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How Did Anne Bradstreet's View Of Women

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Anne Bradstreet, a particularly skilled writer in a time where women writers were practically unheard of, stands out for both maintaining her livelihood whilst writing poems injected with deceptive irony, and having the women in her poems act educated instead of not. She wrote in ways which both acknowledge men and their views, but also tore them apart with ironic writing and prose. This can be seen in The Prologue, beginning with Bradstreet comparing herself with many differing historical figures, but also using them to self-depreciate herself in an overly masculine view of herself. By doing so, she insulted the views and opinions rather than her own works, stabbing male prejudice with sharp irony. Anne Bradstreet wrote in an enjoyable …show more content…

Her references to ancient myths and historical figures serve as examples of other writers and philosophers who did great work, but also did feats which Bradstreet repeatedly states she cannot replicate. However, throughout the poem she repeatedly makes pointed statements against women in a seemingly manly perspective, using irony to point out her own annoyances with the world. She writes, “A weak or wounded brain admits no cure” (Bradstreet 208). This is aimed towards herself as a woman, but more importantly the assumption and opinion that woman were weak in the eyes of men. Her words in the final stanza also become scathing, referencing how men think themselves far better than woman, writing, “And oh ye high flown quills that soar the sky…this mean and unrefined ore of mine will make your glist’ring gold but more shine” (Bradstreet 209). The term unrefined ore is also one to focus upon, as Bradstreet was a skilled writer in her own right. The term serves to highlight the male perspective once again, one final jab at the prejudice of her society. Her poem comes across as polite, yet it is full if various subtle critiques of the male view of the world, more specifically how men see woman and themselves in relation to

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Anne Bradstreet mostly wrote about everyday life while making it seem remarkable. Being a Puritan woman, Anne Bradstreet had trouble writing poetry in colonial society. She was expected to behave as a normal Puritan woman who should stay at home and be a housewife. However, she did

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Unfortunately over many years, society has portrayed females as objects, submissive, and property. Females have been neglected in societies and throughout the world from a variety of opportunities. Misogyny is a word used to describe a dislike of or ingrained prejudice against women. In most cases, an author can easily glossify their content to deceive the reader and use that to their advantage, however, one should always be alert because there is a fault in every published piece. For example, one can even see misogyny in many famous literary works such as Sir Gawain and The Green Knight.

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The Puritans were a religious group in the 16th to 17th centuries who originated from England. They believed that God expected them to live according to the Scriptures of the Bible. They believed in prayer, hard work, family, tradition, structure, discipline, and frugality. Two very important Puritans that lived were Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards.

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Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley are two of the most important early American poets. Bradstreet was the first published American poet and Wheatley is considered to have begun the black American literary tradition (Norton, 110, 403). Both of these incredible women made enormous strides for the development of American literature at a time when it was difficult for women to be taken seriously as authors, and it is striking to notice the similarities between their individual styles. For example, both writers use descriptions of nature in conjunction with their reflections on religion.

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While both poets try to be optimistic about the death of their loved ones, Wheatley, the more religious poet of the two, emphasizes the importance of religion by using her almost artistic sculpting of descriptive adjectives and robust nouns such as “The glowing stars and silver queen of light/ At last must perish in the gloom of night” and in using this word choice, she shows how much weight her religion holds (19-20). As Wheatley praises her God and his doings in her poem, Bradstreet makes sure to underline how much her relationship with her husband and kids mean to her. “Look to my little babes, my dear remains./ And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me,/

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459 Words | 2 Pages

This becomes evident in a lack of information about the type of society, and the reader therefore lacks a complete understanding of how the women are oppressed. As a whole, this poem sets forth the idea that female gender is fluid, and asks its readers to questions what it means to be a woman in a male dominant

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Bradstreet uses an AABBCC rhyme scheme which makes the poem seem to be written in a calm and relaxed state. It is also important to notice that she uses end rhyme which makes it seem as if she was trying to have some control over her life, probably because she lost it due to the fire. The style of the text is really simple because Anne Bradstreet uses what is known as “Puritan Plain Style” makes clear and direct statements and meditate on faith and God with simple sentences and words. It usually contains few elaborate figures of speech.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

The readers can see that the author is not afraid of change in society, through this quote given from page 1982. This writer makes it seem so harsh and she makes everyone misunderstand the meaning of sexual embracement of two people. But, she wasn’t try to make him seem so harsh; she was just trying to make a valid point. I feel that this poem is an act of rebellion, but at the same time a cry for help. The author is crying out “Women Equality,” but nobody is listening, which forces her to use acts of outbursts language.

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I would characterize Anne's view of human nature as mixed. At the beginning of the story she thought of the world as a happy place full of peace, but when they go into hiding, and she hears all the news of suffering on the radio, she begins to think of the human race as cruel creatures who only consider themselves. Later on in the story though, when she talks about the attempt that a general made on Hitler's life she said, “At least there are good people who are tired of all this fighting, and just want the war to end.” So at the beginning she thinks that people are “really good at heart.” At the middle she has mixed feelings, sometimes writing about people’s good deeds, sometimes writing about their bad deeds.

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Furthermore, by using end rhyme, Bradstreet symbolically shows restraint. In the same way that a poet controls oneself by specifically using end rhyme, the poet is controlling her emotions when dealing with a sad experience and accepts her mortality. Similarly, in “Verses Upon the Burning of our House,” proof of Bradstreet’s faith is indisputable. After being initially distraught at her house burning down and losing all of her belongings, Bradstreet recounts how she reorients herself and blesses “His name that gave and took,

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1694 Words | 7 Pages

She talks about how incredible the heavens must be if he could do such wonderful things here on the earth. I believe that is how Bradstreet believes it should be, based on her puritan background. According to puritan values, you should look to God’s word for everything knowing you will one day get to be with him forever. She also knew it wasn’t always the case in a world where, through Adam and Eve, sin was born. The next seven stanzas are dedicated to Cain, Adam and Eve’s son, who “With sullen hateful looks he goes his ways.”

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1221 Words | 5 Pages

Do you know that Shakespeare is not the only gifted writer in his family? This mysterious member exists in the English writer Virginia Woolf’s imagination. In her famous essay “Shakespeare’s Sister,” Woolf uses the hypothetical anecdote of Judith Shakespeare as her main evidence to argue against a dinner guest, who believes that women are incapable of writing great literature. During the time when Judith is created, women are considered to be naturally inferior to men and are expected to be passive and domestic. Regarding her potential audience, educated men, as “conservative,” Woolf attempts to persuade them that social discouragement is the real cause of the lack of great female writers without irritating them by proposing “radical” arguments.

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1121 Words | 5 Pages

Anne Bradstreet (1612 – 1672) has been a long-lasting leading figure in the American literature who embodied a myriad of identities; she was a Puritan, poet, feminist, woman, wife, and mother. Bradstreet’s poetry was a presence of an erudite voice that animadverted the patriarchal constraints on women in the seventeenth century. In a society where women were deprived of their voices, Bradstreet tried to search for their identities. When the new settlers came to America, they struggled considerably in defining their identities. However, the women’s struggles were twice than of these new settlers; because they wanted to ascertain their identities in a new environment, and in a masculine society.

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904 Words | 4 Pages

In poems one and two about grandchildren, Elizabeth and Anne, Bradstreet shows a difference in her feelings. In

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762 Words | 4 Pages

This is shown in the opening line when she says, “If you grow up the type of women...” Throughout this poem, Kay explores the themes of empowerment and identity, through the use of repetition and connotation. Through the frequent use of repetition, Kay puts emphasis on how women are defined in relation to males. Additionally, she also uses connotation to remind women they are more than what they are perceived to be in relation to others and they have the power to define themselves. Therefore the main idea of the poem is to perhaps remind women of their worth and inspire them to define themselves on their own terms, and not through the eyes of men or in comparison/relation to their relationship with others.

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