Anne Bradstreet Hardships

Throughout women in colonial America, Anne Bradstreet was one of the strongest and influential figures of the time. Mrs. Bradstreet lived from the years 1612 through 1672 not knowing she would inspire later generations with her works and actions. Ever since a little girl, Anne’s father, Thomas Dudley, would make Anne write poetry so they could read together. Anne later married Simon Bradstreet, a future governor, at the age of sixteen years old and boarded on the ship Arbella headed to Plymouth, Massachusetts, with the famous sermoner John Winthrop??? In the famous writings of the poet, we learn Anne has a personal and formal writing voice. Anne writes in Iambic Pentameter, Couplets, and Paradox. Anne became a well-known colonial writer not

Anne Bradstreet was a woman in conflict. She was a Puritan wife and a poet. There is a conflict between Puritan theology and her own personal feelings on life. Many of her poems reveal her eternal conflict regarding her emotions and the beliefs of her religion. The two often stood in direct opposition to each other. Her Puritan faith demanded that she seek salvation and the promises of Heaven. However, Bradstreet felt more strongly about her life on Earth. She was very. She was very attached to her family and community. Bradstreet loved her life and the Earth.

Anne Bradstreet was America's first noteworthy poet in spite of the fact that she was a woman. Both the daughter and wife of Massachusetts governors, Bradstreet suffered all of the hardships of colonial life, was a mother, and still found time to write. Her poem, "The Author to Her Book," is an example of Bradstreet's excellent use of literary techniques while expressing genuine emotion and using domestic subject matter.

In “The Author to Her Book,” Bradstreet is inundated in indecision and internal struggles over the virtues and shortfalls of her abilities and the book that she produced. As human beings we associate and sympathize with each other through similar experiences. It is difficult to sympathize with someone when you don’t know where they are coming from and don’t know what they are dealing with. Similar experiences and common bonds are what allow us to extend our sincere appreciation and understanding for another human being’s situation. In this poem an elaborate struggle between pride and shame manifests itself through an extended metaphor in which she equates her book to her own child.

Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 as a Puritan. In Puritan culture education was essential in order for one to be able to read and understand the Bible. This allowed Bradstreet to be well educated in literature and history, particularly in Greek, Latin, French, Hebrew, as well as English (Woodleif). Woodleif goes into detail discussing Bradstreet’s education, explaining, “She read widely in history, science, and literature, especially the works of Guillame du Bartas, studying her craft and gradually developing a confident poetic voice.” Her intellectual education resulted in a huge impact on her life.

Anne Bradstreet was not only the first English-speaking, North American poet, but she was also the first American, woman poet to have her works published. In 1650, without her knowledge, Bradstreet’s brother-in-law had many of her poems published in a collection called The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America. Although these poems did not reflect what would be her best work, they did emulate what would be the greatest influence on all of her writing. Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan life was the strongest, and the most obvious influence on her work. Whether it was her reason for writing, how she wrote, or what she wrote about, Bradstreet’s poems would reflect the influence of Puritan life and doctrine.

In detail, Anne Hutchinson was first born as Anne Marbury, and she was a daughter of an Anglican clergyman and an herbalist. In 1591, Anne Marbury was born in a town named Alford in Lincolnshire, England. However, according to Biography.com, her birth date was not exact, and the only evidence of her birth was her a record of her baptism on July 20, 1591. Anne Marbury grew up in an usual environment for a little girl. “Her father instilled her

Leader and midwife, Anne Hutchinson, was born in Alford,England. As a child, she learned from her father that questioning religious teachings from the Church of England is an acceptable task. Her father

Anne Hutchinson was born in England on July 20, 1591. Her parents, Bridget Dryden and Francis Maybury was a Deacon in the Church of England. Her father, Francis Mayberry, had his own beliefs regarding the poor training of English clergymen, and for that he faced a lot of time in imprisonment. In 1612, Anne married a London Merchant named William Hutchinson and later moved to Alford and began attending a service under a preacher, Reverend John Cotton, at St. Botophs’s in Boston, Lincolnshire. John Cotton played a major influence in Anne Hutchinson’s life, because of him, she began to lead weekly prayer meetings in her home. Like her dad, John Cotton was threatened with imprisonment to he fled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633. Anne and her husband later followed him in 1634.

Ann Bradstreet was always very close with her father Thomas Dudley. Thomas Dudley wanted to make sure she received a superior education and passed on his Puritan beliefs to her. Ann writes that when she moved with her family to the “new world,” her “heart rose” in resistance towards this “new world and new manners”. “After I was convinced it was the way of God, I submitted to it and joined the church at Boston”(1). Unfortunately, Anne’s daily life was hard because the rheumatic fever she had as a child compromised her health and left her with frequent fatigue. Even so, she still risked dying during childbirth which was a common issue at the time, and she did so eight times.

women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few

Bradstreet's attitude changes over the poem as she realizes that she should look at losing all of her things could be more than just a negative outcome.

Anne Bradstreet, as a poet, wrote as both a Puritan woman in her time and as a woman ahead of her time. Zach Hutchins analyzed this tension in “The Wisdom of Anne Bradstreet: Eschewing Eve and Emulating Elizabeth”, and makes a primary argument that three of Bradstreet’s poems provide evidence that Bradstreet rejects the Puritan views of a woman while keeping her own personal faith. Hutchins fither his argument by declaring that readers should not view Bradstreet as a symbol of rebellion or submission, instead as a symbol of wisdom.

In the 1600’s, Puritans living in both England and New England held their views on God rather tightly and lived their lives as good Christians. Puritans were selfless individuals who had escaped and came to America in search of religious freedom and peace. In literature during that time period, it is made very clear that everything the Puritans had accomplished or acquired was a result of God, and that they were forever in his debt. One of the great poets from this time era was Anne Bradstreet who wrote about her children, husband, and parents. Anne Bradstreet blended her domestic life with theological imagery in every poem she did, explaining that her grandchildren were merely lent to her but

Anne Bradstreet is well-recognized because she was the first female American poet. The previous statement makes it seem as if her poems are only noteworthy due to her literary importance in history outweighing her poetic artistry. Luisa Hall in The Influence of Anne Bradstreet’s Innovative Errors explains that “the problem Bradstreet faces...is not the problem of being a woman or being the first American poet, but...fearing she has no right to speak, of fearing her voice cannot insert itself into English literary history” (23). Another writer that supports Hall’s claim is Catherine Sedgwick: “Sedgwick’s ability to champion an expansion of woman’s sphere beyond domestic settings was blunted by “deep inner restraints” that derived from her