Identification in Checkers Speech and "The Queen"

Kenneth Burke's concept of identification plays a large role in both President Nixon's Checkers speech and Queen Elizabeth's (played by Helen Mirren) public statement in "The Queen." The direct use of identification enables Nixon and Queen Elizabeth to relate to their respective public entities and ultimately stay in good stead.

In her article, Marie Hochmuth Nichols cites Burke: "...we might well keep in mind that a speaker persuades an audience by the use of stylistic identifications; his act of persuasion may be for the purpose of causing the audience to identify itself with the speaker's interests..."

This concept is executed in Nixon's 1952 Checkers speech. In order to regain the public's trust, he insists he is an honest, hardworking family man - just like many other Americans. He further illustrates this persona by incorporating another aspect of Burke's pentad - the scene. He strategically places his obliging wife, Pat, by his side. He delivers his speech at a desk in front of a set of books. While the factual integrity of what he had earned and owed is questionable, he ultimately won over the public by directly identifying himself with the everyday people.

Similarly, when Queen Elizabeth finally agrees to address the public after Princess Diana's death, she employs the Burkean tools of identification and scene. She gives her speech with the mourning public behind her at Kensington Palace. Knowing how low her popularity had dropped due to not addressing the death, the Queen incorporated careful and deliberate wording to relate to the public. She used phrases such as, "as a grandmother," which struck a maternal note, resonating with not only the British, but families everywhere. Like Nixon's speech, it is up for debate regarding how authentic her words were, but the public regained confidence in the monarchy after she stepped out.