Anne Bradstreet and Emily Dickinson are both respected women poets in their own rights. Although in different manners, both poets discuss their poetry within their poetry. Bradstreet and Dickinson, as poets, were able to break free of male oppression and literary traditions of the period, to portray their emotions and imagination through their works, expressing their freedom and the construction of being a poet within the works. Dickinson and Bradstreet, however, wrote during different periods, where their styles greatly differed.
During the period in which Bradstreet published her works, males were the driving force in literature. For a woman to be publishing in the 1600s was very rare. Although schoolgirls during the period were encouraged to read and become educated at a basic level, these endeavors were not intended to produce women in the intellectual sphere. Rather, this education was to allow them an intellectual and spiritual quest, at the conclusion of which, the women were expected to stay in their designated place in society. Their “quest” was deemed of a lesser value than a male’s because women were not given as many benefits as men. Anne not only had to confront this opposition during her career, but she also faced creative differences among her peers. Many of the writers from the late 1600s were writing theoretical works about divine will, the universal order of life, and God’s justness. Bradstreet differed yet again from them, using emotion and imagination to fuel her works--something very new to that period. Since Bradstreet allows more emotion to come through in her works than some men, she appears very private at times, while still focusing on the topic of her work, sometimes including historical commentaries. Bradstreet’s use of pronouns such as I, me, and my in her poetry also differ from the masculine writers of her period. Since Bradstreet allowed her emotions and imagination to rule her works, this easily portrayed the freedom and construction in being a poet in her works. Dickinson, however, wrote for herself, and only planned to publish little of her writings. Dickinson was formally educated beyond the level many male of female Americans achieved in the 1800s (Norton 2488). This placed Emily intellectually above much of her male counterparts. She also differed from them i...
... middle of paper ...
...passionately with a sense of anger towards man’s presumptions here, but ends almost submissively; acknowledging their reasons, but asking them to see woman’s efforts. This reflects the “Anne,” or personal nature, in this work at the beginning, but soon shifts to a more private poet at the end. This plea to men reflects her deep emotions within her poetry, although it seems she acknowledges that her pleas will go unheard.
Anne Bradstreet and Emily Dickinson’s unique writing style allows them to be viewed today as gifted and respected poets. By specifically writing about their poetry within her poetry, Bradstreet and Dickinson were able to freely express their opinions and beliefs in a creative manner. These creative abilities set both Bradstreet and Dickinson apart from their peers; combining imagination, as seen through Bradstreet’s “The Author to Her Book,” and Dickinson’s poems 326, and 441; and emotion, seen in Bradstreet’s “The Prologue” and “The Author to Her Book,” and Dickinson’s poems 199, 326, and 441, to express their ideas. Their struggle as women is also heard in much of their poetry, casting light on the male oppression of female poets.
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.
In Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson's generation, women were limited in what they could/could not do. In the 1600s, women were taught to be good wives and mothers along with performing duties in the house. During this time period, most women did not work instead that was the man's duty. They also were raised to portray Puritan values. Bradstreet and Rowlandson both stood out as Puritan women because their works became published in a time in which women were not supposed to write. Both Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson's status as women played a part in their writing because they both struggled with Puritan/human dichotomy in their works.
Armstrong, Isobel. 'A Music of Thine Own': Women's Poetry. in: Joseph Bristow, Victorian Women Poets. Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1995, 32-63.
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.
Anne Bradstreet’s poetry resembles a quiet pond. Her quiet puritan thinking acts as the calm surface that bears a resemblance to her natural values and religious beliefs. Underneath the pond there is an abundance of activity comparable to her becoming the first notable poet in American Literature. Anne Bradstreet did not obtain the first notable poet’s title very easily; she endured sickness, lack of food, and primitive living conditions during her time in the New World. Despite these misfortunes she used her emotions and strong educational background to write extraordinarily well for a woman in that time.
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.
Anne Bradstreet can be considered as a strong-willed but sensitive Puritan woman. Her poetry includes a combination of sarcasm and dispute against certain issues involving the unequal rights between men and women, and sentimental writings about her own emotions. She mostly writes about her feelings towards events going on in her personal life and not so much about politics or social phenomena. She did not write so as to put on a show or to be socially correct, but about her genuine feelings. She writes about being a woman and all the things that come with it, family, love, sorrow and seeking equality. She also incorporates her religious beliefs strongly in her poem as a driving force to reconciliation between herself and God. Anne Bradstreet was an eloquent poet who was able to convey her innermost feelings to the reader through various techniques and diction.
Miller, Cristanne. “How ‘Low Feet’ Stagger: Disruptions of Language in Dickinson’s Poetry.” Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Ed. Suzanne Juhasz. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983. 134-55.
After almost four decades ago Anne Bradstreet wrote her two now famous poems “To My Dear Loving Husband” and “Upon the Burning of Our House”. Today, we recognize these poems as one of the first women’s writing to be published. Although today we admire Anne Bradstreet’s poems four decades ago people did not have the same opinion. With the Puritans strongly disapproving of women writers think that at one point the Puritan community found Anne Bradstreet’s poems praise worthy because in her poems and writing she shows over and over how she loves her husband and how she loves God even after he was responsible for burning down her house and all of her possessions. Puritans would give Anne Bradstreet’s poems praise for example, “I prize thy love
There is no doubt that the literary written by men and women is different. One source of difference is the sex. A woman is born a woman in the same sense as a man is born a man. Certainly one source of difference is biological, by virtue of which we are male and female. “A woman´s writing is always femenine” says Virginia Woolf
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.
Emily Dickinson is arguably America’s most well-known female poet. She lived from December 10, 1830 until May 15, 1886. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts to Edward and Emily Dickinson. Her father was a lawyer as well as treasurer for the Amherst Academy which Emily attended and graduated from in 1847. Since her family was very passionate about education, her father sent her to primary school as well Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for a year once she’d graduated from Amherst Academy (Wolff 3, 77). Dickinson was the middle child and eldest daughter in an established Puritan family. Her great love was poetry, and her letters home while she was away at school. She had always intended for her work to be just for her eyes. Dickinson
Emily Dickinson’s poem, “When I Gave Myself to Him” demonstrates and examines the commonalities of a women’s role in the 19th century and deliberately moves against the standard. Her use of figurative language, analogies, and the use of dashes represent an intense emotion between her feelings concerning the affiliate desires of society: to marry and have children. Emily uses the conventional use of poetic form by adding six to eight syllables in her quatrain that adds rhyme and musical quality to her poem to treat the unconventional poetic subject of the women’s gender role. This poem is not an ordinary love poem though isolation in unity that deals with the complications and ideas of belonging to someone.
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a
Many female writers see themselves as advocates for other creative females to help find their voice as a woman. Although this may be true, writer Virginia Woolf made her life mission to help women find their voice as a writer, no gender attached. She believed women had the creativity and power to write, not better than men, but as equals. Yet throughout history, women have been neglected in a sense, and Woolf attempted to find them. In her essay, A Room of One’s Own, she focuses on what is meant by connecting the terms, women and fiction. Woolf divided this thought into three categories: what women are like throughout history, women and the fiction they write, and women and the fiction written about them. When one thinks of women and fiction, what they think of; Woolf tried to answer this question through the discovery of the female within literature in her writing.