Anne Bradstreet Research Paper

Anne Bradstreet was a woman in conflict. She was a Puritan wife and a poet. There is a conflict between Puritan theology and her own personal feelings on life. Many of her poems reveal her eternal conflict regarding her emotions and the beliefs of her religion. The two often stood in direct opposition to each other. Her Puritan faith demanded that she seek salvation and the promises of Heaven. However, Bradstreet felt more strongly about her life on Earth. She was very. She was very attached to her family and community. Bradstreet loved her life and the Earth.

The puritans were very strict especially in religion. Some of their beliefs include; predestination, which meant God knew beforehand who was going to heaven or hell. The elect,

The Reputation of the Puritans is one of a solemn, austere people. They woke at dawn and often worked till dusk, believing that idle hands led to sin. When members of the community strayed from the puritan lifestyle, the punishments were often severe. The case of Anne Hutchinson in many ways exemplifies this. She was a Puritan woman who lived in the Massachusetts’s Bay Colony and held weekly bible studies where she and the other women would discuss the minister’s

Women in Puritan society had different roles nothing like they have now. Women acted as farming hands , as wives, responsible for caring for their husbands and as mothers, producing and guiding the next generation of Puritan children. If a family had a boy the would be happy because they had helping and working for money hands . If they had a girl they wouldn’t be as happy because that meant they would have to feed a child that wasn’t going to bring money home. Which meant that

Ann Bradstreet was always very close with her father Thomas Dudley. Thomas Dudley wanted to make sure she received a superior education and passed on his Puritan beliefs to her. Ann writes that when she moved with her family to the “new world,” her “heart rose” in resistance towards this “new world and new manners”. “After I was convinced it was the way of God, I submitted to it and joined the church at Boston”(1). Unfortunately, Anne’s daily life was hard because the rheumatic fever she had as a child compromised her health and left her with frequent fatigue. Even so, she still risked dying during childbirth which was a common issue at the time, and she did so eight times.

The Puritans were extremely strict, callous and narrow-minded regarding people with opposing beliefs to their own. Persecution and maltreatment were a recurrent event that occurred to people in Massachusetts who had different beliefs or followed a different religion from the puritans. To verify my point, Anne Hutchinson was a woman who lived in Massachusetts and challenged the Puritan society by questioning religious teachings and by being a woman who took some authority. The Puritans of Massachusetts did not like this and as reported by Constitution Society, in Anne’s court examination,

Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 in a castle in Northampton, England. She lived a fairly good life. Her father, Thomas Dudley, was a well kept and well educated man. From this he taught Anne himself and led her to any subject from which she desired to learn about. She began to write epitaphs for her parents. She also used her understanding of the Puritan lifestyle

Anne Hutchinson has long been seen as a strong religious dissenter who paved the way for religious freedom in the strictly Puritan environment of New England. Another interpretation of the controversy surrounding Anne Hutchinson asserts that she was simply a loving wife and mother whose charisma and personal ideas were misconstrued to be a radical religious movement. Since this alleged religious movement was led by a woman, it was quickly dealt with by the Puritan fathers as a real threat. Whatever her motives, she was clearly a great leader in the cause of religious toleration in America and the advancement of women in society. Although Anne Hutchinson is historically documented to have been banished as a religious dissenter, the real

Her parents were Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke. As a child, Anne was tutored in history, many languages, and literature. These lessons likely increased her ability to write and connect with an audience in her poetry. Anne married Simon Bradstreet at the tender age of sixteen, turning her into Anne Bradstreet. In 1630, Anne, Simon, and Anne’s parents emigrated to America on the Arbella and were part of the Winthrop Fleet of Puritan Emigrants.

They were forced to leave England as a result of persecution, these were people who believed in predestination. Puritanism was a form of Protestantism, they were detached from the church of England as the puritans reject all forms of religious practice. They came up with a new belief that included emphasises on an individual’s acceptance or the rejection of god’s grace. Their biggest goal was to get rid of all catholic influence in their religion. Puritans wished to create a modern society that had certain aspects of culture and religion to be practiced by everyone, and one included humanism. The role of a woman was to clean, cook, milk the cows, and manage the household in the absence of the man. They did not have a right to do anything other than what they’re told to, and black women were not allowed to speak in the court. Women had to go through a lot in the puritan society, they were accused of being a witch, and were hanged on Gallows Hill in

Because her father was a studious man, Bradstreet was able to receive a good education and was well read. She enjoyed serious and religious writings and admired many of the great poets of the time, among these Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser and John Donne. In fact she admired them so much

The Puritans viewed their society as being “singled out, like Israel of Old, to serve as a model for others.” They were an individual society, different from all others, that acted as one single body. This meant that in order to set their society apart each individual had to follow the same exact laws.These laws were to reflect the “will of God in every detail”. The Puritans were set on saving their community as whole, to be in the good graces of God. If one person posed a threat, or would not follow these laws then punishment would ensue. Therefore individualism was more a belief rather than a reality. So, when Anne Hutchinson, as an individual woman, started to preach “that redemption was God’s gift to his elect and could not be earned by human effort” she was seen as a major threat to the basic foundation of Puritan society (otherwise known as the Antinomian controversy 1636-1638). Anne Hutchinson was a woman living in a time when women could

In “The Author to Her Book,” Bradstreet is inundated in indecision and internal struggles over the virtues and shortfalls of her abilities and the book that she produced. As human beings we associate and sympathize with each other through similar experiences. It is difficult to sympathize with someone when you don’t know where they are coming from and don’t know what they are dealing with. Similar experiences and common bonds are what allow us to extend our sincere appreciation and understanding for another human being’s situation. In this poem an elaborate struggle between pride and shame manifests itself through an extended metaphor in which she equates her book to her own child.

Many Puritan women had so much going on throughout their day, and got barely any credit or attention. There were many roles that Puritan women had to do daily, such as making church services, tending their gardens, and taking care of their husband and children. Today, missing a few church services is not that big of a deal. Puritan women were extremely busy, therefore they sometimes could not attend church sermons.

Anne Bradstreet was recognized as the first woman poet in America. Her first collection of poetry, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up, received considerable attention when it was first published in London in 1650 and later in America. Her success came from the strong Puritan faith while resisting the difficulty of life which made her life and work unique. Bradstreet’s family was one of the British colonialist families that came to America in 1630. British colonies had a great impact on the history and literature of America during the sixteen and seventeen century.