SOURCE: "Stanton's 'The Solitude of Self'": A Rationale for Feminism," in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Vol. 66, No. 3, October, 1980, pp. 304-12. Used by permission of the Speech Communication Association.

In the following essay, Campbell explores rhetorical and ideological aspects of "The Solitude of Self."

In 1892, near the end of her long career as a leader in the woman's rights movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton made her farewell address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The speech, "The Solitude of Self," is unlike the usual rhetoric of social activists of any period, and it is a startling departure from the typical speeches and arguments of nineteenth century feminists. The address is extraordinary because it is a philosophical statement of the principles and values underlying the struggle for woman's rights in the United States. It is also extraordinary because it is a social reformer's defense of humanistic individualism and because...