Summary Of Eliza Stacey's Letter To Father In Law

In her letter to her father-in-law, Eliza Stacey expresses her need and very subtly persuades him into helping her financially, as he had done before. In her time of need, Eliza uses ethos, pathos, and anecdotes to acquire the sympathy of her father-in-law. Eliza’s relationship to Edward Stacey and his son is used to establish a sort of credibility in just the first line. Addressing him by “My dear Father-in-law” rather than by name is a clever and subtle use of ethos on Eliza’s part because establishing her position as a family member immediately implies that Edward has some sort of moral duty to take care of her. In her introductory paragraph, she applies pathos and emotional appeal when mentioning that her “spirits have never been duly elated”. Opening so sullenly sets the tone for the rest of her letter and permits and encourages pity from its reader, Edward. Pity and sympathy are powerful emotions to invoke in a reader and are similarly
By telling edward details in chronological order as she does in lines 7-36, Edward can feel fully informed and even immersed in the matter. By making Edward feel fully informed and immersed, Eliza can almost persuade him to feel as if her problem is shared and apply more sympathy to her predicament. Within this anecdote, Eliza describes their horse being killed and ho this may justify why her family had not paid their debt. Using this defense is a demonstration of ethos as she is illustrated to be logical and forgiving of the “unscrupulous rogue”. If Edward were to consider her forgiving and generous character, then he himself may feel more inclined to act with generosity and be persuaded to help her. Another use of ethos and pathos is in the repeated reminding of the fact that she’s expecting a baby such as in lines 28, 42, 47, and 58. Her character as a mother, and a single mother at that, is sure to invoke emotion in her