Margaret Fell

Although the focus of this class recently has been on the importance of written rhetoric and published rhetoric, Margaret Fell became a victim of this system. The importance shifted from oral speech to written testimonies. Today, a written document is much more widely-used and credible in comparison to oral references.

In fact, when was the last time I used an oral interview as a source in one of my papers? I would have to go back to high school. They simply aren't used. Instead of citing TV interviews, expert interviews, or etc., students and scholars look for written transcripts. They are more "concrete" and easier to use. I don't mean to spend too much time on this subject, but I do think it is important today. Ancient rhetors, today, are viewed because of their surviving written works. Their importance and credibility to the rhetoric subject as a whole is looked at based on their published works.

This is where Margaret Fell will always lack behind the rest of the pack. Her scripture-heavy Quaker rhetoric has lost some of its luster because of the inability for it to make its way into wide print. Although she has had fair share of published works (Women's Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed by the Scriptures), she was barred for publication throughout her life. With her first marriage, she had legal protection (Thomas Fell was a lawyer). His legal protection didn't help her in the publication realm, although she was a well-versed writer. In fact, Thomas even helped block some of her publications.

Once her husband died, she was imprisoned due to her lack of legal protection. Although she didn't do anything to necessarily deserve the punishment, it added to the controversy of her rhetoric. Instead of spreading her word and her rhetoric through scripture and publication, she was restricted by the legal realm of society. Her new religion, and arguably her sex, contributed to the lack of written publication that is readily available to study today.

With written testimony being the most important, it is difficult to disagree that it hurt the reputation, credibility, and validity of Fell's rhetoric.