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Religion influence on literature
Puritan belief essay
Anne bradstreet contribution to literature
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The Puritan life, although simple, demanded diligence both mentally and spiritually which put stress on even the most faithful of followers. Although the common practice entailed brushing religious struggles under the rug, few writers bravely wrote of their religious doubts and endeavors to become better Puritans. Author Anne Bradstreet shows in her work “Here Follows Some Verse upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666” that religious struggles are often met by Puritans and it takes brave souls to admit their difficult time with their religion. This poem shows a woman dealing with a religious crisis and how even though she struggles her faith still holds strong in the end. Bradstreet’s poem displays a crisis of faith in her content and reflects her struggle with the Puritan beliefs, however, the form and structure of the poem reflect her internal religious solidarity.
The extreme crisis that Bradstreet goes through in losing her house and of her possessions would be detrimental to any human being. The content in this poem reflects the doubts, thought process, and battle Bradstreet had with her faith during this crisis. An example of Bradstreet showing her grief throughout the poem would be as followed: “Then, coming out, beheld a space/The flame consume my dwelling place/and when I could no longer look,/I blest His name that gave and took,” (Bradstreet 11-14). This quote exemplifies Bradstreet’s loss especially with the line “and when I could no longer look” (14). This quote indicates Bradstreet’s immense grief to the point where her eyes cannot bare to look at what causes her pain. Another example of the grief Bradstreet is going through is as followed: “Here stood that trunk, and there that chest,/There lay that store I...
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...f how the form of the poem reflects the author’s strong internal faith.
It is not uncommon in the writing world to use poetic form to reflect inner meaning. Bradstreet did an exemplary job at showing the reader poetic content that was doubtful and a form that solidified her faith. During the time this poem was written, having doubts in one’s faith was considered taboo to talk about. Bradstreet showed her courageous and brave attitude when she decided to write about questioning her own beliefs. Even though she wrote this poem for herself, the courageous act of acknowledging her own doubts spoke for those Puritans who did not have the courage to. Since she had the strong poetic form reflecting her faith, this enabled her to write about her doubts in a better light. The poem shows that even in times of external peril, internal strength is what helps a person prevail.
Anne Bradstreet’s inability to perfect her work before it was released frustrated her to the point where she internalizes the book’s imperfections as a reflection of herself. Bradstreet uses an extended metaphor of a mother and a child to compare the relationship between herself as the author and her book. Rather than investing her spirit in God, she repeatedly focuses on trying to improve the quality of her writing with no success, “I washed thy face, but more defects I saw” (Bradstreet 13). Like a mother protecting her child, Bradstreet’s attempts to prevent critics from negatively analyzing her work of art (20). Her continuous obsession about people’s opinions consumed in the Earthly world and essentially distracted her from developing a spiritual relationship with God. Bradstreet was enveloped by her dissatisfaction with her to the point of ridiculing herself, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble mind” (1). It was obvious that her mind and spiritual
In the late 1600’s, literature is dissimilar from today’s, such as focusing on being sent into the fiery pits of hell only because one hasn’t converted to Puritanism. There are also different types of writing to display the righteousness and positives of being a converted and loyal to the Puritan culture. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are two popular Puritan authors who project different messages and portray a varying energy through a slim number of their pieces. The poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” or “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet or “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards are fit examples of the Puritan age and what Puritans belive to be religiously
Bradstreet was a Puritan and was therefore raised with a simplistic view of the world. This, combined with the fact that she was a woman, carried over into her way of writing. Her writing style was not eloquent but plain, humble, and pleasant to read. Her poems dealt with topics such as faith, family, and adversity and were easy to understand. Bradstreet had great faith which she gained through the experiences she encountered in life.
The first part in this poem, "If ever two were one" (1) sets us with expectations to continue with the reading. These words show that Bradstreet and her husband were really in love, that this love could unite two persons and make them one. Bradstreet and her husband think, act, and feel much like they are part of each other. The tone of this poem tells us that she is a very religious, because she speaks of praying and the heavens. We get the impression that she is a very dedicated person, to her family and to God. She...
She writes a letter to husband, almost instructing him on what to do after her death. Unlike other demure housewives of her time, she acknowledges the risk birthing her child brings by saying, “And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains / Look to my little babes, my dear remains” (107). Bradstreet also approaches a taboo subject by acknowledging that her husband might remarry. Bradstreet does not tread lightly on this subject either by writing, “And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me, / These o protect from step Dames injury” (107). In this poem, Bradstreet faces the possibility of not only the loss of her life but the loss of her husband’s love. Bradstreet challenges Puritan beliefs by showing that she will still be concerned with her earthly life after her
The components of marriage, family and loss has played a big role in Anne Bradstreet’s writing of “Before the birth of One of Her Children”, “In Memory of Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet”, and Edward Taylor’s “Upon Wedlock and the Death of Children.” In, these writings both authors Puritan culture and their faith plays a big role. In these poems one author starts questioning their God and the other to take honor in their God throughout their grieving process, while both showing different aspects of their everlasting union with their spouse, and the love for their children.
Anne Bradstreet, whom most critics consider America’s first “authentic poet”, was born and raised as a Puritan. Bradstreet married her husband Simon at the tender age of eighteen. She wrote her poems while rearing eight children and performing other domestic duties. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells of three valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
Anne Bradstreet is seen as a true poetic writer for the seventeenth century. She exhibits a strong Puritan voice and is one of the first notable poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Bradstreet’s work symbolizes both her Puritan and feminine ideals and appeals to a wide audience of readers. American Puritan culture was basically unstable, with various inchoate formations of social, political, and religious powers competing publicly. Her thoughts are usually on the reality surrounding her or images from the Bible. Bradstreet’s writing is that of her personal and Puritan life. Anne Bradstreet’s individualism lies in her choice of material rather than in her style.
It dictated most of her way of living. She writes about her many struggles between her “flesh” and “the Spirit”. She is honest about sometimes feeling inadequate and wanting to digress away from God’sS way. She includes a constant tension between her selfish thoughts and what she know is the best path. It is not so much a battle between personal beliefs and what one is expected to do. Rather it is a battle between what one is doing and what one already knows is the best route in thinking and living. Bradstreet’s family moved from England to the New England in order to follow this movement of Puritans creating a new life in accordance to the church (White, p.103). So she was well aware of Christian principles and very familiar with the Bible. In Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House she talks mostly about the many vanities of this world and that one should focus on things that are eternal. She
Bradstreet’s poetry is fully religious. Being a pious woman, as everyone was at that time period, she wrote poems claiming high morals and religious motifs. Her writings were very popular among puritans who started colonizing America. His Puritan belief was the reason of her special attitude to her life, soul and sufferings. “She thought that God was so hard on her because her soul was too in love with the world. She also wrote some poems where she asked God to watch over her children and husband” (Gonzalez, 2000).
Anne Bradstreet wrote poetry in a time when only Puritan men were publishing writing, mostly about their faith and religion. Thus, she was the first woman in the colonies to be published and received a lot of criticism for it. At this time, there were roles that women were expected to fill, specifically wife and mother roles, and going against these roles could have grand consequences. While her poems may seem simple and domestic, they contain a more complex meaning when looked at closely. Through many of her poems, Bradstreet expressed her frustration towards her society’s gender norms and went against the Patriarchal ideas of the Puritan society.
The paradox of Shepard’s passage is one that the early Puritans not only firmly believed but also lived day in and day out. As a central tenet of their existence, this paradox led Puritans to experience a constant internal struggle between two aspects of the Puritan self: the sinful, wicked side and the redeemed, saved side. Significantly, the struggle became a common motif in many Puritan works, including Anne Bradstreet’s “The Flesh and the Spirit.” In this poem, Bradstreet describes not only the dual self that was the result of Puritan theology but also the psychological significance of the Puritan paradox. “The Flesh and the Spirit” demonstrates that the road to attainment of grace, and thus to salvation, lies not in resolving the conflict between the two aspe...
Religion plays at the centre of the poem as Bradstreet creates an image of the harmonious relationship she shares with her husband. In Puritan culture ‘sex seems to be reduced to strictly a reproductive function’ with sexual passion never being addressed. Similarly, Bradstreet never discusses a physical relationship with her husband but focuses on the spirituality of their connection and thus follows the typical Puritan thinking that sexual connection is not the basis for marriage. ‘Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere/ That we live no more, we may live ever’ captures how religion and spirituality are at the centre of Bradstreet’s marriage. Echoing the typical Christian vows of commitment, Bradstreet finishes with the promise of their love eternal, ‘we may live ever’ through the belief that if they ‘persevere’ and remain true in their relationship it will survive past death. The promise of ‘ever’ is also a biblical reference to the belief that Jesus Christ was the key to ‘be with the Lord forever’ which incorporates the earthly commitment Bradstreet has made with the spiritual one she has made as well. This develops Bradstreet as a true representation of a Puritan as she centres her life and relationships around her religious beliefs rather than focusing on the
Anne Bradstreet is well known for being the first colonial poet to be published. Many of her poems were titled after the things that were most important to her: most significantly her faith and her family, one poem for example, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, was written between 1641 and 1643. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is a beautiful poem expressing the love of one spouse to another and the poem offers readers understandings into Puritan attitudes toward love, marriage, and God. Bradstreet’s poem celebrates her relationship with her husband by describing, in detail, how connected the two of them are. The author uses figurative language to give you an idea about how much she cherishes
The most noticeable use of literary device throughout the poem is her consistent allusion to Greek mythology. Bradstreet herself had a great appreciation of the arts. According to the Anthology of American Literature, her father’s station in life allowed her to be schooled in the Elizabethan