Anne Bradstreet: the Heretical Poet

Anne Bradstreet: The Heretical Poet Greg Saxon The purpose of this research is to discuss heretical elements in the poetry of Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672). This is not to imply that Bradstreet was a heretic in the sense that American spiritual reformer Anne Hutchinson was. Hutchinson (1591-1643) emigrated to Boston in 1634 and preached a doctrine of salvation through intuitive apprehension of grace rather than by works, and attacked the rigid moral and licit codes of New England Puritanism. Anne Bradstreet accepted the tenets of Puritanism and was a very religious person. Anti-Puritan themes are, however, to be found in her poetry in terms of her religious doubts, her style of individual(prenominal) emotions and thoughts, and her artistry. She did not write to preach or teach,, as Puritan writers were instructed to, but to express herself. It is this personal expression that forms the basis of the heretical elements in her poetry. To understand why personal expression may be considered heretical, the society in which Bradstreet lived and wrote essential be examined in order to comprehend what kinds of human activities and behaviors were agreeable and how Bradstreet deviated from these behaviors. Bradstreet was not truly unorthodox in that she did not dissent from accepted vox populis and doctrine.

She was a woman of the 17th Century and lived in a male dominated, intensely religious society. She lived within the limitations not simply of the beliefs and standards of her society, but of her sex. A womans place was definitely in the home in Colonial America. The experiences of women were considered narrow and trivial in comparison with mens. Puritanism was more than a religious belief; it was a way of life. In the dozen years before 1640, both(prenominal) 15,000 Englishmen crossed the Atlantic in order to establish a Holy farming in which that way of life could flourish(Hall 1). The Puritans were a troupe in the Church of England that arose in Elizabeths reign with the... If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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