Sarah Kemble Knight
What would a woman in the 1700's be doing riding on horseback across country by herself? This question seems shocking to some but not to a woman like Sarah Kemble Knight. She was the daughter of a Boston merchant and married a sea captain. In her quest from Boston to New York, we will look at the aspect she had on her journey. The differences she noted in her diary about how she portrayed the people of that time, and the religion that Sarah had in her life.Sarah was a Puritan woman, and with keeping that in mind she had great humor in her writings. She portrayed herself as humorous and her surroundings also. The still all too common stereotype of Puritans is that of somber and unsmiling. The Puritans belief was to serve God and their husbands. After reading the introduction, Sarah lost her father in 1689 and with her husband out to sea she assumed the responsibilities of the household, as with many other women of this time. Through the history books women are portrayed as being seen but not heard and through the readings of American Literature I have come to re
In the journal that Knight kept of her journey, she described what it was like to travel on horseback, accompanied by a mail carrier and other travelers. Her private journal contained little moral values and almost no spiritual self-examination. Throughout the journey Sarah kept excellent records of her surroundings and the people she came across. They gave the title of merchant to every trader who rated their goods according to the time and money they would pay. Knight focused on the social distinctions and class hierarchies that structured colonial New England. Her imagination ran wild with the vividness of her poems. Sarah refers to Native Americans in dehumanizing terms such as savages and compares them to animals, the thought of some farmers allowing their slaves to "sit at the table and eat with them" simply disgusted her. Although her poems were vivid she did not once write with religion in her voice. The description she gives of the town is quite different than the others she had passed through. The people that Sarah encountered on her journey were of different classes. This was regarded to as "to save time", but with Sarah it was unheard of. The fear she was feeling did not dampen her spirits of the journey. She indicated that the people of New York were sociable to one another and courteous and civil to strangers. Knight was an unusually independent woman for her time. Sarah was very ruthless and sarcastic about the ignorance and poor taste displayed by the rustic "bumpkins" she encountered in her journey.
Common topics in this essay:
American Literature,
York Sarah,
Sarah Puritan,
Native Americans,
Kemble Knight,
Boston York,
encountered journey,
sarah kemble knight,
Sarah Kemble,
journey sarah,
voice unlike,
sarah kemble,
kemble knight,
|
Acceptance Essays
