Anne Bradstreet could now be regarded as a

cultural rebel given that she had the fearlessness to

become a writer in a society with very strong religious

convictions in which women were deprived of their

rights and completely underestimated, especially

intellectually. Bradstreet undoubtedly made a

difference by having the courage to express her opinion on different aspects of her life

regarding the inequality between men and women as well as exposing her deepest and

most passionate feelings, going against the Puritan doctrine. For this reason, the poet’s

role in the history of American literature is fundamental for comprehending the

difficult and challenging circumstances to which women were subjected by the time a

great nation was about to be born.

In the picture selected, we can observe a tiny female figure locked in a cage

who extends her arm to the outside of it, as if she was begging for help, and, on the

other hand, there is a masculine hand holding the cage delicately. The woman locked

in the cage symbolises the power and oppression that men had over women in the

17th century which Bradstreet, unfortunately, had to undergo not only as a woman but

as a writer. The hand represents the severe puritanical dictum accompanied by the

robust patriarchal society of that time. Hence, this picture will be compared with

particular events in Bradstreet’s life that exemplify some of the situations that many

women had to experience.

The sexist mentality of that moment was one of the main factors why there

was a total indifference towards the writings by women, and mainly from women
themselves. For Anne Bradstreet, writing was not only a way of relating her memories

but also served her as a means of expression in which she manifested her most

personal emotions and thoughts, often through the use of irony, metaphors or

allusions. In "The Prologue", Bradstreet’s feeling of inferiority and her resignation for

not being able to reach the same social status or achievements as men, are

undoubtedly perceptible in this collection of poems. For instance, by alluding to the

figure of one of her role models, Guillaume Du Bartas, the poet recognizes her lower

stance by expressing her envy towards the writer's captivating pieces. It is also

noticeable that her desire to be inspired by his muses emerges when she reads his

works, it seems she is eager to be supplied with a talent like his. Furthermore, there is

a statement that clearly reflects how women fed back to themselves the prejudices and

ideas created by the misogynistic society to which they were subjected: "Men can do

best, and women know it well". On the other hand, in her poem “The Author to Her

Book”, a hopeless Bradstreet expresses her desperation and indignation for being

humiliated, in particular, by her brother-in-law, John Woodbridge, who published her

unfinished selection of poems “The Tenth Muse” without her consent, as if he had a

kind of authority or power over her, not letting the poet show off in the literature field

as she would have desired. Once again, we recognise another situation in which we

can see that the poet is in a position of inferiority because her work as a writer is

definitely belittled by a male figure in her family environment. One way or another,

masculine individuals have gone somehow into the first step of the ladder whereas

women remain in the last, subordinated, accepting their condition of society shadows.

In every artistic field, there has always been a sharp contrast of preferences and tastes

between men and women when it comes to dealing with different subjects in a work.

Needless to say, these are based on the gender of the artist most of the time.
Therefore, the distinction between women's and men's literature has been an evident

issue for a long time until now. While men wrote about their countless battles and

conquests, boasting of bravery and courage in their pieces, most women were

assigned topics related to home affairs, love or religion which we can recognize in

some of Bradstreet’s poems, for instance. This assignment is truly sexist since it

stereotypes women and even insinuates the existence of a unique type of motherhood

in which the female figure is the only one in charge of domestic tasks such as raising

and taking after children, just because of being women, that duty has been assigned to

them. In contrast, it is remarkable that Anne Bradstreet's maternal role differs from

the Puritan dictum, in which men who believed in that doctrine and the assumptions

of the time, were considered the main representative figure of the family, although the

figure of the Father as such is never mentioned in her poems.

There is no doubt that Anne Bradstreet places a stark contrast to the rest of the

women in her society, as she has a particular degree of freedom that was not very

common in her time if we take into account that she belonged to an upper-class family

with strong religious beliefs. Therefore, it is actually really curious how Bradstreet

partially departs from the stereotype of the traditional Puritan woman, especially, if

we consider that her father and husband became important political personalities.

Notwithstanding this, it could be that due to the ubiquity of the male figures presiding

in her family her literature became more manifested. It is very likely that if it was not

for her relatives, her works would have probably remained unstudied as well as the

incalculable number of literary female works which conceivably, by finally shedding

light to them, would modify the actual canon established and presided mainly by male

works. If we laid the foundation in what was mentioned before, women could have

been considered worthwhile and would have broken off with the position of a
dispensable figure that has been attached to men throughout history. Nevertheless,

these beliefs have changed over time just like the uncountable number of attempts to

reach equality that have been done throughout history, despite this, there are still

several aspects to modify or improve currently.

Bradstreet can also be considered a fortunate author if we take into

consideration that she did not need to cover her authorship with a man’s name unlike

other female writers of her time. The use of pseudonyms was a very common thing to

do when women wanted to publish their novels. The Brönte sisters, for example,

wrote poetry adopting male names masking themselves in order to abstain from the

prejudices established by the misogynist paradigms of their times. In the case of

Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Woman” She used the pseudonym of A.M.

Barnard given that the topics used in those writings were deemed as “unladylike” for

a 19th-century female writer. Unfortunately, a humongous number of female writers

had to undergo similar situations even though their novels were canonical works.

Although Anne Bradstreet was the first writer to publish a work in American

literature, nowadays she is not as well-known as many other women authors who have

also broken out of the stereotypes of their time and given visibility to women's

literature. Personally, we would not know the poet if it was not for a university subject

in which we have gone deep into her life by analyzing some of her poems.

Undoubtedly, the reading of her texts and the knowledge of her deepest feelings has

opened the eyes of her readers as her poems have put them in the shoes of a woman

who lived in a specific period of the 17th century and makes them empathise with her

by being aware of the different unpleasant experiences she had to go through. On the

other hand, her poems have also helped in comprehending a different concept of

feminism, of homogeneity, and to understand the experiences that lamentably many

women had to live through. Bradstreet's initial aim was not to promote feminism, but

she has definitely contributed to it without being aware of it, which is why her poetry

must be taken into account when it comes to appreciating the artistic faculties of

women. Today, a revolution is emerging that supports women and wants them to be as

recognised and respected as men in all aspects of life, especially in the artistic field.

Probably, those female authors who were forgotten in the past because of their inferior

social position can now be discovered by new generations of students who are willing

to stand up for the rights of all and learn from the mistakes of the past. We firmly

believe that the figure of Anne Bradstreet should be even more popular for her

gallantry and for how useful her poetry is for understanding feminism and also the

resurgence of the significance of women in society as well as the detachment of the

figure of fragility that has accompanied them for centuries.

Carme Marí Clérigues and Gemma Mira Ortiz

2nd year English Studies. Group B

STUDENT STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP I, Carme Marí

Clérigues, confirm that the work presented in this assignment has been performed
solely by myself and contains no material which has been written by any other person
except where explicitly identified to the contrary. I also state that this work has not
been submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfilment of any other
qualification. I make this statement in full knowledge of and understanding that,
should it be found to be false, I will be deemed Not Yet Competent. Word Count
(excluding reference list, fig. Legends, tables and appendices):

Signature:

Date: 8 November 2021

 STUDENT STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP I, Gemma Mira
Ortiz, confirm that the work presented in this assignment has been performed solely
by myself and contains no material which has been written by any other person except
where explicitly identified to the contrary. I also state that this work has not been
submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfilment of any other qualification. I
make this statement in full knowledge of and understanding that, should it be found to
be false, I will be deemed Not Yet Competent. Word Count (excluding reference list,
fig. Legends, tables and appendices):

Signature:
Date: 8 November 2021