Mary Rowlandson vs Anne Bradstreet Essay

In 1678, many of Anne Bradstreet’s poems were published for public view. Throughout her poems Bradstreet tends to use symbolism to express her innermost thoughts and feelings. One of these poems is In Reference to Her Children, 23 June, 1659. Three of the most significant symbols in this poem are the representation of her family as a flock of birds, the dangers in the world, and the expression of her feelings toward her children. Anne Bradstreet’s representation of her family as a flock of birds symbolizes two different things.

Know by Religious Puritans as The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, and known by a more secular audience by the title of, The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is an autobiography written by Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson, tells her story of being held captive by the Indians during King Phillips war. Rowlands account is one of the earliest known “captivity narratives.” The tale of Indian captivity offered a realistic dramatic tale of Indian raids, forced marches, and life among those different from the rest of “normal” society provided an outlet for readers in a culture void of fiction, thus sending Rowlandson’s book to be known as the first bestseller. Rowlandson’s writing is influenced by her Protestant faith

Anne Bradstreet’s feelings about her home represent the most material conflict. When her home burned down she wrote the poem to voice these feelings of hers. She describes the awakening to the “shrieks of dreadful voice” and going out to watch “the flame consume” her “dwelling place”. But she comforts herself with good Puritan dogma. The burning of the house is God’s doing and his doings should not be questioned. In looking over the stanzas where she

Mary Rowlandson was a devoted, Puritan woman of the 1600’s who would eventually go on to pave the way for an entire genre—the captivity genre/narrative. She had several family members murdered and was held captive by Native Americans, but was eventually reunited with her fellow Puritans. She details her experiences in A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson showcases her biblical typology many times and her story and a prime example shown is when she writes, “… my heart began to fail: and I fell aweeping… Although I had met with so much affliction… yet I could not shed one tear…” (Rowlandson 279). She uses typology to understand what is going on in her life and around her and this is displayed when she adds, “But now I may say as Psalm 137.1, ‘By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sate down: yea, we wept when we remembered Zion,” (Rowlandson 279). She used the bible to understand her experiences rather than to see what it is like. She wrote during a very devout, religious era and

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.

As Mary’s story unravels, she continues to suffer long hours of work, starvation, and separation from her family. She reads her holy bible and is constantly reminding herself that God is with her and will see her through these trials. Her spirits are lifted her master agrees to sell Mary to her husband, and her mistress begins the journey with her, but before long the mistress decides not to go any further and they turn back. Not long after, she starts to loose hope that she will ever be reunited with her family. She becomes discouraged, and her spirit

Rowlandson was a 39-year-old Puritan mother of three when she was taken during an Indian raid on her town in 1675. Equiano was an 11-year-old African boy taken from his home by slave traders in 1756. In Mary Rowlandson's "A Narrative of the Captivity" and in Olaudah Equiano's "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano," the narrators discuss their lives, their captivity journeys, and why they did not give up.

Travelling across the ocean to New England, Anne Bradstreet looked to America as a safe place to practice her puritan religion (Eberwein 4). She wrote many poems about her family and experiences, incorporating her faith and personal struggles into her works. A hundred years later, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped from her homeland in Africa and brought to America, where she became a devout Christian and a renowned poet (James). Both women received an education above other women of their time leading to their literary accomplishments. The purpose of this paper is to determine the similarities and differences between Anne Bradstreet’s and Phillis Wheatley’s poems’ content, in terms of their themes and language by answering the following questions.

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.

Anne Bradstreet's poem, To My Dear and Loving Husband, shows her profound love and undying affection for her husband. For a Puritan woman who is supposed to be reserved, Bradstreet makes it her obligation to enlighten her husband of her devotion. She conveys this message through her figurative language and declarative tone by using imagery, repetition, and paradoxes.

The Pressure to Assimilate in Mary Rowlandson’s A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson

When Bradstreet loses her first grandchild, as described in her poem, “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old,” she is upset but not overwhelmingly so. She clearly loved Elizabeth, but she recognizes that the child “for a space was lent” and that God has control over her life and death (2). Bradstreet knows that the child is in a place where she will be happier and

Rowlandson’s captivity novel is one of the first of its kind coupled with John Smith’s personal accounts. The concept of the captivity narrative revolves around the protagonist being torn away from their current life and thrust into one of danger and enslavement. The new and unwanted ways of life often brought turmoil upon those it was thrust upon leading them to hate their existence and many would live their final moments in them. Bridget Bennett’s opinion therefore that Mary Rowlandson perhaps came to enjoy her existence amongst the Indians who enslaved her seems controversial and it’s an opinion I personally disagree with.

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.

Puritans take their relationship with God seriously, see him as good, and rely on the Bible for guidance by reading it diligently. They look for ways that the Bible resembles their own real life situations and try to carry on similar as they did. This is called typology and is reoccurring theme in the narrative, “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration,” written by Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson was taken captive by Indians in 1675, she documented those eleven weeks in this narrative (Rowlandson ,256). It is a tragic tale that starts with seeing her family and friends drowning in their own blood, all the while seeing her old life go up in smoke. Mary is a fine example of puritan faith who never gave up hope. In Mary Rowlandson’s narrative she demonstrates her puritan faith through typology and relying fully on God’s providence to revive her spirit daily.