“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” (Bradstreet). This is a quote from Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) that sums up her life. She had many hardships throughout her life. Through it all she took care of her home, her husband, and her eight children. Anne Bradstreet lived during the Enlightenment period of literary history, which lasted from 1660 to 1790. As a Puritan, she tended to write of her life and religion, therefore making her a Puritanism author. Anne Bradstreet’s decision to write was greatly influenced by her education from her father. Her writings were influenced by her lifestyle, religion, and the culture of the people of that time …show more content…
Schlotterbeck explains how spiritual Anne Bradstreet was for her time. Bradstreet was a very good writer. If she had lived at a different time, when women were equal, she would have been more respected as an author. She would have been recognized. She understood the power of words. But, because she was a spiritual writer, no one took her seriously. I agree with the critic. Anne Bradstreet was a good writer. If she had written non spiritually, she would have been recognized. One example of her spirituality in her poems is “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.” (Bradstreet). This is from the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband”. In this quote she talks about heaven. Many people in society, that weren’t Puritans did not believe in heaven and thought it should not be written about. Another poem with a spiritual quote is “Contemplations”. “Soul of this world, this Universes Eye, No wonder, some made thee a Deity:” (Bradstreet). In this poem, she talks about God. Again, people did not like writings on god or heaven. One of her more spiritual poems is “Upon the Burning of Our House”. A line from this poem is “And to my God my heart did cry” (Bradstreet). This is just one line from this poem that is spiritual. This whole poem is about her trying to get rid of her vanity and forget about her worldly
Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan and wrote her religious faith about God. When Bradstreet was used to the Puritan culture she felt like God didn’t guide her through her struggles and she started to questioned God existence and as a Puritan’s religious belief was to always accept God. The letter, “To My Dear Children” was from Bradstreet to her children about her relationship with God. The summary of the letter is Bradstreet accepted the Puritan culture when she was about sixteen years old coming to America. After she was married she started to observe God and questioned him because she felt sickness and pain and hoped God would lift her up the light on her. Bradstreet also questions her afterlife with a quote, “And could I have been in heaven without the love of God, it would had been hell to me, for in truth it is the absence and presence of God that makes heaven or hell.” This quote can be pertained in today’s world because it’s
Bradstreet was a Puritan and was therefore raised with a simplistic view of the world. This, combined with the fact that she was a woman, carried over into her way of writing. Her writing style was not eloquent but plain, humble, and pleasant to read. Her poems dealt with topics such as faith, family, and adversity and were easy to understand. Bradstreet had great faith which she gained through the experiences she encountered in life.
She writes a letter to husband, almost instructing him on what to do after her death. Unlike other demure housewives of her time, she acknowledges the risk birthing her child brings by saying, “And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains / Look to my little babes, my dear remains” (107). Bradstreet also approaches a taboo subject by acknowledging that her husband might remarry. Bradstreet does not tread lightly on this subject either by writing, “And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me, / These o protect from step Dames injury” (107). In this poem, Bradstreet faces the possibility of not only the loss of her life but the loss of her husband’s love. Bradstreet challenges Puritan beliefs by showing that she will still be concerned with her earthly life after her
Though Bradstreet accepted the tenets of Puritanism, anti-Puritan texts are found in her poetry in terms of religious doubts as in “Meditations” to her children where she speculates if the Scriptures are true or contrived. Anne Bradstreet also deviates from traditional Puritan writings of the time by composing poetry for pleasure and self expression as opposed to writings of preaching and teaching as was the standard. Bradstreet is not truly unorthodox in that she did not dissent from accepted beliefs and doctrine, but lived in an intensely religious, male dominated society which put many limitations on women and their roles.
... in society. I don't think that she is necessarily fighting for equality here because that was unheard of back in the Puritan age, but she would appreciate a little respect and acknowledgment for her talents. Bradstreet is being viewed as a typical Puritan woman who would like to feel that she is useful for more then the average "household" woman status.
Anne Bradstreet starts off her letter with a short poem that presents insight as to what to expect in “To My Dear Children” when she says “here you may find/ what was in your living mother’s mind” (Bradstreet 161). This is the first sign she gives that her letter contains not just a mere retelling of adolescent events, but an introspection of her own life. She writes this at a very turbulent point in history for a devout Puritan. She lived during the migration of Puritans to America to escape the persecution of the Catholic Church and also through the fragmentation of the Puritans into different sects when people began to question the Puritan faith.
She believes god burned her house down and allowed her husband to die while inside of the house of flames. She loved her husband and her possessions more than God himself. She strongly thinks God allowed this to happen, because she loved her husband more than God. She writes this poem to try to persuade the puritans to not take things for granted, because God can take them away just like he gave it to you. “And to my God my heart did cry, to straighten me in my distress, and to not leave me succourless” (Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet was one of the first accomplished writers of the New World. Not only was she one of the first writers, she was one of the first female writers to
God; whereas Taylor wrote solely on his love for God. Bradstreet was a pioneer in the idea of writing about loving your husband and self. This was one of her greatest achievements and also greatest gifts to the world, even though it was not appropriate to write about such subjects she did anyway. The combination of Bradstreet and Taylors poetry about love prove to the world that love can exist in any part of life and should be appreciated and
Anne Bradstreet, American prose writer, which writings often reflected on Christian beliefs played an important role in teaching mannerisms and daily dutiful life. Her poetry, first published in London was “widely read in England and the colonies” (Levine, 217). Bradstreet like Smith and Samuel Sewall kept diaries and journals which focused on the writer's spiritual journey. She the loyal, domesticated wife, the true example and blueprint for Puritan living in the New World, who obtained her strength and resolve in her faith. Her spirituality helped her to face and make sense of the calamities she experienced and her writing became the pinnacle of Puritan obedience.
In this essay I will be analyzing the tones of the three puritans writers, mention above, and how they still have some puritan writing styles in common. First I will be discussing Anne Bradstreet, next Edward Taylor, third Jonathan Edwards and finally how their writers are similar. Anne Bradstreet’s poem “Here Follow Some Verse upon the Burning of Our House” is a prayer of reflection and has three different tone that she uses to reflect on her relationship with God. Those three different tones are distressed, sorrowful, and
She writes about her father, loving husband, children, And grandchild. When it comes to poems we notice the puritan influence; And it came to the role women played through Puritan society, it can be expected the women resented the husbands for they were considered more than the women. However, In Bradstreet case, she doesn’t resent her husband for leaving her with all the household needs. She just misses him and wants him back to her as Throughout "Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment," she states how she feels lost when her husband is not around and that life is always better when he is around.
Anne Bradstreet’s “work reflects the religious and emotional conflicts [that] she experienced as a woman writer and as a Puritan” (Martin). In the poem “The Prologue,” Bradstreet says that “for such despite they cast on female wits./If what I do prove well, it won’t advance;/They’ll say it’s stol’n, or else it was by chance” (72). She is stating that if a female even writes a paper, it is not going to have a future; the society, especially men, would declare that she supposedly stole a wise men’s writing. Bradstreet lived in the time when men were the only one who had the power to write; writing meant showing the intelligent and women were not meant to have wisdom in that time period. Men were meant to be philosophically intelligent, whereas women neither had the power to perform anything nor had a say in any matter; they could not accomplish anything.
Bradstreet was famous due to the amount of poetry, as well as other personal writings, that she wrote. Bradstreet uses the love of God to focus on death, which can be seen within her poem, “To Her Father with Some Verses”. Bradstreet says within the poem, “Yet for part payment take this simple mite, Where nothing's to be had, kings lose their right. Such is my debt I may not say forgive, But as I can, I'll pay it while I live; Such is my bond, none can discharge but I, Yet paying is not paid until I die” (9-14).
...mmon humanity. For the first time in American literature, the reader can see through the eyes of the author, and feel what the author feels. Bradstreet showed all future American writers the beauty of writing as means of self expression. This is why Anne Bradstreet’s single greatest literary contribution is her use of personal content.