Rherorical Analysis Of Earl Spencer

’s Eulogy Essay, Research Paper

The three rhetorical theories that are portrayed strongly through out Earl

Spencer.s Eulogy to Princess Diana are Vilification, Rhetorical Situation, and

Metaphorical Devices. His devices are used to depict the media and family for

the main cause of Princess Diana.s death. This eulogy is so controversial

because normally eulogies are positive tributes about one.s life. The Vilification

theory is usually unheard of in eulogies, and the way he presents such

metaphors are certainly not becoming of the media and the royal family.

Vilification, is a rhetorical strategy that discredits adversaries by

characterizing them as ungenuine and malevolent advocates, developed by

Marsha L. Vandorford it is heard through out Earl Spencer.s speech. This

strategy does not differentiate opponents as good people with a difference of

opinion, vilification deligitimizes them through characteristics of inventions,

purposes, and identities.

There are a few forms and functions of Vilification. It formulates a specific

adversarial force (identifying the enemy), casts opponents in a negative light

(portraying them as corrupt and immoral, defining the speaker as moral and

just), it also magnifies the opponents power ( striping them of legitimacy through

one or more combinations of these forms.)

There are significant statements that portray the vilification strategy in

Earl Spencer.s Eulogy. He talks about Princess Diana.s yearning to get out of

England, because .the treatment that she had received at the hands of the

newspaper.. He remarks on how baffling it was that .the media was always on a

permanent quest to bring the princess down., and how she was .probably the

most hunted person of modern age.. These citations represent the forms of

Vilification. Marsha Vanderford would agree that the media would be the

formulating the enemy. He did not make any kind remarks towards them, and it

also made the public think about how much they did hurt Diana. Therefore

damaging reporters reputations. We know that people live for the gossip that is

published out there on the newsstands, but important figures have started to

shut the media out in their private lives, in hopes that there will not be another

tragedy like this. If the media backed off of this problem, it might not have

happened in the first place, and they could still be receiving coverage and

interviews by more people. (Vanderford 216-218)

The second device, The rhetorical situation, is one of the most

fundamental and useful concepts. The term was first used by Lloyd Bitzer

(1968) in “The Rhetorical Situation,” to refer to all the features of audience,

purpose, and exigency that serve to create a moment suitable for a rhetorical

response.(Zepernick 1-2) The concept itself, however, is a very ancient one and

appears in some form in many earlier treatises, including Aristotle’s Rhetoric and

Cicero’s De Oratore.

The rhetorical situation can be understood as the circumstances under

which the rhetor writes or speaks. This includes the nature and disposition of

the audience, the exigence that impels the writer to enter the conversation, the

writer’s goal or purpose, and also the general state of the world outside the more

specific context of the issue at hand. All of these elements work together to

determine what kinds of arguments will be effective, or as Aristotle would say

.the available means of persuasion..

Spencer.s speech does include the main elements of a rhetorical situation

(exigency, audience, and context/constraints). The exigency is not only

important because it is the eulogy of his sisters funeral, but he touches on

issues that are rare to a eulogy, as well as bringing up many of Diana.s fine

traits. Spencer .condemned Diana.s tormentor.s in the media, and reprimanded

the royal family for revoking the princess. title.. Bringing up such constraints in

this text he was aware of the .eye brows he was going to raise., since the

Windsor family was so prim and proper. What better time to reprimand the

media and family than this speech. Spencer was obviously aware that more

than 2.5 billion people were going to tune into this dreadful occasion. He also

spoke of the wonderful things Diana done for the world and great times they had

shared together as children and adults. He clearly touched on every aspect of

his audience the media, family, and the world. Lloyd would agree that the

exigency and goals were to inform the general pubic of how corruptness of the

royal family and media truly affected this great women. That Spencer did

demonstrate the main purpose of a rhetorical situation, by incorporating all of the

three main elements of a rhetorical situation cohesively.

The last theory demonstrated in Spencer.s eulogy was metaphorical

devices. A metaphor is a comparison which imaginatively ide

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