Analysis Of The Author Of Her Book By Anne Brastreet

Throughout history, and even today, we see how women are repeatedly oppressed and have their voices silenced. Usually the result of cultural beliefs or religion, women are often given roles to play and instructions on how to live their lives, but they are more than just somebody’s mother, sister, or wife. These beliefs and faiths sometimes prevent women from pursuing roles other than a housewife. Anne Bradstreet, the first woman to have her poetry published as a resident of America was under public scrutiny at the time of her first publication. In her poem, “The Author of Her Book,” Anne defended the quality of her works by acknowledging that they were published without consent and we also we get a glimpse into how the Puritans believed that women were not meant to be in the spotlight.
Throughout “The Author of Her book,” Anne uses the possessive adjectives my and I quite a few times indicating it is written about herself and the emotions she was feeling. She declares that her works were in her possession “Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true/Who thee abroad, exposed to public view” (3-4). As a result of this taking, her work was full of errors and was not in the best state. Anne did not have time to revise it and make corrections and therefore, the quality was not as good as it could have been. Although, when she gets her work back, she tries to make adjustments and states, “Thy blemishes amend, if so I could: / I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, / And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw” (11-13). This implies that, even though she failed as she seemed unhappy with the results, she at least tried to improve the literature’s