Analysis Of My Dear And Loving Husband By Anne Bradstreet

1. To what extent does Anne Bradstreet’s poetry reflect Puritan thinking?

Marriages in Puritan society were based on the biblical scripture; ‘wives submit to your husbands’ , with the sincere belief that women were to subject to the husbands and support their needs before their own. ‘My Dear and Loving Husband’ captures Bradstreet’s relationship with her husband as it is plain and simple. Typical of a Puritan marriage, Bradstreet submits to her husband and shows her duty in loving him. ‘If ever man were loved by wife’ then wife is never loved by man but endures to find happiness in submitting to her husband. Bradstreet is setting her own desires aside and replaces them with her responsibilities to her husband; that ‘man were loved by wife’.

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

In Bradstreet’s poem ‘In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old’ religion plays a key part on managing the grief of death. Being ‘with the Lord forever’ was a promise in ‘My Dear and Loving Husband’ whereas in ‘Memory of My Dear Grandchild it is used to bring comfort. The promise that Elizabeth Bradstreet is ‘then ta’en away unto eternity’ where the Puritan belief suggests she will endure for ‘forever’ and thus they shall meet again. The Puritan belief that ‘we are parted for a little while, but we shall see them again’ helps Bradstreet deal with the grief of the death of her grandchild. Puritanism has clearly permeated every aspect of Bradstreet’s life as her first act in desperate times is to look to her faith but also seeks her religion in every relationship she has whether it be romantic, with her husband, or familial. Bradstreet seeks to celebrate her faith in God through her poetry, using it as a form of worship making it a clear tool for voicing her Puritan