Speeches : Edward VIII’s Abdication Speech Flashcards
Edward VIII : Abdication speech
• recorded in Windsor Castle, December 11th 1936
• radio broadcast as majority of England and others around the world had radios vs TVs
• left the throne to marry (American divorcée) Wallis Simpson
• he couldn’t marry her as Head of the Church and State because of Church rules
• was only King for 10 months, made ‘Duke of Windsor’ after abdication
• born: 23rd June 1894, died: 28th May 1972
• Edward and Wallis both Nazi sympathisers
• Hitler offered Edward the throne again if he won the war
Edward refers to his role as ‘King and Emperor’
• bigs himself up to make it seem like a bigger sacrifice
• India still under British rule, so he addresses all under his power
Edward never addresses Wallis by name
• controversy around her and her true intentions
• money, power, status
• an attempt to persuade listeners his reasons for leaving the throne are more honourable and should be respected
Edward uses short and simple sentences throughout the speech
• all make references to him and mention how hard the weight of the crown has been and how he is abdicating with thought and love
• focuses again on himself in an attempt to make the public pity him
He has no verbal pauses or filler phrases despite his slow tempo
• he is reading a pre-planned and written speech
• not thinking on the spot
The final two sentences have a different tone vs the rest of the speech
• rest of the speech is pitiful and doesn’t honour the new kind/ royalty at all
• focuses on Edward
• last two sentences switch to being patriotic and praise the new king (to try and appear respectful)
• “God bless you all! God save the King!”
There has been a great deal of media attention on the issue of Wallis before the speech
• Edward addresses it with “You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne”
• doesnt directly address the issue. Perhaps an attempt to maintain listeners pity and sympathy in order to leave the throne with a good last impression
Edward compares the responsibility and duties as King to a “burden”
• almost all listeners would have been lower working class carrying out manual labour for minimal pay
• they may gave felt unappreciated and angry that someone with immense power and wealth was complaining when they would do anything for just a fraction of it
Edward says it was “not … constitutionally possible” for him to speak freely before the speech
• he was Head of the Church and State
• publicly announcing the rumours would have made him more unpopular and it could’ve caused a civil war or protests and riots against the throne
• he would’ve been made to sign an agreement stating he could not openly speak about the issue before an heir was chosen in order not to panic the public
“At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been conditionally possible for me to speak.”
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Context, mode, purpose, audience
• spoken (read from script)
• live radio (BBC)
• 1936 abdication crisis
• personal statement/ public discourse
Structure
• cyclical (temporal discourse markers: now, at long last, during these days, now)
• cohesion with repetition of ”burden/ new King/ with all my heart/ you/ know/ believe/ decision”
Lexis semantics
• prestige - polysyllabic, Latinate
• more simple when describing emotions
• constitution semantics: personal/ emotive language/ duty/ loyalty/ sacrifice
Grammar syntax fluency
• fluent - reading script (one repair - ”her” instead of “my”)
• hyper correct grammar
• archaic word order
• rhetorical devices
