More handpicked essays just for you.
Early american literature's portrayal of women
Research about anne bradstreet life
Early american literature's portrayal of women
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Anne Bradstreet who was a Puritan was not supposed to be writing poems but engaging in housework. Phillis Wheatley on the other hand did not only write but was also an African slave. Both Bradstreet and Wheatley were able to overcome all the difficulties they went through and were still able to write great poems that ended up being published. Bradstreet wrote about her love for her husband and how much she cherished him;” I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold or all the riches that the East doth hold.” This suggests her love is unexplainable and cannot be compared to anything in the world. Wheatley on the other hand writes more about God and her respect for certain people such as Washington and Whitefield. Her poem was quite confusing …show more content…
In “The Author to her Book,” the book was about an unpleasing child whom she had worked so hard to improve. She tells her child not to fall into the wrong hands but to explain that her mother has had to turn her out of poverty; “rambling brat.” This metaphor is used in explaining the mockery tone that she uses when referring to her work. She reminds her fellow readers that only few women or parents would care to be held responsible for their offspring. Her children are mostly her true subjects in all of her writings. Her family poems avoid sentiments though but she loves her husband and children more than any other thing in the world. She addresses death in “Before the Birth of One of her Children” which was directed to her husband and shows the fear of being a housewife where every pregnancy was like a preamble to death. Her other poems are in memory of her grandchildren who died while they were still very young. Her feelings in these poems is repressed and her attitude is like surrendering to God’s will but she was always pained at every death situation which is not surprising as she has to mourn her lost loved ones. She designated two poems to her husband when he was away for business. She argues that her love is above a female deer whose mate is absent. In the first letter to her husband, she uses the sun to express her true feelings for him; “I wish my sun may never set, but burn.” Bradstreet was a woman of talent who learned to write her own poems through studying other poet’s writings. She also fulfilled the challenging role of being a colonial housewife with a very large
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
She makes you think about the wrong doings that were going on in this time period. It was very brave of her to talk about the things that she talked about especially while being a slave. During this time period she probably faced a lot of criticism of her works and many believed that someone was writing her poems for her because they were so good and it was uncommon for a black lady to write a poem as well as she did. As a young black lady who has to go through slavery and other adversities this was a very hard time period for them but Wheatley stood strong and followed in what she believed in. She fought for equality and freedom for African American men and women.
Anne Bradstreet lived in a time when devotion in a wife to her husband was a social law. This poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” is a loving tribute from Bradstreet to her husband. Certainly, in the early American, Puritan colonies, this work would have been seen as a wife’s duty as well as a lovely gesture. Today, however, it might well be seen as the babblings of a dependant wife. This was my reaction to the poem when I first read it. The attitudes of our country have changed drastically since the mid-1600s and devotion of a wife to her husband is now often seen as a sign of weakness.
...because the men of the time wrote about adventure and childbearing, while dangerous, was not thought to be exciting. Bradstreet brought her personal experiences as a woman into her writing and also provided an opening to a whole new dimension to American literature. Soon she would be the great poet being emulated by others. Edward Taylor is an example of this. In his poem "Huswifery," Taylor used the spinning wheel—a domestic item-as his metaphor.
Docile, quiet, piety, reverent, and ultimately submissive were lists of the characteristics, if one wanted to be the perfect women in the mid-1600’s. Anne Bradstreet is a woman who breaks the mold, and writes defiantly at a time when women were barely allowed to speak, to vote, or even hold leadership positions, therefore finding voice and great audience means great merit. Phillis Wheatley, considered to be one of the great American poets, at the time of the revolution, is a slave who goes beyond slavery to find common ground with even the noblest of men and women. Both women, a 100 or so years apart, both seeking a type of equality and defying the paradigms of the time to become immortalized
American literature in the early days talks a lot about spiritual beliefs and different ways of writing. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are both Puritan authors from the 1700’s. Anne and Jonathan have different views on God and their ways of life from each other. Bradstreet, a housewife and author shows some of her ways in her writings To my Dear and Loving Husband, and Upon the Burning of Our House. Edwards, a preacher and author shows some of his ways in his writing Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Both of their views on god and life completely vary. They provide interesting views on spiritual beliefs and different ways of writing.
Bradstreet’s version of love is one familiar to many people as able to bear the test of time. She has no doubt that they will love one another forever. This theme is stated within each and every line. Bradstreet even describes her husband’s love for her as “such that she can no way repay” (9), but that the heavens will one day repay him for. This gives their love an added aspect of being blessed and faithful to God. She believes God reward him for the love he showed her, after
Traveling to the New World in 1630 at age eighteen, poet Anne Bradstreet lived an arduous and troublesome life in the infant American colonies. After writing for many years in America and having her poems secretly published by her brother-in-law in England, Anne Bradstreet became not only the first published female American poet, but the first published American poet ever. As a Puritan, Bradstreet projected her religion, as well as her worldly observations, onto her poetry. She also explored the emotional and societal aspects of her life, often writing about sin, redemption, frailty, death, and immortality- common themes of the American Colonial era. Bradstreet fought against gender conformity and sorrow in the Puritan society of the mid 1600s
“She understood the subtle and overt relationships between religion and politics in new and old England and participated in them. She intervened as a writer to free yourself and to advance the antislavery movement. . . She challenged the American Revolutionaries, as well as their English counterparts, to respond to her political as poetic genius.” (98) The political commotion going on outside her home is the reason why Wheatley chose poetry specifically as her medium. As Rawley explained during the time period, “No one could deny poetry’s religious and political significance (although Thomas Jefferson, in response to Wheatley, would try). Nor could those attuned to cultural traditions deny the poet the right to reflect on the glory, and significance, of her own efforts, however much in service of patrons, kings, or Gods.”
It really puts in perspective how many women feel today. So many intelligent women, in a way, have to prove themselves in ways that men will never experience. Women have come along way since the 1600s in regard to things such as voting, education, and job equality. However, women still have ways to go in terms of overall equality. Bradstreet’s writings are unique in a way that she talked about how men viewed her, but she also wrote about how it would not affect her choice to write. Their offenses meant nothing to her because she took pride in what she did, she did not need her work justified by men for her to believe in herself and her
In “To S.M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works,” she encourages equality and freedom through heavenly talent and art. In “On Being Brought from African to America,” she attempts to close the racial gap by putting their eyes on heaven. In “To His Excellency General Washington,” she uses foreshadowing of freedom and success in believing in what is right while using imagery of the Goddess of Freedom. Wheatley frequently references God and heaven in many of her poems. Although Phillis Wheatley was a slave, she did not have the plight of many other slaves since she was purchased to be a companion. This gave her the opportunity to not only read and write, but also learn about religion. It seems as if Wheatley used these things against the people who taught her about them. By referencing heaven and God, she so eloquently reminds us that we are all human no matter the lightness or darkness of our skin and all deserve the same
Anne Bradstreet was America's first published poet, who lived in the 1600’s. She was a well-educated poet of her age and time, a loving wife, and caring mother. She used her poetry to show recognition of women's rights, the puritan lifestyle and beliefs, also to show her husband and eight children how much she loved them. Most of Anne Bradstreet’s poetry was based off true experiences in her life and what she believed in spiritually. In that day and time, she was heavily criticized for being a woman and writing. Bradstreet wrote a lot on puritanism, being a mother and wife, as well as the ways of life. Anne Bradstreet was and still is one of the most important American poets of all time. (poetryfoundation) f
By reading Bradstreet’s work, a fair sense of what Mrs. Bradstreet was like can be grasped. She clearly stated her opinion of those who objected to her writing: “I am obnoxious to each carping tongue, / Who says my hand a needle better fits.” (Bradstreet,“ The Prologue”155). Bradstreet refused to give up her passion for writing even if it meant going against the opinions of anyone in her colony, including religious leaders. Although Bradstreet referred to herself as being obnoxious, her written works portray an entirely different Bradstreet. She seeks no reward or fame for her writing: “Give thyme or parsley wreath, I ask no bays” (155). Bradstreet seeks no reward for her writing because she doesn’t think her work is very good: “My foolish, broken, blemished Muse so sings” (154). She refers to her writing as her: “ill-formed offspring” (“The Author To Her Book”165). Even after her work is published she is ...
Beginning with the first few lines, (1-10), Bradstreet sets up a constant couplet rhyme scheme, drawing emphasis to the final word of each line. The use of strong description captures the urgency of the moment, and she finishes this opening section with the very important lines: “And to my God my heart did cry; To straighten me in my Distress; And not to leave me succourless.”
It’s clear to see that she is happy with her marriage unlike her peers. Bradstreet surely doesn’t mean this in any demeaning or bragging way, she is just so infatuated with who is clearly her soul mate and the love of her life that she wrote and dedicate a poem to. She also states in the poem that, “My love is such that rivers cannot quench, / Nor ought but love from thee give -recompense” (7-8). These two lines are great worldly comparisons. She can’t get enough of her husband. Her husband brings her this happiness and form of bliss that she can’t find anywhere else. No supply of water can satisfy the thirst she has. It’s common to see a husband be loved by his wife, but it is shocking and quiet satisfying to see the amount of love Bradstreet has for her husband. Tying back to her background of being a Puritan, “the Puritans acknowledged the importance of love, as long as one did not lose sight of God, and they believed that wealth could be a sign of being among God’s chosen” (Gordon 2). Even though there is thoughts of Puritans being old-fashioned and aren’t allowed to be affectionate, Bradstreet breaks that