Jessica Guda

E. Lopez

ENG 3050

December 8, 2014

Margaret Fell and Identification Rhetoric

                One of the founding members of the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, Margaret Fell was an accomplished rhetorician, leader, wife, and mother.  Fell lived in seventeenth-century England where religious tolerance did not yet exist and women had no social standing.  Because the Church of England considered her to be a religious dissenter, she constantly suffered for her faith.  Her letters, declarations, and books fought against the system of oppression by appealing to kings, Parliament, and any related governor on behalf of her people.  The writings of Margaret Fell stand as examples of what Kenneth Burke would term “identification rhetoric”, the purpose of which is “to form attitudes or to induce actions in other human agents” (Burke 41).  Such an invitation for action was Fell’s aim, and effects of her work are as significant as altered legislation and increased courage among the Quaker community.

                Margaret Fell was born in Lancashire, England in 1614 to wealthy parents (“A Brief Collection” 1).  Hers was a happy childhood that continued until age seventeen when she married Thomas Fell, a member of Parliament, who eventually became a judge (Latt xiv).  She lived a content life with him in Swarthmore, bearing nine children, though only eight survived into adulthood.  In 1652, George Fox, the father of Quakerism, went to Swarthmore as a missionary, bringing with him Margaret’s life mission.  Fox spoke so convincingly that Fell converted to Quakerism enthusiastically with her husband’s approval (A Brief Collection 3).  Within six years, Judge Fell became ill and died, leaving Margaret alone with her new beliefs and eight children.  Little did she know that his death offered her the freedom to respond to what she perceived as the Lord’s calling.  Two years later, her journey as a missionary and rhetorician began with her first visit to London.  She went there to request an audience with Charles II concerning the release of the Quakers, including George Fox, who were being held captive for their beliefs.  She wrote many letters and papers on behalf of these Friends for over a year until, finally, they were released, allowing her to return to her family (“Life Writings by British Women”).  However, in 1662, even after her victory, she returned to London, not knowing what to expect, saying that the Lord had called her there once more.  She found that Parliament passed an act concerning religious dissenters that resulted in several atrocities against the Quakers.  Fell wrote to James II, Duke of York, on behalf of the Quakers, and later continued her ministry by making a one-thousand-mile journey around England to console suffering Quakers (Latt xiii).  Eventually, she too suffered for her faith and was imprisoned with George Fox for four years until 1668.  Her tribulations still produced joy, and the following year, eleven years after the death of Judge Fell, she married George Fox.  During the course of her life, Fell made nine trips to London, was imprisoned twice, and saw many monarchs on the throne of England.  Partially because of her work, Parliament, under the direction of William and Mary, passed the Toleration Act in 1689 that gave some religious dissenters the right to worship in peace (“Toleration Act”).  Fell was fortunate enough to see these changes before her death at Swarthmore Hall on April 23, 1702 (A Brief Collection 6).

                Margaret Fell lived a long and troubled life, but this was not atypical for Quakers in seventeenth-century England.  In order to understand Fell and her writings, we must first know about her religion.  George Fox, Fell’s second husband, was the father of Quakerism.  Quakers, or “Friends” as they called themselves, were different from the Church of England in that they did not read from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, refused to swear oaths of any kind, and believed that Christ led through an “inner light” more than through his Word, the Bible (Young 52).  Susan Young, from the University of Alberta, describes this final point in contrast to another religious dissenting group called the Protestants well: “Fell Fox and the Quakers pushed Protestant doctrine beyond its belief of the scriptural Word as interpreted by the individual to the authority of Christ speaking within the individual” (Young 45).  This difference was of the highest importance to Anglicans and Protestants because to them the Bible was the only authoritative text.  All of these things caused incredible controversy in Anglican England.  During the reign of King Charles II, for example, Parliament passed the Conventicle Act of 1664 in which anyone over sixteen was not allowed to attend a religious meeting where The Book of Common Prayer was not read (“Conventicle Act”).  Laws like these made it necessary for people such as Fell to protest.  If they had not taken a stand, Quakerism and the separation of church and state we see it today, might not have occurred as it did.

Because Fell traveled alone and spoke for men, something completely uncharacteristic of the time, many believe she was an early feminist, but in light of Quaker culture, we can discern that this is not the case.  Indeed, women were typically confined to their homes during this time.  The abuse that women faced alone on the road resulted from the belief that it was not lawful or appropriate for women to travel alone or to preside over a congregation that included men (Herbert 74).  Margaret Fell, therefore, seems to be a pioneer for women’s rights.  After all, Fell argues against the apostle Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 when he said that only men are permitted to speak authoritatively in church.  Fell vehemently opposes the Bible in her publication entitled Women’s Speaking Justified, but even so, Young makes a strong claim against this belief: “Yes, Fell Fox appropriated the male arena of public space through writing and speaking in her stance against orthodox religious authority. However, [she] did so not on [her] authority as [a woman], but on [her] authority as an expression of God's divine spark” (Young 52).  In order for a woman to be a feminist she must focus on moving the female into arenas of strength and empowerment because she believes in woman as a capable being.  Fell’s actions propelled her onto a predominantly male scene not because she believed in the power of woman, but because she believed in the power of God within his elect.  This fundamental belief of hers came directly from Quakerism.  It is important to make the distinction between the feminist and the believer so that our current knowledge does not color the past.

                Though Fell lived and wrote in a time that did not favor her beliefs and was against her sex, she was able to take a stand.  She accomplished this was through courteously written and carefully measured rhetoric.  Women such as Fell, who came from wealthy households, were allowed a rhetorical education, a luxury often denied women, that came largely through the teachings of the Church of England.  It would not be until the eighteenth century that women would emerge powerfully into the literary scene (Herrick 130).  For Fell, in a manner reminiscent of the Middle Ages, letter writing was a way of showing compliance, that she was making an effort to play by society’s rules of discourse.  She handed out pamphlets, or “papers”, to interested individuals, but reserved letters and “declarations” for authoritative figures (“A Declaration and Information” 1).  Her letters were formally written and properly formatted (Herrick 128).  She addressed authority reverently and used flowery language, typical of the Enlightenment period (Herrick 168).  Within the salutation, the social rank of the individual being addressed and that of the one addressing had to be considered. It was customary to put the name of the person of higher rank first and the name of the other second (Herrick 129).  Fell strictly adheres to this model when she wrote letters.

The salutation of a letter that she wrote to King Charles II reads this way: “A Letter Sent to the King from M.F. &C. King Charles, I desire thee to read this over, which may be for thy satisfaction and thy profit” (“A Letter Sent to the King from M.F.” 2). This letter was Fell’s attempt to reason respectfully with Charles II by using peaceful language and goodwill.  She not only wanted the king to be sympathetic towards her people as he listened to their plight, but desired action from him.  Fell was not quite as docile when she intended to present a complaint combatively.  In a declaration to the king, she wrote the following salutation: “A Declaration and an Information from us the People of God called Quakers, to present Governors, the King, and both houses of Parliament, and all whom it may concern” (“A Declaration and Information” 1).  In this instance, Fell showed herself to be combative by removing goodwill and presenting the Quakers before the lords.  The ensuing opening line is much more direct and curt than Fell’s typical style: “We who are the People of God called Quakers, who are hated and despised, and everywhere spoken against, as people not fit to live… have been a suffering people” (2).  In this way, Fell used style and arrangement to argue both in times of peace and conflict.  She also distinguished between the effectiveness of different styles of writing in order to produce certain effects.

                Fell stayed consistent throughout her writing in a very important way: she chose to use identification to fuel every argument that she made.  Kenneth Burke, a significant rhetorical theorist from the twentieth-century, explains that identification is essential in rhetoric because a person can only understand another inasmuch as they can relate to that person (Herrick 210).  Burke claims that “a speaker persuades an audience by the use of stylistic identifications… for the purpose of causing the audience to identify itself with the speaker’s interests… and draws on identification of interest to establish rapport between himself and his audience” (Burke 46).  Fell considered her audience when she composed her letters, and understood that the people to whom she wrote were often not Quakers.  Her audience, subsequently, did not know how it felt to be persecuted as Quakers were being persecuted, so Fell identified shared experiences.  Everyone fears death, knows pain, and, understands innocence.  Fell capitalized on these shared experiences by pointing out ways that the Church of England killed her people and caused them to suffer even though they were innocent.  She wrote to King Charles II, “We have been a suffering people under every power and change and under every profession of Religion… even some persecuted & prisoned to death” (“A Declaration and Information” 2).  These images close the gap between people that exists naturally from, as Burke claims, a lack of shared property or experience.  This is only one example of Fell’s many appeals made through identification rhetoric.  She further appealed to feelings of, loneliness, martyrdom, and more in her letters to the king and to Parliament (“A Letter Sent to the King from M.F.” 2-5).  Identification is an important part of what made Margaret Fell effective as a rhetorician and as an early Quaker in this tumultuous time.

                After her conversion, Margaret Fell was a strong female Quaker whose ministry had a very distinct impact on England.  Partly due to her work, religious toleration began to emerge in a place where people went to prison for their beliefs.  Her strong educational background, in part provided because of her father’s wealth, provided her with the rhetorical skills that she needed to confront kings, dukes, and Quakers in ways that were appropriate for their respective stations.  Once she developed a platform upon which to speak, identification rhetoric allowed her readers to empathize or sympathize with her and her people.  Fell knew that to restrict action from people or to demand action was not enough.  She had to have “a formative effect upon attitude” (Burke 50).  Attitude could affect future and consistent change while demands would soon be shaken.  Fell is an excellent example of a master rhetorician in the seventeenth century who led the way for the subsequent century.

Works Cited

Burke, Kenneth. “The Range of Rhetoric.” “Traditional Principles of Rhetoric.”  A Rhetoric of          Motives. Berkeley: U of California, 1969. 39,45, 46, 49,50. Print.

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Fell, Margaret. “A brief collection of remarkable passages and occurrences relating to the birth,         education, life, conversion, travels, services, and deep sufferings of that ancient, eminent, and faithful servant of the Lord, Margaret Fell; but by her second marriage, Margaret Fox.” ... London,  1710. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. Georgia State    Univ. 9 Nov. 2014

Fell, Margaret. "A Letter Sent to the King from M.F. Here Is Also Thereunto Annexed a Paper    Written Unto the Magistrates in 1664, Which Was Then Printed, and Should Have Been           Dispersed, but Was Prevented by Wicked Hands / by M.F." Early English Books Online - EEBO. Cambridge University Library, 20 June 1666. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

Fell, Margaret, and David J. Latt. Womens Speaking Justified (1667). Los Angeles: William             Andrews Clark Memorial Library, U of California, 1979. Iii-xiv, 3-5. Print.

Fox, Margaret. "A Declaration and Information from Us the People of God Called Quakers to the Present Governours, the King and Both Houses of Parliament, and All Whom It May            Concern." Early English Books Online - EEBO. Henry E. Huntington Library and Art             Gallery, 1 Jan. 1666. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Herbert, Amanda E. "Companions In Preaching And Suffering: Itinerant Female Quakers                 In The Seventeenth- And Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic World." Early American Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal 9.1 (2011): 73-113. Literary Reference Center.  Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric An Introduction. 05th ed. Upper Saddle          River: Pearson, 2013. 128-130, 168, 210. Print.

"Margaret Fell Fox: 1614-1702." Life-Writings by British Women, 1660-1815: An Anthology. 58-   69. n.p.: University Press of New England, 2000. Literary Reference Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

"Toleration Act". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.  Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/598612/Toleration-Act>.

Young, Susan M. "A Tale Of Three Women: A Conversation With Anne Conway And Margaret Fell Fox." Religious Studies and Theology 26.1 (2007): 45-58. ATLA Religion Database                with ATLASerials. Web. 9 Nov. 2014