Motherhood: What Was and What Could Have Been Motherhood has forever been a defining status of the female race. Motherhood affects every woman in a profound way, whether she has a child or not. A woman who has her own children, or raises another’s, will spend every moment concerning herself with their well-being. Another may wish for a child to dote over, but never have one placed in her hands. There are also those women who deliberately choose not to have children and may even face criticism for not dedicating their bodies and futures to their womanly duty. Though every woman’s experience with motherhood is unique, it will be a defining characteristic in her life. The poets, Anne Bradstreet and Gwendolyn Brooks, tell the world what this definition is for each of them and though these two women have completely different experiences with motherhood, both demonstrate the deep, undying love that mothers have for their children and the grief women experience because of this love.
Anne Bradstreet, a Puritan woman living in colonial America, reflects on her fond memories of her time spent as an exemplary mother to eight children in her poem, “In reference to Her Children, 23 June, 1659.” From this poem the reader can gather that
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The women who raise children, who will eventually leave, the women who never get to love or have children, as well as the woman who chooses to have no part in maternity will experience love and grief given by virtue of motherhood. A woman may miss her children, the children she never had, or the opportunity to have children. She may also love her children, love the thought of children, or love that she made the best decision for her own interest. Regardless of a woman’s relationship with motherhood, it will have lasting effects on her