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  • Anne Bradstreet-Puritan Feminist

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    Anne Bradstreet was a 17th century Puritan poet who immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was the first published female author in America, publishing The Tenth Muse in 1650. In her poetry, she challenged the prevailing notions that women were only fit for domestic affairs and that female poets were inferior. She wrote in defense of female intellect and power, citing examples like Queen Elizabeth. Her work provides a unique perspective on the experience of early Puritan women and a feminist voice that survived despite the limitations of her time.

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    Anne Bradstreet was a 17th century Puritan poet who immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was the first published female author in America, publishing The Tenth Muse in 1650. In her poetry, she challenged the prevailing notions that women were only fit for domestic affairs and that female poets were inferior. She wrote in defense of female intellect and power, citing examples like Queen Elizabeth. Her work provides a unique perspective on the experience of early Puritan women and a feminist voice that survived despite the limitations of her time.

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    33 views3 pages

    Anne Bradstreet-Puritan Feminist

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    واحة التسلية
    Anne Bradstreet was a 17th century Puritan poet who immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was the first published female author in America, publishing The Tenth Muse in 1650. In her poetry, she challenged the prevailing notions that women were only fit for domestic affairs and that female poets were inferior. She wrote in defense of female intellect and power, citing examples like Queen Elizabeth. Her work provides a unique perspective on the experience of early Puritan women and a feminist voice that survived despite the limitations of her time.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Anne Bradstreet: Puritan Feminist

    Puritan Christianity is not a belief system that one would expect to foster
    feminism, but among the writings of the early Puritans in America, we find the
    poetry of Anne Bradstreet, who sailed with John Winthrop to the
    Massachusetts Bay Colony.

    Bradstreet's father ensured that his daughter got a good education, and her
    poetry is a fascinating blend of classical learning, Puritan thought, and a
    testament to the strength of women.  In the early days of the Puritan
    experiment in the New World, women had to be strong.  Despite the fact that
    she was often ill, Bradstreet bore eight children, and her book The Tenth
    Muse was the first book to be published by a woman in the United States.

    Her writings challenged the notion that women were only fit for domestic
    affairs.  In "The Prologue" she writes:

    I am obnoxious to each carping tongue


    who says my hand a needle better fits,
    A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong.
    For such despite they cast on female wits
    If what I do prove well, it won't advance,
    They'll say it was stolen or else it was by chance.

    Here Bradstreet speaks out against the idea that female poets are inferior, or
    derivative of, male poets.  Her epic poem "In Honor of That High and Mighty
    Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory" gives a "shout out" to one of the
    most powerful and influential female leaders of English history:

    She hath wiped off th' aspersion of her sex


    That women wisdom lack to play the rex (king)
    In her praise of Queen Elizabeth, Bradstreet gives a litany of powerful women
    from history and literature: Athena (goddess of war, wisdom, chastity, the arts,
    and justice), Semiramis (9th century queen of Assyria who is said to have built
    Babylon), Tomyris (a Scythian queen whose armies in 529 A.D. defeated
    Cyrus the Great of Persia), Dido (fabled queen of Carthage), and Zenobya
    (queen of Syria).  Bradstreet places Elizabeth in this tradition of strong female
    leaders.

    Despite her education and talent, Bradstreet lived in a world ruled mostly by
    men, and some of her poetry reflects frustration over the widely-held belief
    that her voice was not as powerful as a man's.  In "Contemplations" she feels
    a kinship with the mythic figure of Philomel, daughter of king Attica, who was
    transformed into a nightingale after her brother-in-law raped her and tore out
    her tongue:

    While musing thus with contemplation fed,


    And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain,
    The sweet-tongued Philomel perched o'er my head
    And chanted forth a most melodious strain
    Which rapt me so with wonder and delight,
    I judged my hearing better than sight,
    And wished me wings with her a while to take my flight.

    Despite the limitations and prejudices of her age, Anne Bradstreet's poetry
    survives, a testament to its enduring value and importance.
    http://jesselatour.blogspot.com/2013/01/anne-bradstreet-puritan-feminist.html

    (blog)

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