Anne Bradstreet
The Struggles and Fears of a Puritan MotherBeing a Puritan woman, Anne Bradstreet had trouble writing poetry in a patriarchal, unimaginative world. Although Bradstreet grew up in affluence with the luxury of an excellent education, she was expected to behave as a normal Puritan woman. She was the wife and child of colonial governor, but her status could not save her from the maltreatment and contempt of a women stepping over the line. The Puritan belief that a women's place is in the home, perturbed Bradstreet. She did not agree with the cultural bias toward women in her time. Bradstreet was criticized harshly for her role as a female writer; nonetheless, she wrote more and more about being a woman. Bradstreet used her feminine side in her poetry to fight her inner struggles. She showed the world that being a woman was to her advantage in the realm of her poetry. Bradstreet uses a variety of metaphors throughout her poetry, but the metaphor that shows her struggles with being a woman is her metaphor of a mother to a child. This metaphor is seen in two of her poems, "The Author to Her Book," and, "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659." In these two poems, Bradstreet uses the metaphor of a mother to her child t
Bradstreet is struggling with feelings of both embarrassment and pride toward her work. The next of Bradstreet's poems, "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659," is also about a mother and her children, and letting go. " Bradstreet has eight children, four boys and four girls, whom she spent the majority of her life caring for. Bradstreet knows that even though the child has faults and is not perfect, that she must let go. She likens this embarrassment to that a mother would have dealing with an unruly child. "Thus gone amongst you I may live/ And dead, yet speak, and counsel give: (ll. Along with the words offspring and birth, she builds up her metaphor of her poetry as a child. "In this array, 'mongst vulgars may'st roam (l. This poem, "The Author to Her Book," shows the struggles of the first American writer. 54-58)Although the mother bird wants to keep watch over her chicks, she realizes that they must leave the nest. Bradstreet used her biggest downfall to her advantage in her writing. She discusses the pains of each child leaving her nest, till she is left with no one. With her poem, "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659," Bradstreet also forms a metaphor with her children leaving the nest.
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