.”. Here Stanton rests the current chaos of society on both genders shoulders when she says “we” rather than addressing just men. She concludes her speech eloquently and with professional composure, pleading with the government to aid the repair of society with women by man’s

Show More
Related

  • Angela Grimke's Bearing Witness Against Slavery

    1510 Words  | 7 Pages

    Because of sexist opinions of the time, many people believed that a woman had no power to create change, especially in government since she could not vote. Women themselves believed this societal expectation, and although Grimke does not reject society’s idea of femininity and womanhood entirely, she specifically rejects their supposed political incompetence in a rebuttal. Using evidence from general and specific political movements in England, all of which were greatly aided by the support of women petitioning the government, Grimke assured her audience that “When the women of these States send up to Congress such a petition our legislators will arise, as did those of England, and say: ‘When all the maids and matrons of the land are knocking at our doors we must legislate.’” (Grimke, 192) This summary of her somewhat vague past points is similarly nonspecific; however, this is still effective since simply alluding to historical events rather than explaining them was sufficient for an audience that knew more about England and its history than contemporary Americans do today.

    Read More

  • Abigail Adams Patriarchy And Argument

    77 Words  | 1 Pages

    4. Both Abigail Adams and Stanton are making it understood that change for women is long overdue. Both selections have a specific highlight on the “tyrannical” way men have ran their society and with no “impunity”. Stanton goes into great length with this among with many of instances marking the patriarchy, with Abigail Adams sticking mainly to addressing the men who have already recognized this discrimination and making an importune call for the change in women’s rights.

    Read More

  • A Powerful Partnership Rhetorical Analysis

    533 Words  | 3 Pages

    Text two explicitly asserts, “When the meeting time arrived, she would step back and let Stanton do what she did best—give a fine, humorous, well-planned address.” This provides us with a detail that describes what she could fulfill. Text one plainly states, “In fact, the women asked a man to preside at the convention.” This sentence vaguely presents readers without any specific particulars about this man. Text two also says that Anthony reminded Stanton of the injustices women have faced to keep her motivated.

    Read More

  • Negative Attitudes During The Women's Suffrage Movement

    204 Words  | 1 Pages

    Women had to endure many negative attitudes towards them during the Women’s Suffrage Movement. For example, men thought that women should take care of the children. One man who thought this was Senator Leighton. He was always expecting his wife Emily Leighton to watch the children all day, everyday without a break for herself. They thought that the women were their little slaves while they went off to have a great day with their acquaintances.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Declaration Of Sentiments

    692 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, “He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns. He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.” This makes the American government and men and women throughout the colonies think about how the men are controlling everything women do and their way of life. Elizabeth Cady Stanton listed multiple facts and truths about how the government (which consists only of men) and the men themselves are taking away these women's rights and property.

    Read More

  • Democratic Ideals Expansion Dbq Essay

    1177 Words  | 5 Pages

    The purpose of Elizabeth Stanton’s Declaration was to help achieve change is the treatment of women during this era. This is relevant because her goal was to create change during this reformation, and the expansion of women’s rights falls right in line with the expansion of democratic ideals. During this time, men had the right to submit to laws in the formation of government, but women were not allowed in the voting booths on Election Day. The women’s rights movement, or reformation, adds credibility to the statement that reformations from 1825-1850 sought to expand democratic ideals. Stanton was seeking to expand the core democratic value of equality of the two genders.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Women's Rights Movement

    902 Words  | 4 Pages

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, 12 November 1815. She was the 8th children out of 11 children. Her father Daniel Cady was a judge and also a prominent Federalist Attorney. Her mother Margaret Livingston Cady was descended from Dutch settler. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of The Declaration Of Independence

    947 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stanton deviates from Jefferson’s patterns because she perceives equality of the sexes to be a major general notion of independence, whereas the Declaration of Independence see’s equality of men and politics to be a major notion of independence. Stanton includes a list of resolutions in her essay of things that needed to be arranged for the freedom of women and illustrates, “Resolved, That woman is man’s equal-was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.” (Stanton 559). In this area of her resolution, Stanton manifests that women are equivalent to men and that even the highest authority has declared for this to be correct. Another area Stanton adjusts is Jefferson’s s declaration that, “all men are created equal” (551) and changes it to “all men and women are created equal” (557) in order to show that women deserve just as much as men do for they are both equivalent.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Declaration Of Sentiments By Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Frederick Douglass

    448 Words  | 2 Pages

    This evidence is portraying how when women get married their freedom and rights are being taken away by men. What Stanton is arguing in her statement is that women must make a promise to give compliance to their husband in order for their husband to become their master. When the husband becomes their “master” it's technically saying that women are their property. The way Stanton uses the word “master” in her statement she is showing the relationship between the women and husbands to show how men had the total control of women’s rights.

    Read More

  • Negative Speech: An Analysis Of Women's Keynote Suffrage

    727 Words  | 3 Pages

    America Adame Mrs.Gonzalez Engl 1302.S63 12 Feb ,2018 Women’s Suffrage Elizabeth is very well known for empowering the first movement in pushing for society especially men recognize women as actual citizens. She is especially known for the speech she did in Seneca falls and her use of rhetorical devices to make sure she has people’s attention and show how serious she was about the subject. In Seneca Falls Keynote Address, Elizabeth Cady Stanton uses anaphora’s, metaphors and allusion to persuade the audience to show that women should be treated equally just like men and should be more appreciated. Due to this speech it started the whole revolution in making sure women would be granted more rights as American citizens.

    Read More

  • Declaration Of Sentiments Rhetorical Analysis

    696 Words  | 3 Pages

    Men should have absolute rule over society. This was the mindset back when women's rights activists were considered rare and unorthodox. In A Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Elizabeth Cady Stanton rejects the status quo and finds solutions to the overbearing problems she sees within society. A concept that has greatly been dreamt over throughout history has been challenged, by a woman. Elizabeth Cady Stanton exerts repetition, allusion, and pathos to express her opinions in favor of increasing women's rights.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Speech

    1450 Words  | 6 Pages

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a well-known spokeswoman and feminist. As a member of the Women’s Rights movement, she conveyed the message of equality and called for social and political reform in a democratic society. Her notoriously bold words in the Seneca Falls Convention deemed her courageous to some, while others saw her as a menace. However, her expressive and eloquent word choice enabled her to convey her message to a diverse and divided audience. Thereby empowering her voice to communicate the dissatisfaction she and other women felt, as she used rhetorical devices such as repetition, juxtaposition, irony, and parallelism throughout the Keynote Address speech to argue the issue of equality.

    Read More

  • Stanton's 'Declaration Of Sentiments'

    174 Words  | 1 Pages

    Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” was the first convention for women rights. Its purpose was to address the status of American women. Stanton felt that women were feeling they were getting shorted and disrespected of their rights. It was a list of resolutions to the problems dealing with their rights. She also included needs for women’s right to education, property, and vote.

    Read More

  • Declaration Of Sentiments

    1036 Words  | 5 Pages

    By alluding to God, it poses a slight threat on men, saying that it is “self-evident” that these rights should be shared, not restricted to only one gender (para. 2). Stanton and Mott want women to know that because of the destructive and misogynistic nature of the men in government, because of the constant abuse and prejudice that has come from men in general, that if because this behavior is constant and growing in dangerousness, they have the right to “refuse allegiance” to said government (para. 2). It is unjust and discriminatory against women to deny the rights that should be fairly given to them since they are part of the government. To prove that women have been mistreated unfairly, they list facts and happenstances that have been done to women to subjugate them. With these facts, they prove that, in that moment, women are the less superior sex, then with this, they encourage

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Keynote Address' By Cady Stanton

    780 Words  | 4 Pages

    By including rhetorical devices such as analepsis and epanaphoras in her speech, women's activist, Cady Stanton in her Keynote Address manages to successfully convey her message on how the mistreatment of women's rights must come to an end. Throughout the essay, Mrs. Stanton had done an excellent job of identifying her audience and appealing to the common goal that was shared amongst one another. Due to the fact that the majority of the audience were female, Mrs. Stanton had to take an approach where her choice of words would spark a sense of empowerment rather than disenfranchise the attendees of the convention. Mrs. Stanton does this as she states “ Consider our costume far more artistic than theirs.

    Read More

More about Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 'The Destructive Male'

Open Document