Bradstreet, Knight and Rowlandson in Colonial New England

             In the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England the situation of women was unidealistic, rather complicated and demanding as the, so to say, male-centered society was somewhat ungrateful toward them, especially concerning the education of women. In the "limiting context" (1) of the Puritan world, restriction and dependance dominated over the female population. As wives were mothers and homemakers, the burden of household chores and children was all weighted on them. Particularly in poor families, where there was no help for the wife, women had to concentrate on multiple tasks besides raising children and cooking. They had to "make clothing, and doctor their family on top of cleaning, making household goods to use and sell, taking care of their animals, maintaining a fire and even tending to the kitchen gardens" (2).
             I would like to examine the three most well-know woman writers of Puritan New England, Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson and Sarah Kemble Knight by comparing and contrasting them to one another while studying the 'world' they lived in, concerning their social positions, opportunities in the Puritan world and the purpose of their writings. They were, basically, the most outstanding examples from the seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century New England as woman were overlooked, not encouraged, and not educated by men. Writing career for a woman was unheard of at those times. However, these exceptional women raised above both the expectations and possibilities of women's role. Why were they different? What can we say about literacy in colonial New England? How was it possible for them to write and when they did, what was their purpose with their compositions?
             Although more woman writers or poets from the same period were only discovered centuries later, these three remain the most influential and outstanding examples of Puritan New England. We have to add, though, here, that it i...

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Bradstreet, Knight and Rowlandson in Colonial New England. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 16:29, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/29114.html