Compare Anne Bradstreet And Mary Rowlandson

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Anne Bradstreet, John Woodbridge, and Marry Rowlandson, were all Puritan writers each for different purposes disclose the status of a woman during the colonial Puritan society. Anne Bradstreet, a mother of eight in Charlestown, Massachusetts wrote for self pleasure and enjoyment. John Woodbridge, Bradstreet’s brother-in-law, published Bradstreet’s poems and inserted a preface to The Tenth Muse Sprung Up in America, in order to assure readers of the book’s authenticity, as well as to defend her in advance by stating, “more than so, these poems are the fruit but of some few hours, curtailed from her sleep and other refreshments.”(Woodbridge). This text was used by Woodbridge to prove that although Bradstreet found the time to write, it did not…show more content…
In the poem Upon the Burning of Our House, Bradstreet exclaimed after seeing her house burn to the ground that all is G-d’s will and brought in a religious text to bring comfort: “The flame consume my dwelling place. / And when I could no longer look, / I blest His name that gave and took,” (lines 12-14) Although knowing that her home will never be the same again, Bradstreet, in her faith, praises G-d even though what had occurred to her did not appear to be something positive. Similar faith and belief was exhibited in the works of Rowlandson when she wrote about her captivity, she brought many times texts from the bible as words of comfort to her distraught state of mind. As stated in the text, “I have learned to look beyond present and smaller troubles, and to be quieted under them. As Moses said, “Stand still and see the salvation of the L-rd”” (A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, The Twentieth Remove) After experiencing many trials of affliction and hardship Rowlandson learned to look past her troubles and turn to see the deliverance of G-d. Both these Puritan women showed a unique subservience to their creator as well as devotion to both G-d and their…show more content…
When Woodbridge wrote his preface to the book The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America, by Anne Bradstreet, he mentioned her role as a Puritan mother, doing her job with “her exact diligence in her place, and discreet managing of her family occasions, and more than so, these poems are the fruit but of some few hours, curtailed from her sleep and other refreshments.”(Woodbridge, Preface) Woodbridge assured the readers that although Bradstreet was different from other Puritan women she only wrote after her ‘duties’ as a mother and wife when she did not have to do anything else. Bradstreet’s devotion to her children was also brought out in her poem In Reference to Her Children. Throughout the text Bradstreet recalled the pains and cares of her children’s childhood. Bradstreet also noted the constant concern that she had for her children’s welfare as stated, “My cares and more and fears than ever, / My throbs such now as ‘fore were never.” (Bradstreet, 59-60) Even though all her children have grown and were by then old enough to be on their own, Bradstreet exclaimed her everlasting worry for her children. The Pilgrim women’s dedication to their families as well as their belief that dwelling on their materialistic desires is vanity was exhibited through various writings of the

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