Bergen's Analysis of "The Solitude of Self"

Bergen Beesley
October 30, 2011
Professor Spencer
“The Solitude of Self” Critical Analysis

Women at the Seneca Falls Convention sought to change their position in society and secure their rights. While the convention as a whole was not entirely successful, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was very successful in vying for the rights of women. In “The Solitude of Self”, Stanton effectively shows her political audience why women deserve all natural rights through her use of allusion, diction and metaphor.

Stanton uses allusion to provide examples of how solitary humans are. She first alludes to Shakespeare’s play “Titus Andronicus.” This play involves a young girl who is forced to try to “call for water and wash her hands” after having her tongue and hands cut off. Uneducated women in society are in the same position. They are expected to perform tasks and duties with the even more perfection than men but they don’t have the same opportunities and education that their male counterpoints have. Stanton also refers to the New Testament and the man who ultimately suffered the most in solitude, Jesus Christ. Christ is the greatest example of living a solitary life. He had to take on the sins of the world; no one could help Him or ease His burden. His own father could not help Him in His greatest time of need. If Christ, the ultimate example of charity, was solitary, ordinary human beings, including uneducated women, are even more helpless.

Diction is used to explain the nature of this solitude. With words like “bitter” and “immeasurable” describing it, this “solitude of self” does not appear to be something that is enjoyed. It is made to seem as terrifying and almost dangerous. It is also described as “fatal,” implying that it can ruin a life when in that state for large amounts of time. The repetition of the word “wholly” shows just how much of a life is taken up in this isolation. Each soul must give it’s all and use all of its resources to overcome and get out of its solitude; each person can only depend on themselves. No one can “mitigate [their] pangs.” These charged words show that the “solitude of self” is crippling and can be utterly horrific.

Stanton likens the solitude that uneducated women must face to a couple of different things. She first compares it to a boat to which we must be “captain, pilot, engineer; with chart and compass to stand at the wheel; to match the wind and waves and know when to take in the sail, and to read the signs in the firmament over all.” A person must be in complete control of their “craft,” or life, and know exactly how each part functions and interacts with the others. They must have the knowledge of how their craft operates and reacts to different situations. Solitude is also likened to fitting an army, where each soldier is given the necessities for survival. Women are not given all the tools that they need to successfully survive in society on their own. They are expected to rely on men and stay at home in their own sphere. If women were given the same essentials as men, they would be able to “bear [their] own burden” and function in society. Since they are not given the same opportunities, they remain without the necessities to guide their lives and they are stuck in solitude.

Women should be allowed to have the same rights as men. They are expected to perform the same, if not more, duties as men at the same level, yet they are not given the same opportunities to learn and grow so they can accomplish the same goals. By accomplishing these goals and becoming educated, they can leave their solitude and interact in society instead of being shut away in their homes. Stanton effectively shows this through her use of allusion, diction, and metaphor. Women should be given the same rights as men because those rights are essential to functioning normally in society.