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Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman, a Voice for Progress and Perfection: a Rhetorical Analysis of Selected Addresses, 1883-1892 Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1986 Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman, a Voice for Progress and Perfection: a Rhetorical Analysis of Selected Addresses, 1883-1892. Stephen Robert Guempel Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Guempel, Stephen Robert, "Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman, a Voice for Progress and Perfection: a Rhetorical Analysis of Selected Addresses, 1883-1892." (1986). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4237. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4237 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a manuscript sent to us for publication and microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to pho­ tograph and reproduce this manuscript, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. Pages in any manuscript may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. Manuscripts may not always be complete. When it is not possible to obtain missing pages, a note appears to indicate this. 2. When copyrighted materials are removed from the manuscript, a note ap­ pears to indicate this. 3. Oversize materials (maps, drawings, and charts) are photographed by sec­ tioning the original, beginning at the upper left hand comer and continu­ ing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is also filmed as one exposure and is available, for an additional charge, as a standard 35mm slide or in black and white paper format.* 4. Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or micro­ fiche but lack clarity on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, all photographs are available in black and white standard 35mm slide format. * ♦For more information about black and white slides or enlarged paper reproductions, please contact the Dissertations Customer Services Department. T TIV yf T Dissertation LJ IVll Information Service University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 8629171 Guempel, Stephen Robert CHARLOTTE PERKINS STETSON GILMAN, A VOICE FOR PROGRESS AND PERFECTION: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ADDRESSES, 1883-1892 The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col. Ph.D. 1986 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1987 by Guempel, Stephen Robert All Rights Reserved CHARLOTTE PERKINS STETSON GILMAN, A VOICE FOR PROGRESS AND PERFECTION: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ADDRESSES, 1883-1892 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech Communication, Theatre, and Communication Disorders by Stephen Robert Guempel B.S., Southeast Missouri State University, 1972 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1975 May 1986 ©1987 STEPHEN ROBERT GUEMPEL All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENT This dissertation was written under the direction of Dr. Harold Mixon. I am grateful for his assistance and guidance throughout my doctoral program. Also, I wish to thank my committee members: Dr. Waldo W. Braden, Dr. Billy J. Harbin, Dr. Anne C. Loveland, and Dr. J. Donald Ragsdale. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my parents, Shirley and Leo Guempel, for keeping the faith and my wife, Martha, for her patience and encouragement throughout my entire graduate study. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...................................... ii ABSTRACT ............................................ v CHAPTER I Introduction .................................. 1 The Purpose of the S t u d y .................. 3 The P l a n .................................. 4 Methodology .............................. 5 Contributory Studies ...................... 8 Significance of the S t u d y ................ 11 CHAPTER II The Apostle of Progress: The Life of Charlotte Perkins Stetson ................................ 15 Foundations for a Life of R e f o r m .......... 17 Foundations for a Life of Lecturing .... 42 The Final Y e a r s .......................... 55 CHAPTER III "Belief in God and the Use of I t " .............. 57 Background................................ 59 Structural Elements ...................... 67 Forms of P r o o f ............................ 72 Effectiveness ............................ 84 CHAPTER IV "Our Opportunity".............................. 89 Background........ ........................90 Structural Elements ...................... 98 Forms of P r o o f ...............................102 Effectiveness ............................ 113 CHAPTER V "Our Place T o d a y " .................................118 Background...................................119 Structural Elements ...................... 125 Forms of P r o o f ...............................130 Effectiveness ............................ 143 iii PAGE CHAPTER VI "Our Social D u t ies"...............................147 Background...................................148 Structural Elements ...................... 158 Forms of P r o o f ...............................164 Effectiveness ............................ 174 CHAPTER VII "The Unity of M a n " ...............................177 Background...................................177 Structural Elements ...................... 181 Forms of P r o o f ...............................190 Effectiveness ............................ 202 CHAPTER VIII "Poetry and L i f e " .................................207 Background...................................207 Structural Elements ...................... 216 Forms of P r o o f .............................. 221 Effectiveness ............................ 231 CHAPTER IX Conclusions.......................................236 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................ 247 VITA ................................................... 254 iv Abstract Amidst the social reform impulse of late nineteenth-century America, Charlotte Perkins Stetson— noted writer, lecturer, and social reformer— began her career as a spokeswoman for social justice. As such, she lectured to local religious groups, Nationa­ list clubs, women's clubs, and literary societies on a variety of subjects that included social ethics, family, motherhood, and art. In these many lectures and sermons, Stetson related her unyielding faith in and fervent expression of humanity's potential for perfect­ ibility. This study analyzes six selected addresses delivered by Stetson between the years 1883 and 1892 in order to identify the rhetorical techniques she used to communicate her vision of human perfectibility. Divided into nine chapters, Chapters I and IX introduce and conclude the study. Chapter II is predominantly biographical, giving careful attention to those people, experiences, and events in Stetson's life that contributed in an important way to her development as a speaker and reformer. Arranged chronologically according to the date of delivery, each of the next six chapters considers the rhetorical techniques used by Stetson in an individual address. The standards of judgment used in the criticism of Stetson's speeches are essentially traditional. For every speech the following elements are considered: historical background, social setting and audience, organizational structure, and speaker effectiveness. In 1898, Stetson published Women and Economics, establishing her as an intellectual leader of the women's movement and climaxing almost a decade of lecturing. By examining her speeches delivered between 1883 and 1892, a greater understanding as to the origin and development of those ideas set forth in her book is possible as well as a better comprehension of the rhetorical strategies she used to communicate them. In addition, the critical appraisal of her speeches furnished further identification of the historical under­ pinnings of contemporary feminism. CHAPTER I Introduction In 1915 an article in the Oregon Sunday Journal typified comments about the life and career of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It stated, Perhaps no other woman can communicate with such force and such a thrill the aspirations for social righteousness. Her philosophy is dynamic; it is essentially one <j>f hope, courage, and joy and it is for America today. At the time of this article, Charlotte Perkins Gilman had been lecturing for approximately twenty-five years. She crisscrossed the country several times on speaking jaunts, advocating various progressive reforms. In addition, she had toured Europe twice, hob­ nobbing with liberal-minded activists. For many reformers such accomplishments would have constituted a lifetime of work, but for Gilman there was more. Amazingly, she continued to lecture for nearly two more decades. Throughout her long career, complete with its share of praise and criticism, "the apostle of Vella Winter, "Noted Lecturer is Exponent of Wider
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