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Position of women in puritan society
Position of women in puritan society
Women's role in puritan society
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Recommended: Position of women in puritan society
LaPlante, Eve. Amrican Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans. New York: Harper Collins, 2004.
Anne Hutchinson was a remarkable colonial woman who first came to Massachusetts in the fall of 1634. She is less remembered for her contributions in the new world as a wife, mother of fourteen, and midwife to many than for her eventual trial and banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I was interested in writing a paper on a colonial woman and chose Anne Hutchinson after a "Google" search turned up a very good review on a recent book about her life. I have been intrigued by the fact that the Puritans came to America to practice their religion freely, yet allowed no freedom to question their doctrine. The book, American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans, is an excellent examination of this lack of religious freedom and the life of a woman that intersects it.
Anne Marbury Hutchinson was the second born child of a Cambridge educated, outspoken Anglican preacher named Francis Marbury. She was born at a time when he was openly quarrelling with church leaders about their "catholic tendencies" and the selection of "ill-educated Bishops that in turn chose poorly trained ministers" (LaPlante, p. 33). Francis was eventually put on trial and accused of being a Puritan. He won his trial but was removed from his church and sentenced to be at home. This time was to have a big impact on the lives of his children, especially Anne.
Francis Marbury was considered to be a gifted preacher and teacher. It seems he was quite passionate about it. When he no longer had a public forum for these activities he focused his attentions in this area on ...
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...factor for her to move one more time into Dutch territory. After her move in the summer of 1643, Anne and her family were killed by Indians. She was survived by six of her children and over 30 grandchildren. Descendants of these survivors include: Anne's great-great grandson Thomas Hutchinson who became a Governor of Massachusetts, her sixth great grandson Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and her ninth great grandson George H.W. Bush and his son George W. who although he did not win the presidential election in 2000, now holds the highest office in the country. (p.243). LaPlante also includes a tour one could follow to see Anne Hutchinson sites in Boston, Rhode Island and New York. On my next trip back east I will bring this book and see these sights. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in women of importance in our American history.
Women did not have many rights during 1616-1768, these three prominent women Pocahontas, Anne Hutchinson and Hannah Griffitts, will show many changes for women symbols from the Colony America, American Christianity to Boycotting British Goods. All three were involved in religious, political and cultural aspects during there time, making many changes and history. There are three documents that will be used to compare these three women Pocahontas Engraving (1616), Simon Van De Passee, The Examination of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson at the Court at Newton (1637), David D. Hall and Women’s Role In Boycotting English Goods, Hannah Griffits (1768), The Female Patriots.
The religious views of the Indians and the Europeans were different. The Natives were very willing to take up Catholicism as an addition to their religious practice. Although, the Spanish misinterpreted the situation and thought that the Indians were accepting Catholicism as their only religion. If all Natives would have truly converted to Catholicism, then it would have resulted with their own religious practices dying out and Catholicism becoming the only religion. The Native’s refusal to give up their own religious practice, I would say, played a key role in setting a precedent for other believers to continue having the same perspective or form a new one. Similarly, Anne Hutchinson and George Whitfield changed their perspective on how much
Literary historicism, in the context of this discussion, describes the interpretation of literary or historical texts with respect to the cultural and temporal conditions in which they were produced. This means that the text not only catalogues how individuals respond to their particular circumstances, but also chronicles the movements and inclinations of an age as expressed in the rhetorical devices of its literature. Evaluating the trial of Anne Hutchinson within such a theoretical framework means speculating on the genesis of her theological beliefs with recourse to prevailing theories of gender, class, and interpretation. Because texts are self-contained spheres of discourse, nuanced interpretations of them can be undertaken with greater assiduity than in the case of individuals whose private experiences remain largely concealed from the interpreter's knowledge. A historical analysis of Anne Hutchinson herself is hence, in the present discussion, secondary to the analysis of how she comes across in textual discourse as a palimpsest of seventeenth century gender controversy.
Set in the Colonial American village of Salem in Massachusetts around the year of 1692, A Delusion of Satan opens by describing, in depth, the puritan lifestyle. Ranging from the social aspects, to the religious aspects, to the political aspects of puritan living, Frances Hill leaves no stone unturned in giving the most accurate and relatable descriptions of the topics at hand before diving into the trials themselves. I particularly enjoy the depth of description that Hill provides when giving you the background information such as the puritan lifestyle; without setting a strong foundation, certain things may not make sense further into the book.
How was Anne Hutchinson's trial an ordeal for her and how was it an ordeal for
Rev. Marbury spoke out that many of the ordained ministers in the Church of England were unfit to guide people's souls. For this act of defiance, he was put in jail for one year. Anne read many of her father's books on theology and religion. Much of Anne's independence and willingness to speak out was due to her father's example. Anne admired her father for his defiance of traditional church principles.
...ve Indians. From the copious use of examples in Winthrop's work, and the concise detail in Rowlandson's narrative, one can imbibe such Puritans values as the mercy of God, place in society, and community. Together, these three elements create a foundation for Puritan thought and lifestyle in the New World. Though A Model of Christian Charity is rather prescriptive in its discussion of these values, Rowlandson's captivity narrative can certainly be categorized as descriptive; this pious young woman serves as a living example of Winthrop's "laws," in that she lives the life of a true Puritan. Therefore, both 17th century works are extremely interrelated; in order to create Winthrop's model community, one must have faith and closely follow Puritan ideals, as Rowlandson has effectively done in her A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.
…in 1682 [Rowlandson] published a narrative of her captivity which became America's first best seller. At that time it was highly unusual for a woman to be a published author. Hers is a story of the triumph of faith over adversity. It provides a first hand description of Indian life during this conflict [, King Phillip’s War]. (n.p.)
Anne had poor health, suffered a difficult journey. In 1666 the family experienced a strong fire, which, among other things, almost entirely burned down the library where Anne received a good education (in the library had 800 volumes on the history, theology, medicine, political science); there is even a poem by Bradstreet dedicated to this fire which made so much harm to her family. Following these events, she developed tuberculosis, she lost her daughter. It was supported by faith, will, and help of loved ones.
Catharine Sedgwick’s novel, A New-England Tale, tells the story of an orphan, Jane Elton, who “fights to preserve her honesty and her dignity in a household where religion is much talked about but little practiced” (Back Cover). The story take place in the 1820s, a time when many children were suffering in silence due to the fact that there was really no way to get people to understand exactly how bad things were for them. The only way anyone could ever really get a true understanding of the lives of the children in these households would be by knowing what took place in their homes. Outside of the home these women seemed perfectly normal and there was not reason to suspect any crookedness. The author herself was raised by a woman of Calvinist religion and realized how unjust things were for her and how her upbringing had ultimately play at role on her outcome. Sedgwick uses her novel, A New-England Tale to express to her readers how dreadful life was being raised by women of Calvinist religion and it’s affect by depicting their customary domestic life. She takes her readers on an in deep journey through what a typical household in the 1820s would be like providing them with vivid descriptions and reenactments of the domestic life during this period.
Upon her arrival to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634, Anne Hutchinson was a much respected member of her community. As time went on, her dealings with the religion began to be...
In the Salem, Massachusetts, the year of 1692 women were “puritans”. They dressed very modestly, kept their hair hidden, and were loyal to their husbands. The majority were stay at home wives. The young women would work for the older women and would get paid. Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren each did one of those things. These women represent the archetypes of this story.
The “Trial of Anne Hutchinson” written on 1637, was during the period where women are to subject to the man. Hutchinson being a woman did affect her trial. This is seen in the trial with Governor John Winthrop. He mentioned that she had done things that are not “fitting” for her sex. Not only did she get into trouble with the churches, who were headed by man, but was also accused for promoting her opinions that salvation is God’s gift that does not need to be earned. On the other hand from John Winthrop’s “Speech to the Massachusetts General Court” in July 3, 1645, he describes about two kinds of liberty, natural and moral. “Natural” liberty was liberty to do good or evil; it is based on one’s opinion. This form of liberty is less inconsistent
In “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan mother from Lancaster, Massachusetts, recounts the invasion of her town by Indians in 1676 during “King Philip’s War,” when the Indians attempted to regain their tribal lands. She describes the period of time where she is held under captivity by the Indians, and the dire circumstances under which she lives. During these terrible weeks, Mary Rowlandson deals with the death of her youngest child, the absence of her Christian family and friends, the terrible conditions that she must survive, and her struggle to maintain her faith in God. She also learns how to cope with the Indians amongst whom she lives, which causes her attitude towards them to undergo several changes. At first, she is utterly appalled by their lifestyle and actions, but as time passes she grows dependent upon them, and by the end of her captivity, she almost admires their ability to survive the harshest times with a very minimal amount of possessions and resources. Despite her growing awe of the Indian lifestyle, her attitude towards them always maintains a view that they are the “enemy.”
Up until the early 17th century, American literature was chiefly about politics, religion, and recorded events. These writings were very dry and lacked insight into the everyday lives of the authors. To put into writing any individual spiritual reflections that strayed away from the religion of the colony could be dangerous at that time; possibly resulting in banishment from the colony or worse. Likewise, any writing that did not serve at least one of the purposes listed above was considered to be a waste of time that would be better spent praising God. Anne Bradstreet defied the rules of her time by writing about whatever she wanted including personal thoughts, reflections, emotions, and events. Bradstreet was the first to write about personal matters, which is her greatest literary contribution in early American literature.