Miami University The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Lisa Kay Suter Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________ Co-Director (Cindy Lewiecki-Wilson) _____________________________________________ Co-Director (Katharine Ronald) _____________________________________________ Reader (Katie Johnson) _____________________________________________ Graduate School Representative (Charlotte Newman Goldy) ABSTRACT THE AMERICAN DELSARTE MOVEMENT AND THE NEW ELOCUTION: GENDERED RHETORICAL PERFORMANCE FROM 1880 TO 1905 by Lisa K. Suter This dissertation analyzes the American Delsarte movement—a largely white, upper- and middle-class women’s performance phenomenon from the 1880s to 1905—as well as Delsartists’ work in creating what they called the “New Elocution.” Scholars of rhetorical history such as Nan Johnson and Robert Connors have touched on the Delsartists in their research and have begun the work of analyzing women’s participation in the American elocutionary movement; nevertheless, extensive turf remains wholly unexplored concerning women’s study of oratory in this era, in particular, considering why these women thought it the most vital discipline to study. My research therefore consists largely of a recovery project, bringing archival evidence to light and arguing that in the midst of what elocutionists called this “oratorical Renaissance,” American women were flocking in surprisingly large numbers to the study of expression and elocution—not as a “social grace,” as Leila McKee, one President of a woman’s college of oratory put it in 1898, but as a means of “social power.” Turn-of-the-century women believed that this power was theirs for the taking if they knew how to speak with more eloquence and confidence in public; this motive has been overlooked, I argue, as has the means by which women meant to procure oratorical ability—by the study and practice of what I term “rhetorical performance.” This dissertation defines and analyzes the concept of rhetorical performance as it occurred within three different Delsarte-influenced sites: competition in oratorical contests, the demonstration of elocutionary skill via public recitals, and finally the use of rhetorical drama to advance arguments regarding women’s rights. THE AMERICAN DELSARTE MOVEMENT AND THE NEW ELOCUTION: GENDERED RHETORICAL PERFORMANCE FROM 1880 TO 1905 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy English (Rhetoric and Composition) By Lisa K. Suter Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2009 Dissertation Directors: Cindy Lewiecki-Wilson and Katharine Ronald © Lisa Kay Suter 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...ii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………vii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………..viii Chapters: 1. INTRODUCTION: FROM THE NEW ELOCUTION TO THE NEW WOMAN 1.1 “This Is the Day of Schools of Oratory….” …………………………………….1 1.2 In the Beginning (Research Questions)....………………………………………4 1.3 Gendered Rhetorical Performance …..………………………………………….8 1.4 Dual Origins: The Delsarte System(s) of Oratory on Two Continents…………13 1.5 Now, Oratory in Women’s Colleges—Acquiring The “Means of Social Power”……………………………………………….…………………………17 1.6 A “New” Elocution? ……………………………….…………………………..20 1.7 Which (New) Women Were American Delsartists? …………………………...26 1.8 Overview of Chapters…………………………………………………………..32 1.9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………34 2. CALLING ALL AMAZONS: LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY COLLEGE WOMEN TAKING UP ARMS, ENTERING ORATORICAL COMBAT 2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………...36 2.2 The Great Debates……………………………………………………………….39 2.3 Physical Culture for Women in the Late Nineteenth Century…………………..41 2.4 Psycho-Physical Culture………………………………………………………...43 2.5 Delsartists on Dress Reform, or, Why the Smart Female Orator Is Wearing A “Brain Costume” This Year……………………………………………………...47 2.6 “The Right to Breathe As Nature Intended Us to Breathe:” Shedding the Corset, Increasing Vocal Power………………………………………………………….52 2.7 Connections: Classical Rhetorics, Gymnasia and Nineteenth-Century Rhetorical Training…………………………………………………………………………..56 2.8 Elocution and Fencing: Choose Your (S)words Carefully, Ladies……………..63 2.9 Dueling, Ironically, with the Theory of Irenic Rhetoric in the Nineteenth Century…………………………………………………………………………..67 2.10 Amazed by Amazons……………………..……………………………………71 2.11 On Oratorical Combat………………………………………………………….75 v 3. INVOKING A NEW MUSE OF ORATORY: SILENCE, VOICE, AND CITIZENSHIP AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 3.1 The Fundamental Paradox—Silence as Rhetorical Strategy, Medium and Focus Among the New Elocutionists………………………………………………….80 3.2 Theories of Silence: Then and Now……………………………………………82 3.3 A Public Delsarte Recital at the Turn of the Century…………………………..86 3.4 The Silent Tableau as Artistic and Rhetorical Expression………………….….89 3.5 Toga Party: Neoclassical Signifiers of Oratory, Women’s Classical Education, Full Citizenship and the Franchise at the Fin de Siècle ………………………...95 3.6 When Silence is Voiced……………………………………………………….103 3.7 The New Muse of Oratory: See How She Speaks to Women…………………106 3.8 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..109 4. RHETORICAL DRAMA AND WOMEN WORTHIES: WOMEN’S RHETORIC AND WOMEN’S HISTORY TAKE CENTER STAGE 4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………….111 4.2 “Traditional” Performance in Delsarte Texts and Parlor Rhetorics……………..115 4.3 Rhetorical Performance via Theatrical Productions…………………………….118 4.4 Gendered Rhetorical Performance………………………………………………122 4.4 a) After School, What [?] 4.4 b) The Excitement at Kettleville 4.5 (Dis)Connections: Acting and Oratory from Classical Texts to the Late Nineteenth Century……………………………………………………………..134 4.6 Women Worthies: Responding to the Querelle des Femmes with the Argument by Catalog………………………………………………………………………139 4.6 a) A Pageant of Great Women 4.6 b) The Genius of the Nineteenth Century Afterword………………………………………………………………………………151 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………153 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Delsartean physical culture in the play, The Amazons (1894) …………… ….…38 2. Psycho-physical dress designed by Anna and Julia Thomas (1892)..…………50 3. Physical culture at Western Female Seminary, with fencing (1894?).………..59 4. “Amazon drill” from Werner’s Magazine (1899)………..…….……………..73 vii Acknowledgements First and always foremost, I thank my family. I would not have succeeded in this journey without the constant support of my father, who never stopped believing in me, or without the encouragement of my mother, who had the idea for me to be a grad student in English in the first place. I hope she is proud of this work, as she watches now from a better place. Neither would I have survived this process without my brother Rob, the best brother ever created, who always makes my life brighter and happier, just by being there. In recent years, we added two new members to our small (but mighty!) band of Suters: Zhantell, who has become the sister I never had, and my dear friend Teresa Marie, without whom the solitary life of the scholar would many times have been unbearable. (Thanks for being there, Chica, through thick and thin.) I hope I will someday be able to show all of my family how grateful I am, for bearing with me through the long and sometimes arduous years of this, my chosen path in life. I have been fortunate to find caring, loving friends while in this program. To Shawna, who fed me and reminded me that “books cannot be worn, Lisa—you must buy clothes occasionally, too,” I owe a heartfelt thank you. (Without you, where would I have been during that Skype interview with the University of Tampa?) To Angie, my guardian angel from our first year together, I want you to know how happy I am that I got to enjoy your sweet, calm company all these years. I also hope you know how delighted I am for you and John. To Rebecca, who had to bear with the world’s craziest roommate (WHAT smoke alarm?)—you will forever be my favorite garage sale partner and Jane Austen movie watcher. To Brian and Natalia, they of the lovely empanada dinners, the charming read-ins and late-night fireside chats, who have been sadly missed since they relocated to lucky Baltimore—you know I will be coming to visit you (and the free bookstore—ha!) just as soon as I possibly can. Truly, this thesis is a product of (and a testament to) all of my Miami friends’ kindness and generosity. While working on this degree, I have also been blessed to renew old friendships. (Really, really REALLY old…!) But seriously, Matt and Heather—you two are so wonderful that I am sure even Florida will not be beautiful, if you do not come visit me. (Put a hat and some SPF 80 on that redhead and come on down—you’ve earned this beach house a hundred times over!) Speaking professionally, in the course of my research I have been offered thoughtful counsel by many individuals, at home and at conferences, in libraries and in archives…. One gracious scholar was kind enough to share her time with me—as well as books from her personal library of rare, nineteenth-century handbooks. Nan Johnson, you are the role model of collaborative feminist scholarship that I will keep in mind in all my years to come as an academic. I hope one day to be able to help aspiring scholars the way you helped me. viii Finally, I will never forget the endless patience and assistance of the members of my dissertation committee—Katie Johnson,