Mary Rowlandson vs Anne Bradstreet Essay

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Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet are two women with different stories and one similar faith. Their similar faith in God and passion for writing allowed the two women to survive the contrast of hardships each woman had to endure. Furthermore, in this essay, I will compare and contrast the lives and faith of Rowlandson and Bradstreet. In the story “Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” written by Mary Rowlandson herself, we read that she is taken captive by a group of Indians. Rowlandson was torn away from husband, children, and town. Everything she had ever known was taken away from her in an instant and she was taken to unfamiliar territory with her youngest daughter in tow. If being took captive wasn’t…show more content…
If it wasn’t for those things, Rowlandson would have most likely developed a mental illness. Similarly, Bradstreet, like Rowlandson, also became very lonely, despite having her children around for her husband was gone a lot of the time. “Simon [Bradstreet’s] political duties kept him traveling to various colonies on diplomatic errands, so Anne would spend her lonely days and nights reading from her father's vast collection of books, and educating her children.”(annebradstreet.com) As you can see, Anne was left alone with her children most of the time.
Mary Rowlandson was kidnapped unlike Bradstreet. Because Rowlandson was kidnapped, this influenced a lot of things in her life. More specifically, Rowlandson’s writing. Rowlandson used her experience to influence her writing, teach other people moral lessons, and educate them on the dangers of the outside world. From the multiple biblical references in her narrative, I cannot help but come to the conclusion that Rowlandson is not just putting the verses in there for herself. But that she is trying to teach the reader a lesson by telling them not to stray from God when times are tough, and not to move from salvation. On the contrary, Bradstreet was far from being kidnapped. Because Bradstreet had different experiences than Rowlandson, the themes and messages behind her poetry is different than Mary’s. Bradstreet’s poetry was mostly about her own feelings. According to one
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