Carry Opinion With You, by Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

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THE second is that you should bear in mind that from this day forth, you are not mere isolated units in society, you are not merely women who desire to help the best interests of all women, but that you are members of a noble profession, and that you have the responsibility which is linked with comradeship towards every other medical person, man or woman. Let us strive to enter into the common life, let us free ourselves from petty jealousies, let us ignore all that is opposed to comradeship in the attitude of others towards us,* and never allow ourselves to be guilty in the same way towards them, seeking in all things to promote the highest aims and interests of the profession, to purge it of its flaws and to add to its honour.

by Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 1836-1917

From ‘Inaugural address delivered by Mrs Garrett Anderson, MD’ by Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917).

* See also Ralph Waldo Emerson on No Offence.

Précis

Anderson went on to say that the new students should see themselves not just as women breaking down barriers or serving the public, but as members of an honourable profession; and for the sake of pride in the reputation of doctors everywhere, they should treat their male colleagues with respect, even if the respect was not always mutual.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate her ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Précis

Questions for Critics

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