Anne Bradstreet Tone

The Romantic Period built an environment where women were painted with flowery diction (Wollstonecraft, 216) and were incapable of independence. The Rights of Woman became a crucial topic, particularly in poetry which allowed women the freedom of expression. Accordingly, during the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women writers did not need the prop of their male contemporaries like suggested. Evidently, women were able, successful, and professional writers in their own right. In fact, women often influenced male writers (Dustin, 42). Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Letitia Barbauld are evidence that women did not need to rely on their male peers to become successful poets. Consequently, many poets took inspiration from them (Dustin, 32). In The Rights of Woman and Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Anna Letitia Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft had contrasting ideas. Barbauld’s The Rights of Woman was a documented reaction towards Wollstonecraft’s extremely controversial Vindication. Henceforth, both indicate a separate message for the Rights of the Woman. Assumedly, Barbauld misinterpreted Wollstonecraft and readings of The Rights of Woman in the twenty-first century appear antifeminist as a result.

Anne Bradstreet is one of the earliest American poets, and she’s read today as the first feminist in literature. While there are arguments as to why this could be true, I present an argument that Bradstreet cannot be read as a feminist, especially within her earlier works. In her later writing, her feminist identity becomes more real and plausible. Looking at two of her works, “The Prologue” and “The Author to Her Book,” both written at different times in Bradstreet’s life, one can see how Bradstreet’s idea of femininity and how that works with her writing has shifted. Bradstreet could be read more as a feminist writer in her later works because the relationship she holds with her writing has shifted into where she accepts her womanhood.

"The Author to Her Book" shows Bradstreet's feelings about the unauthorized printing of her work. She expresses her modesty about her ability to write by comparing her work to "homespun cloth" meaning that is was coarse and unrefined. Bradstreet also uses humor to express her feelings about the publication of her work without corrections, but there is still some genuine discomfort. "At thy return my blushing was not small" shows that she was a bit embarrassed about the world reading her rough drafts, but she amends her view towards the book as the poem continues. "Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend…" illustrates that she truly loves her poetry, and after it is "cleaned" she takes pride in it. She show her delight in her work with the admonition "If for thy Father asked, say thou had'st none." Bradstreet wanted everyone to recognize her for the talented woman writer that she was, but requested this acknowledgment in a humble way.

According to Hutchins, Bradstreet’s view of Eve shifts in her poem “In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth, of Most Happy Memory” when she expresses her approval of Queen Elizabeth (48). He states that Queen Elizabeth displays great scientia when she governs, a quality that is said for women to lack (48), and Queen Elizabeth achieved what Eve failed to regarding wisdom. By showcasing how true can wisdom can be achieved, Hutchins argues, Bradstreet’s view of Eve turns to a view of a woman who simply took the wrong approach to gaining wisdom who should be remembered for the error in the Fall of Man (48).

In her article “Isabella Whitney and the Female Legacy” (1991), Wendy Wall examines the effect that early female writers had on breaking gender barriers in 16th century England. Wall specifically focuses on the impact of Isabella Whitney’s writings during a period during which women still struggled to achieve independence and power in a dominating patriarchal system. In this article, Wall credits Whitney for overcoming the many obstacles women faced in their attempts to become published writers, and truly creating a legacy for women throughout history with her efforts.

Anne Bradstreet lived during the seventeenth century. This was a time period when female writers were not looked lightly upon. Bradstreet wanted to prove that even though she was woman, she could have intelligent thought just like a man. She did not just fight for herself, but for all women. Feminist ideas were apparent in Bradstreet’s writings, but there are also social norms too.

Bradstreet’s comment, “It is but vain unjustly to wage war” was a commentary on society during this period (Bradstreet A: 209). In her view, to seek gender equality would be pointless; however, she argued that women are capable of producing quality writing, that they should be acknowledged for it and that they have a right to express themselves (Osbourne).

Anna Bradstreet grows up in a healthy family. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley who is the manager of the country estate of the Puritan Earl of Lincoln. Anna Bradstreet got married at the age of 16 to the young Simon Bradstreet who was working with Anna father. Anna Bradstreet never went to school but her father always taught her and gave her an education. It that time many women didn’t have an education. Anna considers one of the best and most important American poets. When Bradstreet was a little girl, she writes poems to honor and please her father. After she got married, she kept writing and it marriage didn’t stop her. Her brother in law, John Woodbridge, pastor of the Andover Church, brought with him to London a manuscripts collection of her poetry in 1650. It was her first book, The Tenth Muse was the first published volume of poems written by an American resident and it was widely read. Anne Bradstreet was a very religious and Godly woman. Anne Bradstreet always tried to live life in a perfect way. Anne Bradstreet was a woman of God and she always wrote about her faith in her poetry. She always talked about the Puritan and their believes and views on salvation and reclamation in her poetry. Anna seems to believe that God has punished her through her sicknesses. The Puritans believed suffering was God’s plan of preparing the soul and heart for accepting his mercy

Bradstreet apologized in her poetry for writing as a woman. This can be see in “The Prologue,” in the first stanza.

The poem “Women” seems to be a poem against women or in my view a poem that describes in the way that females have been seen throughout the years. The first four line of the poem describe women to be ignorant and conceded in a way. “Women have no wilderness in them, They are provident instead.” In the first two lines the speaker goes straight into a judgmental stage of women. The speaker gives a feeling of ignorance in the first line as he says, “women have no wilderness” meaning that women are not daring, they are not venturesome in other words women are boring.

Continuing, Bradstreet mentions regret for her lack of skill, in which she laments the fact that "A weak or wounded brain admits no cure" (stanza 4, line 24). As the reading progresses, she discusses the prejudice against women, knowing that if she expresses her true feelings, no one will look at her poem. Stanza 5, lines 25-30 implies that she despises anyone who thinks that women are better as housewives, and that if their work "proves well," men will say it is stolen or is "by chance," explaining unfair treatment of women. Following, she mentions the Greeks as appreciative of women, blaming the current society for the manipulation of women. She laments that the Greeks had fewer arguments on women's rights and were more peaceful, contrasting it with the current

For many years, women were perceived as unequal within their society. This is shown as women didn’t have any rights to vote until 1918, when the women voting act came into place. However this continuous slur would continue to follow women throughout history. As a result, the writers Shakespeare, Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning, all create female characters that have adopted a sense of anger and hatred towards their set society. In the poems and play the writers create strong female characters that have determined voices to deal with the various problems that society brings upon them.

Millay not only displays the freedom women should have within this poem, but also the possible consequences men will face if they treat women as if they are merely a trophy for a home. Millay begins the poem with a warning, saying to her lover how he will be “sorry” for something he had said to her (Millay, page 462). She is obviously insulted, and responds with a threat because of what has just taken place which seems to be relating to her intelligence or her

In Puritan society, even though men and female had the access to education, a very short amount of women attended in comparison to men. It is of our knowledge that in puritan society, only men were allowed to instruct their families and influence in decisions making. Anne Bradstreet was a member of a group of women, who receive no formal education. However, she was part of a well-educated family, and had access to a large collection of books, which provided her knowledge and inspiration write books and poems at a young age. Puritans believed in humbleness, simplicity, and different roles for men and women, as they considered men superior to women. The speaker realizes that the content of it is not worthy of being published, as a consequence of her scarcity of her schooling. Bradstreet expresses fake humility towards her work to reject Puritan beliefs that women were not skilled as men, and to portray life as a Puritan women.

At first perusal, Anne Bradstreet’s writing adheres to a very Puritan sensibility: she argues that women, though they are worthy individuals, are naturally inferior to men and that earthly treasures are mere distractions from heavenly eternity. But, woven beneath the surface of her poems is the subtle revelation of her sexuality. Bradstreet eroticizes the complex relationship between nature, religion, her husband and herself, seemingly contradicting her religion, but by contextualizing the sexuality in religious terms, she shows that sexuality can be reconciled with spirituality.