The Speech without Doors: A Genre, 1627-1769

In 1644 George Wither stood outside or without the doors of the House of Commons and delivered a speech to Parliament and the nation simultaneously. Not only did this "print oration" function as a prototype for Areopagitica, A Speech of John Milton [. . .] to the Parliament of England, but it inspired a genre of print pamphlets that would extend well into the eighteenth century. This article identifies and argues for the popular consequences of the genre, detailing its contribution to England's developing structure of political communication and representation.