Anne Bradstreet Analysis

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Anne Bradstreet, like any other woman, had a role in society. However, the only role that Anne Bradstreet obtained was to be a loving mother and a housewife. Women in a Puritan society were looked down on because men during that period of time were considered superior, and had a powerful role in the Puritan society. Anne Bradstreet, however, believed that women should be recognized and accepted as intelligent individuals with their own similar, strong opinions. She showed her struggle with the adversity of the Puritan culture and ideas regarding women’s roles in her work. Her poems are a demonstration to both, her rhetorical skill as a poet and her progression of women’s literature. In “Prologue” and “The Author to Her Book”, Anne Bradstreet’s tone suggested that women and their roles fall under certain stereotypical Puritan standard, in which they are demeaned.

Anne Bradstreet has changed her tone from one poem to another, to emphasize on how the Puritans used to portray women. In “Prologue”, she delivered her words in a sarcastic manner in order to criticize men and their roles within the Puritan society. For example, in the first stanza, she stated that, “To sing of Wars, of captains, and of kings, of cities founded, common-wealths begun, for my mean pen are too superior things.” Anne Bradstreet begins her poem by mentioning prominent male figures and their roles, comparing them to herself; stating these men seemed to be too “superior”. In other words, praising their position and action within the society, yet claiming they are not worth writing about in her poems. Moreover, Anne Bradstreet succeeded in changing her tone from sarcastic to apologetic in “The Author to Her Book”, to emphasize her embarrassment, concern...

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...a wakeup call that slapped the faces of men who believed that they were superior.

Clearly, there’s more than meets the eye, in Anne Bradstreet’s case, there’s more to a poem than meets the eyes. This explains Anne Bradstreet’s message that is addressed to the Puritan ideas regarding women in their society. In addition, she was constantly facing an internal conflict between her desire to think and to have the freedom to write and her responsibility of meeting certain religious requirements. The pressure of following these certain Puritan concepts gave her the chance to speak freely about the hardships of being a woman and her personal thoughts about her life. Therefore, Anne Bradstreet expressed her frustration against Puritan ideas regarding women through her tone. In addition, she found it necessary to maintain polite and to apologize for her writing.