Anne Bradstreet as First American Feminist Essay

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.

"The Author to Her Book" shows Bradstreet's feelings about the unauthorized printing of her work. She expresses her modesty about her ability to write by comparing her work to "homespun cloth" meaning that is was coarse and unrefined. Bradstreet also uses humor to express her feelings about the publication of her work without corrections, but there is still some genuine discomfort. "At thy return my blushing was not small" shows that she was a bit embarrassed about the world reading her rough drafts, but she amends her view towards the book as the poem continues. "Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend…" illustrates that she truly loves her poetry, and after it is "cleaned" she takes pride in it. She show her delight in her work with the admonition "If for thy Father asked, say thou had'st none." Bradstreet wanted everyone to recognize her for the talented woman writer that she was, but requested this acknowledgment in a humble way.

In lines six through nine Bradstreet associates the embarrassment she feels due to her unperfected work to the embarrassment a parent feels due to an irritable child. She feels ashamed that the "errors were not lessened" (line 6) before the work was printed and refers to it as a "rambling brat" who is "one unfit for light" (line 8-9) because her "child" was taken from her before she had time to prepare it to go out into the world. She is

Anne Bradstreet was not the typical Puritan author. She wrote sweet and loving poems that greatly contrasted from other writers of her time. She did not write the ever so popular sermons that told people that they were going to hell and there was nothing they could do about it. Bradstreet was a rarity in Puritan times, she was a very educated woman that worked on something other than being a woman in the household. She was one of a kind and the beginning of an era. Using literary criticism when reading Anne Bradstreet’s poems adds a deeper understanding of her character and difficulties in life.

In the opening line of “The Author to Her Book”, Bradstreet makes use of a metaphor, in which the “ill-form offspring” (1) emblematizes her book, “The Tenth Muse”, and to create a mother-child relationship between her and the book. The child metaphor allows readers to know that she is not satisfied with her writing skills, but has a devotional bond with it. She points out that her book should never be read by a literature expert due to the wide amount of errors that can be found in her work “made in raggs” (5). She expresses she “wash´d thy face” (13), trying to improve her work, but fails to observe any changes in it and fails in the process. These serve as examples to expose how Puritan women underrated and depreciated their skills, making Puritan community believe that they are inferior to

In Puritan society, women were submissive and socially inferior to men. A woman's main purpose within her community was being a mother, wife, and devout follower of God. Bradstreet was all three: a mother of eight children, a wife to Simon Bradstreet ("Anne Bradstreet"), and a Puritan. However, Bradstreet tested her community by writing of sexual and romantic feelings, when women were not even supposed to speak in public because of the misogyny in Puritanism. Expressing her feelings and devoting less of her time to her children by writing was considered almost sin.

in a book called The Tenth Muse under a male name and without her knowing. Anne Bradstreet’s

Each writer has their own distinct format of protest, but Bradstreet uses her polite and censored language in a fashion that appears self-deprecating, but in reality is perhaps a defensive offense against her critics and those who did not believe in the abilities of a woman. Bradstreet’s earlier works were full of passionate language and ideas, some which would be criticized by many of her superiors in the faith for their content and by English thinkers for her structure. They were very good for her time and the idea that a woman was in reality challenging the best writers of that time was sickening to many and they believed she stole these pieces from a man. In order to save face with her faith community and pacify her critics, she would write

Analyzing Anne Bradstreet’s poems and John Edwards sermons a reader is left to see both their personalities and their styles of writing. Bradstreet states “If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can”(line 3 and 4).Compared to “Many are daily coming from the east,west,north,and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in,are now in a happy state,...and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God”Edwards proclaims (129.) You can tell both of their quotes inspire others to be loyal, and competitive when it comes the time to be. You can tell there loyal by the way Bradstreet shows her loyalty towards her husband, and the way Edwards shows his loyalty to god. They both show that they’re competitive by the way Bradstreet says to compare with her, and Edwards shows that he is competing with other religions saying to convert to

If God is overly praised in her faith. Bradstreet also says, “Such was his will, but why, let’s not dispute.” In this quote she sounds almost as she is being suppressed or shushed. She says it sarcastically as if she is saying what she is supposed to say after stopping herself. From the poem, “Oh My Dear Grandchild…..”

In all of Bradstreet’s works she is constantly expressing herself through her figurative language that whoever reads the poetry

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

Quite atypically for a renowned American poet, Anne Bradstreet was an English-born writer who moved to America in 1630 after enduring an arduous journey (“Anne Bradstreet”). Bradstreet was a devoutly religious Puritan, following the precedent of her father and husband, the most prominent men in her life. Her dedicated Puritan beliefs greatly molded her writings. Many of her poems contain references to sin, redemption, and immortality among other recurrent Puritan topics (“Anne Bradstreet”). Anne Bradstreet’s published poetry collections were the first published works of poetry by an English-American (Eberwein 161-163). Anne Bradstreet was a groundbreaking writer as the first English-American poet of her time; her life experiences, Puritan