Mundos Anglófonos UNED.

PEC
Freedom or Death 2018-2019
Filología Inglesa
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
5 pag.

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Grado en Estudios Ingleses

Mundos Anglófonos

Prueba de Evaluación Continua

Diciembre 2018

Comentario de Texto:
Emmeline Pankhurst. Freedom or Death. 1913

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Emmeline Pankhurst. Freedom or Death. 1913

This is a political and historical speech which was given by Emmeline

Pankhurst on November 1913, when she was in Hartford, Connecticut,
specifically at Parson’s Theater. She was there to raise money for the WSPU
(Women's Social and Political Union) and to let Americans known what was
taking place in Britain with women’s rights to vote.

It was delivered in an unfair context for women; in fact, they were

struggling harder to get the same rights that men had, in this case, the right to
vote. It wouldn’t be until 1918, where women get it – and not completely – in the
Representation of People Act (“6 February 1918: Women get the vote for the
first time”, BBC, 6 Feb. 2018, bbc.co.uk/newsround/42794339).

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was a leading figure in the British

women’s suffrage movement, and was one of the founding members of the
Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903 (UK Parliament, n.d.,
parliament.uk/about/art-in-parliament/online-exhibitions/elections-and-voting/
sylvia-and-emmeline-pankhurst/emmeline-pankhurst). She was a key person in
this subject; previously, she helped to start a group of women who fought for
their right to vote. It was called “The Suffragettes”.

The speech was listened by a group of people which had gathered in

Parson’s theater. They were there to listen her drawing parallels between the
situation of British women and the American War of Independence (“Emmeline
Pankhurst Hartford Speech November 1913 | Suffragettes | 4 Minute History”,
Youtube, 23 Nov. 2017, youtube.com/watch?v=NL5s9dk9U4w).

As Pankhurst said at the beginning of her speech, she wasn’t there as an

advocate. She pointed out that she was there as a soldier, and she said that
due to she had been temporary released from prison because of her weakness,
given that – as many of the other suffragettes – she had gone on hunger strike.

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Once recovered, she could be re-imprisoned, according to an Act popularly

known as the Cat and Mouse Act ("Cat and Mouse Act, 1913”, UK Parliament,
n.d., parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/
womenvote/unesco/cat-and-mouse-act/).

Throughout her speech, she let the audience know the differences
between men and women rights; and to make it possible, she asked men of the
theatre to imagine themselves not being in the position of vote, in that case they
would have to choose between submit or to rise up. She also compared women
situation in Britain with the tea party of Boston, incident in which chests of tea
belonging to the British East India Company were thrown from ships into Boston
Harbor by American patriots protesting both a tax on tea and the
perceived monopoly of the East India Company (“Boston Tea Party”,
History.com editors, 13 Sept. 2018, history.com/topics/american-revolution/
boston-tea-party).

In her speech, she used a metaphor of two babies: the patient and the
impatient. She said that the impatient would be attended to sooner. She also
used a proverb, when she said than “you cannot make omelettes without
breaking eggs”, a proverb that dates back to 1859 (T.P. Thompson, Oxford
Dictionary of Proverbs). In both ways, she justified their need to lead the
struggle to a higher level, e.g.: cutting the wires to prevent stockbrokers from
telegraphing.

Not only was there to struggle for women right to vote but she also was
there to struggle for their right to not being imprisoned for doing it. She
distinguished their struggle from anyone else, because, as she said, they
belonged to every class of the community, and they had no intention to stop,
whatever it took.

She censured the British Government attitude, when it wasn’t able to deal
with insurgent women. According to her, women had consented to be unjustly
governed, but women had begun a war and they were not going to stop; in
some way, she gave reason to their need to jeopardize their lives and careers,
that’s what lead to the title used: “Freedom or death”.

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She censured more the “Cat and Mouse Act”, which had failed, given that
women went on with their fight, once they got well.

The speech has different points: the main one is the struggle of women
for their right to vote, and from it, flow others like the struggle of women for
dignity (Cat and Mouse Act, imprisonments, etc.) and for the equality of men
and women.

It was delivered in 1913; women were fighting for their right to vote since
the early 1900s, given that men could already vote some years before.

It’s not only a political speech itself, it’s also historical; in fact, it’s argued
as one of the most important speeches of the 20th century. A few years after
women finally got their right to vote.

In my opinion, generally women, and especially Pankhurst, were sick and

tired of many injustices they had been suffering for a long time. The struggle for
women rights is a long one, in fact, it’s already on. She seems to be a very
strong woman, and, in some parts of the speech, a very combative one, actually
she uses military words very often, such as “field of battle, soldier, war, civil war,
bloodshed, freedom, death, killed…”

It gives the impression that she had reached the top, and once and for
all, women had to be granted the right to vote, no matter what it took. And, in
some way, it worked; women got their right to vote although they keep
struggling for many other rights.

As a whole, the speech has a very strong force within, and Pankhurst is
the main responsible. She has all the things clear, and doesn’t regret at no time
during the dissertation.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• “6 February 1918: Women get the vote for the first time“ https://
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42794339

• “Emmeline Pankhurst, Art in Parliament” https://www.parliament.uk/

about/art-in-parliament/online-exhibitions/elections-and-voting/sylvia-and-
emmeline-pankhurst/emmeline-pankhurst/

• Emmeline Pankhurst Hartford Speech November 1913 | Suffragettes | 4

Minute History

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL5s9dk9U4w

• “Cat and Mouse Act, 1913

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/
electionsvoting/womenvote/unesco/cat-and-mouse-act/

• “Boston Tea Party”

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party

• The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs

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