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How has religion affected literature
How have gender roles changed over time in literature
How have gender roles changed over time in literature
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Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson were two different women who lived in a male dominated period in history. However, these two women were not seamstresses or maids, and they both accomplished something that was not expected of a woman during the 1600s, they were authors. Both Anne and Mary held strong religious backgrounds. Both of these women were of the Puritan faith and a strong sense of their devotedness was incorporated into their work. Strong religious values allowed both these women to persevere the struggles that they were to endure during their lifetime. Mary Rowlandson’s hardships were more severe however than anything in which Anne had to endure during her lifetime. Mary Rowlandson was held captive during King Philip’s War. The
Despite the changes in values in America during and after the Revolutionary War, Mary stayed true to her Puritan upbringing. She remained humble and pious until her dying day. She created and maintained her identity in conjunction with her Puritan beliefs as opposed to the Revolutionary period that she lived through.
During slavery there was nothing, no law, to stop a white male from raping a slave woman that lived in his plantation. As a result of this a lot of slaves were raped with no one being able to do anything about it. The narratives of both Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley narrate how their slave owners abused them sexually. Jacobs was a house worker and her parents were also slaves, his father was part of the skilled workers group. Keckley was a house and field worker and her parents were also slave field workers. Both of them were daughters of slaves, owned by a rich white plantation owner and both were women. Now there was only one difference that Harriet Jacobs had a lighter skin complexion that Elizabeth.
In “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan mother from Lancaster, Massachusetts, recounts the invasion of her town by Indians in 1676 during “King Philip’s War,” when the Indians attempted to regain their tribal lands. She describes the period of time where she is held under captivity by the Indians, and the dire circumstances under which she lives. During these terrible weeks, Mary Rowlandson deals with the death of her youngest child, the absence of her Christian family and friends, the terrible conditions that she must survive, and her struggle to maintain her faith in God. She also learns how to cope with the Indians amongst whom she lives, which causes her attitude towards them to undergo several changes. At first, she is utterly appalled by their lifestyle and actions, but as time passes she grows dependent upon them, and by the end of her captivity, she almost admires their ability to survive the harshest times with a very minimal amount of possessions and resources. Despite her growing awe of the Indian lifestyle, her attitude towards them always maintains a view that they are the “enemy.”
Slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of brutal and completely unjust treatment of African-Americans. Africans were pulled from their families and forced to work for cruel masters under horrendous conditions, oceans away from their homes. While it cannot be denied that slavery everywhere was horrible, the conditions varied greatly and some slaves lived a much more tolerable life than others. Examples of these life styles are vividly depicted in the personal narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince. The diversity of slave treatment and conditions was dependent on many different factors that affected a slave’s future. Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano both faced similar challenges, but their conditions and life styles
Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards lived during a period in time where religion was the basis and foundation of everyday life. Bradstreet and Edwards were both raised in prominent, wealthy, and educated families. Both were extremely intelligent and shared similar religious beliefs. However, the way in which each of them brought forth those beliefs was vastly different.
Women have faced oppression in the literary community throughout history. Whether they are seen as hysterical or unreliable, women writers seem to be faulted no matter the topics of their literature. However, Anne Bradstreet and Margaret Fuller faced their critics head-on. Whether it was Bradstreet questioning her religion or Fuller discussing gender fluidity, these two women did not water down their opinions to please others. Through their writings, Bradstreet and Fuller made great strides for not just women writers, but all women.
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 and Edward Taylor are two of the most recognizable poets from early American History; they were also both American Puritans, who changed the world with their poetry. We can see many similarities in their poetry when it comes to the importance of religion and also on having children and losing children. There are however differences in the audience of their poetry and their personal views on marriage. Bradstreet and Taylor both came over to America in the 17th century and settled in New England. Though Taylor came years later we can see the similarities through their poetry.
The most obvious way they are alike would be their last name. They both have the last name of Hutchinson. Tessie’s name is based off of Anne Hutchinson’s name. Anne Hutchinson was unable to change her church leaders minds, so she was banished from her colony. Tessie couldn’t convince the people of her town to save her life. So they were both “banished” from their communities. The people of their communities provided no help in saving them. Tessie and Anne were both killed by other people. Tessie was killed by the people of her town. Anne was killed by the Indians after she moved to New York. They both thought differently than their communities. Anne Hutchinson was considered a heretic. Tessie was considered a “rebel” because she didn’t consider
1. Anne Hutchinson was a daughter of clergyman and was very smart person because she had been educated by her father. She participated in childbirth and became a midwife in Boston society. That was a beginning point to spread her own ideas, which god directly spoke to her, to the other women. This is important because it is about salvation and colony society.
Mary Rowlandson was a pretentious, bold and pious character. Her narrative did not make me feel sorry for her at all, which is strange since she really did go through a lot. During the war, the Narragansett Indians attacked Lancaster Massachusetts, and burned and pillaged the whole village. During the siege Mary and her six year old child were shot, she watched her sister and most of her village either burn or get shot. She was kept as a captive, along with her three children and taken with the Narragansett’s on their long retreat. The exposition of the story is set immediately. The reader is perfectly aware of Missus Rowlandson’s status and religious beliefs. She constantly refers to the Narragansetts in an incredibly condescending way, to the point that you know that she does not even consider them human. She paints them as purely evil pe...
Did you know that Anne Hutchinson gave birth to fifteen children? While raising her children and serving as a midwife in her community, she audaciously fought for religious freedom and women’s rights. Because of her differing religious views, Anne Hutchinson was ostracized from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As one of the first American feminists, she rejected the idea of women’s silence in Church. Anne Hutchinson believed in the Covenant of Grace, which was contrary to the widely accepted Puritan belief of the Covenant of Works. This argument started the Antinomian Controversy, and the controversy almost broke the Massachusetts Bay Colony into pieces. She also held discussions after sermons where the ideas of preachers were praised and criticized, which was something that was also “against the rules”. Anne Marbury Hutchinson’s support and advocacy for religious freedom is comparable to the great Roger Williams, but her bravery and role as a “rejector of the status quo” can be compared to none.
Feminism today remains prominent because even while women’s rights are very strong, women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few rights and they were seen as inferior to men. Anne lived among the puritans whom ruled her everyday life. Although it was against the puritan code for women to receive an education, Bradstreet’s father, Thomas Dudley, loved his daughter dearly and made sure that she was well educated which shows in her works. Anne Bradstreet’s literature became well known only because her family published her works under a male name. This was done because writing poetry was a serious offense to the puritans since poetry was considered creative and the only creating that was done was by God. In the works of Anne Bradstreet, she conveys a feminist attitude, and could very well be one of the first American Feminists.
Daniel Defoe wrote the first English novel; a novel is a book of length with one unifying element. It was considered a new form of writing that was not yet developed. Most novels are picaresque, meaning the plot centers around a series of adventures for a character. Daniel Defoe wrote the novel, “Moll Flanders.” It was a novel about the adventures of a girl’s life from beginning to end; however, it was not divided into chapters. The word “moll” actually meant “mother,” and the word “flanders” meant “cloth.” Defoe also wrote an excerpt about two ladies who were taken onto a ship as prisoners; they were deemed “pyrates,” and they actually existed. Mary Read and Anne Bonny were the two pyrates that Defoe wrote about. Both women were mistresses
The biggest difference that I noticed between Bradstreet and Rowlandson compared to writers such as Bradford and Winthrop was the targets of their works. It seems that the male authors were attempting to persuade others to their particular point of view. The women, however, seemed to be mainly condoling themselves through their particular situations. There are, however common themes between all of these authors that are mentioned. They all speak very clearly about God and his role in the lives of these early settlers. Their Puritan beliefs and backgrounds are relatively consistent in this manner. Colonial life for women was probably quite different than it was for men. They likely were not considered equal to men and, in all likelihood, the