Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Summary and Analysis of Anne Bradstreet poems
Short note on puritanism
Puritanism influences American culture
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Summary and Analysis of Anne Bradstreet poems
Puritan values, ideas, and beliefs are evident in the works of Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, and Jonathan Edwards. Through her poetry, Bradstreet reveals her Puritan values and ideals. Bradstreet was aware of a woman’s role in Puritan society and tried to portray herself as a humble, pious, obedient, and modest wife. William Bradford’s work also encompasses beliefs, values, and ideas of Puritan life. One can see that in Bradford’s writing such as Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford emphasizes Puritan suffering specifically through the Mayflower journey and how, with the grace of God, they prevailed. Jonathan Edwards’ work also displays Puritan beliefs, values, and ideals through the installation of fear. In an excerpt from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Puritan minister Edwards uses the effective element of fear when addressing his congregation. Puritan values, ideals, and beliefs are reflected and expressed in the works of all three of these influential writers. A passage from James Russell Lowell’s “The Bigelow Papers”, stresses how literature was not as significant in Puritan society because the prominent men and women were occupied “...putting their force into the strong and most urgent tasks pertaining to this world and the next.” (“The Bigelow Papers”). Anne Bradstreet was a poet who knew and respected the ideals and expectations of Puritan society. She realized that women were not as highly respected as men were and accepted this fact of life. Bradstreet wrote about personal experiences and feelings while remaining faithful to God in her writings. In her poem, “Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666” Bradstreet mentions the pain and suffering she went through when her belongings perished in her house fire... ... middle of paper ... ...hat terrifying sermons that Jonathan Edwards applies the elements of Puritan values and ideals, and portrays his strong and faithful Puritan beliefs. As it was considered sinful to read literature that was not Puritan or in relation to the Bible and the divinity of God, many Puritans did not value many types of literature as a whole. As James Russell Lowell noted in “The Bigelow Papers”, aside from the Bible, many Puritans spent most of their time devoted to pertinent matters. However, the works of Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, and Jonathan Edwards exhibited many common ideals and values shared throughout Puritan society. Despite the fact that Puritan religious beliefs, traditions, values, and ideals vary strongly from those of present-day America, it remains eminent that Puritan beliefs were the cornerstones of common religious practices and beliefs of today.
First, both of the main speakers within each of the following Puritan literary works were ministers during the 1700s, which was around the time of the Puritans. These works were also written within third person point of view. Now, both of these ministers then express their concerns for their congregation
In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, he preached about a stricter Calvinist theology of Puritanism. Edwards delivered it at the Massachusetts congregation on July 8, 1741. He blatantly uses rhetorical strategies to instill fear into his audience if they are to continue to not be active Puritans in religion. Edwards uses polysyndeton, harsh diction and tone, and the appeal to emotion along with the use of semicolons to develop his message.
In America, the period of Romanticism brought up many depictions of society that held their place in America many decades ago. This society was made up of Puritans who held a strong belief system and was even their form of governing. Romantic authors like Washington Irving, who wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter included Puritans in their stories to convey a message. In both works, the authors focus on Puritans in their stories to convey an image of who Puritans were and what they did, though not in a positive light through the use of the devil and the setting of a forest. This is because of how Romanticism generally satirized Puritans and tried to portray them as completely contradictory
In the late 1600’s, literature is dissimilar from today’s, such as focusing on being sent into the fiery pits of hell only because one hasn’t converted to Puritanism. There are also different types of writing to display the righteousness and positives of being a converted and loyal to the Puritan culture. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are two popular Puritan authors who project different messages and portray a varying energy through a slim number of their pieces. The poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” or “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet or “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards are fit examples of the Puritan age and what Puritans belive to be religiously
He was a man whose very words struck fear into the hearts of his listeners. Acknowledged as one of the most powerful religious speakers of the era, he spearheaded the Great Awakening. “This was a time when the intense fervor of the first Puritans had subsided somewhat” (Heyrmen 1) due to a resurgence of religious zeal (Stein 1) in colonists through faith rather than predestination. Jonathan Edwards however sought to arouse the religious intensity of the colonists (Edwards 1) through his preaching. But how and why was Edwards so successful? What influenced him? How did he use diction and symbolism to persuade his listener, and what was the reaction to his teachings? In order to understand these questions one must look at his life and works to understand how he was successful. In his most influential sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edwards’ persuasive language awakened the religious fervor that lay dormant in colonial Americans and made him the most famous puritan minister of the Great Awakening in North America.
“How awful it is for that person which suffers this great wrath and infinite misery!”(Edwards 89-90). This is the best example of Edwards doing what he does best in his sermons; using literary devices to scare people. Why would anyone do this? Well, he uses fear for persuasion. How he does this is carefully and delicately layered in his words. Edwards uses loaded language, vivid imagery, and specific types of sentences in order to scare his audience into becoming better Puritans.
Anne Bradstreet, whom most critics consider America’s first “authentic poet”, was born and raised as a Puritan. Bradstreet married her husband Simon at the tender age of eighteen. She wrote her poems while rearing eight children and performing other domestic duties. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells of three valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
Puritans believed in strict religious dedications, by trying to follow the holy commandment. “The discipline of the family, in those days, was of a far more rigid kind than now.”(Hawthorne 9). They wanted to be considered the holiest of all people because they try to reflect a world of perfection in the sight of God. While they where trying to portray a holy life; however, they where also living a sinful life because they have been judgmental, slandering, uncompassionate, resentment, and forbearing, which are all sinful acts of the bible.
The Colonial Period (1607-1775) was essentially the first literary movement in America. The ideas portrayed within the period were expressed with two main styles of writing; Puritan and Classical. The puritan style was heavily influenced by God and the puritan's way of life. It was often short and too the point, and referred to ordinary things. The Classical Style was usually used to express analysis, theory, and practice. This style was delivered in a way that it would influence the audience. "Huswifery", by Edward Taylor offers a great example of the use of the Puritan style. He used a spinning wheel, and ordinary object, to compare his relationship to God. He tried to compare his feelings in an ordinary way that followed the puritan style, just like Anne Bradstreet in "To My Dear and Loving Husband". She used multiple metaphors to help explain how great her love was for her husband. Although emotion is not favored in the Puritan style, she vented them through her poetry. In the Classical style of writing, giving sermons was a common way of presenting information to people; and Jonathan Edwards is a great example. His sermons were direct and persuasive because he used literary devices that created images in the audience's heads. All of these stories helped to get people to start worshipping God again, thus giving the creation of the Colonial Period in America.
Bradstreet’s poetry is fully religious. Being a pious woman, as everyone was at that time period, she wrote poems claiming high morals and religious motifs. Her writings were very popular among puritans who started colonizing America. His Puritan belief was the reason of her special attitude to her life, soul and sufferings. “She thought that God was so hard on her because her soul was too in love with the world. She also wrote some poems where she asked God to watch over her children and husband” (Gonzalez, 2000).
Between the years of 1666 and 1774, there were a group of people known as the Puritans. These people were seeking religious freedom so therefore, they came to America. They thought of themselves to be people who spread love through God. Both Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards express how they feel towards God.
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.
Feminism today remains prominent because even while women’s rights are very strong, women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few rights and they were seen as inferior to men. Anne lived among the puritans whom ruled her everyday life. Although it was against the puritan code for women to receive an education, Bradstreet’s father, Thomas Dudley, loved his daughter dearly and made sure that she was well educated which shows in her works. Anne Bradstreet’s literature became well known only because her family published her works under a male name. This was done because writing poetry was a serious offense to the puritans since poetry was considered creative and the only creating that was done was by God. In the works of Anne Bradstreet, she conveys a feminist attitude, and could very well be one of the first American Feminists.
This Literary Movement is characterized by original sin and irresistible grace, and the Puritans kept their literature of sermons, historical narrative and what Anne Bradstreet would write poems. She kept them straight forward to get her point across about what she would write about. And Anne’s work and others work would focus more towards religious writings. Particularly in her works titled The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America and Contemplations, we can see a representation of the type of literature written during the puritan era. Anne Bradstreet's work The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America deals with committing herself to the religious concept of salvation because she loved life on earth. Her hope for heaven was an expression of her desire to live forever rather than a wish to transcend worldly concerns. For her, heaven promised the prolongation of earthly joys, rather than a renunciation of those pleasures she enjoyed in life. Also in a work of hers called “To My Dear and Loving Husband” Anne explains that her love is like a thirst that even a river cannot quench. This is an allusion to her sexual desire, which is equal to the thirst “that rivers cannot quench.” She only needs his love and cannot live without it, as “love is such I can no way repay.” She then turns to its spiritual perspective, saying, “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.” The speaker believes that they should love each other as much as