Research Paper On Anne Bradstreet

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 1630 at the age of eighteen, she arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from Europe with other Puritans. From a prominent family, Bradstreet had a comfortable life and strong education, having learned Greek, Latin, French, and Hebrew, as well as reading a fair amount of poetry. Though facing many hardships in the New World, Bradstreet was able to find time to write poetry, which she could only accomplish at night due to her daytime jobs and duties as a housewife. Through her writings, she spoke about her day to day experiences as a typical seventeenth century New England woman, as well as expressing her disapproval for the lack of value placed on female accomplishments in society. Bradstreet truly cared about the opinions she was expressing to the public and raising awareness of the way women were treated, and her dedication was apparent through her sacrifice of time and sleep for the cause. Though her efforts were strong, she mostly shared her opinion through publications, not taking a role to stand up against her oppressors and inflict change. She mentioned women’s rights and spoke against them, but never was an influential social advocate in her community for her opinions, working to change the way things were. Instead, she took expressed her thoughts in a meek way, which is why she is not the best representative of women’s

In Puritan society, even though men and female had the access to education, a very short amount of women attended in comparison to men. It is of our knowledge that in puritan society, only men were allowed to instruct their families and influence in decisions making. Anne Bradstreet was a member of a group of women, who receive no formal education. However, she was part of a well-educated family, and had access to a large collection of books, which provided her knowledge and inspiration write books and poems at a young age. Puritans believed in humbleness, simplicity, and different roles for men and women, as they considered men superior to women. The speaker realizes that the content of it is not worthy of being published, as a consequence of her scarcity of her schooling. Bradstreet expresses fake humility towards her work to reject Puritan beliefs that women were not skilled as men, and to portray life as a Puritan women.

She establishes that she has tried to make her work better, but in the end, her efforts were all for naught, since nothing was enhanced. The poet believes that her book is of inferior quality compared to the works of other authors in the time period and affirms that the “home-spun cloth” is better fitting to roam among the vulgars (18, 19). She denotes that because she perceives her work to be trash like, the critics will also hold the same negative perception, if not worse, which is why Bradstreet is so concerned about her work being exposed to the public and keeping it away. Moreover, the poet seems to touch on the subject of feminism. In the last few lines where she expresses that if someone asks about the father of her child, the answer is that it does not have one and if asked for the mother, to say that she was forced to sell her own child because she was poor (22, 23). While this may seem odd, Bradstreet is trying to assert that her work is a result of her own ideas and efforts and no one else is responsible for it. In her statement, she is very confident because she wrote the poem in the seventeenth century, before notable moments in history were made by women in an effort to gain equality. Bradstreet is able to portray to the audience that although she bears a critical attitude towards her work, she acknowledges the fact that she wrote it by herself

When I read both Anne Bradstreet’s poems, “The Prologue” and “Contemplations” I realized that she is an excellent poet. Her ability to make you feel like you are there experiencing the situation with her. In contemplations she says, “Some time now past in the autumnal tide…The trees all richly clad, yet void of pride, were gilded o’er by rich golden head. Their leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue; Rapt were my senses at this delectable view.” (Bradstreet p.112) I believe the intended audience for these poems were her male critics who believed woman were too inferior to be poets. She did not want to outdo male poets even though she showed she could. In fact, all she wanted was woman to be recognized as poets.

What is Puritan Literature? Puritan Literature are writings about God and the Puritan Religion. One example of Puritan literature is “Verses Upon the Burning of our House” by Anne Bradstreet. One day when Anne was sleeping she woke woke up to her house being on fire. Her house was burned to the ground and all her possessions were gone. Another example of Puritan Literature is Jonathan Edwards sermon “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” is about getting people to convert to Puritanism. Those who sin will be thrown into Hell and will feel the wrath of God and be thrown into Hell. “Verses upon the burning of our House” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” have their differences and similarities.

In 1612, Anne Bradstreet was born in Northamptonshire, England as Anne Dudley. Anne was born to a nonconformist former soldier of Queen Elizabeth, Thomas Dudley, who managed the affairs of the Earl of Lincoln. In 1630 with his family for America with the Massachusetts Bay Company. Aboard his ship, was his associate Simon Bradstreet, who soon married Anne.

Anne Bradstreet wasn’t always her name, It was Anne Dudley. Daughter of Thomas Dudley a former nonconformist of Queen Elizabeth and Dorothy Yorke. She became a Bradstreet when her and her father met Simon Bradstreet. Also like her father a very high in class man. She ended up marrying Simon in 1630 and they had 8 children. She met him in in Northampton, where many people were Puritan.

The name Anne Bradstreet may not be as infamous to some ears as the name Virginia Woolf or Mary Shelley, but her influence on the inclusion of women in a predominantly “male society” prevails nonetheless and reigns just as prominent as other women of her time. Anne Bradstreet was a devoted wife and mother, who was also bound by the impediments of being a Puritan woman. In fact, she summited herself to her husband and demonstrates her perpetual affection toward her children in her poem “In Reference to Her Children”. In her work “The Prologue”, Bradstreet does not request complete gender equality, but suggests women obtain acknowledgment for their work. Members of her community

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

Anne Bradstreet was the first Puritan poet, and maybe the first female poet, in American Literature. A mother and a wife, Bradstreet was caring and showed that within her work. She greatly impacted the poetry scene with her words and unlikely success. Anne Dudley was born in Northampton, England, on March 20th, 1612. She was sometimes considered a feminist and a free thinker.

As a Puritan woman, Anne Bradstreet was reared in a religion where women were subservient to men, life was hard, and the whole of one's life was centered on The Bible. In her poem "The Prologue," Bradstreet writes that her desire to be a poet is against the norm for women of her time. Men around her say that "my hand a needle better fits" (Bradstreet line 32). Not only does she speak about the rigorous nature of her

Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan woman who came to America as a teenager. She was well educated during her childhood,however, she never attended school as a child. Mrs. Bradstreet struggled throughout her life in America both physically and mentally. Her father and husband were both very impactful men on not only her, but also the massachusetts colony. This put a mountain of stress on Mrs. Bradstreet. She was generally known as the first poet in the new world. Being that she was a woman makes that title much bigger of a accomplishment on its own because it was unheard of for a woman to be a writer in her times. Anne Bradstreet was a puritan woman who struggled to find answers about the questions she had both spiritually and worldly,so

Does gender explain the importance of a poet? Gender is just the state of being male or female. When it comes to gender no gender is superior than the other. Some individuals would imagine a poet becoming important by them excelling intellectually, being able to write about the things one could relate to, and sometimes being that voice for those who cannot be heard. Anne Bradstreet, an early American poet, takes on the gender stereotypes of women not being better poets than men in her poem “The Prologue”. Bradstreet was born in Northampton, England, in 1612, and was living during a period when women could not voice an opinion. If they opposed the punishment was death or in some cases banishment. She was the first women to be recognized as an accomplished New World poet. Although Bradstreet never went to school she was well tutored in literature and history in Greek, Latin, French, Hebrew, and English. Some of her most popular works are, “The Prologue”, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment,” and “The Author to Her Book”. Anne Bradstreet’s “The Prologue” is basically Bradstreet’s apology for her book of poems She wants to apologize that her poems are not so great as the those of the other poets, men. She also includes that she does not want to be this famous poet, she just wants some acknowledgement of her work; with

Anne Bradstreet was the first American poet and woman writer of America. Bradstreet was a well-educated woman; she used her father’s library to educate her self. Bradstreet’s writings were about her personal and puritan life. Her poetry expresses emotional and personal feelings. She produces a strong Puritan voice and also was one of the first to write English in the American colonies. Anne Bradstreet individualism lies in her choice of material rather than her style.