Anne Bradstreet
Heather Herring
ENG 2130
13 February 2013
Puritan Women Roles and Anne Bradstreet’s Thoughts on These Roles
The Puritans were a very religious group of people. They always worshipped God and followed their church duties. They also saw men as superior to women. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan woman born in the 1600s. She was a brilliant writer and wanted her talents shown, but she had a hard time with this profession because of the roles Puritan women were to have. Today her work is very well known and has inspired many women and men. You may be wondering how her work became known if she was in a time period where women were not to have such careers. After reading this essay, you should have a better understanding of how Anne Bradstreet felt about the Puritan roles of women and what exactly those roles were. The Puritans were a well- educated group. They were also extremely strict when it came to church attendance. Since they were an extremely religious group, worship was very important for them and their families. The Puritans first came to America in 1620 from New England because they feared oppression from their ministers. They also wanted more people to live as Puritans. Over time the Puritans made their way to America and the religion began to become more known. However, even though the religion became known, it was always a minority in America because of the various religions already here. “In New England, Puritanism dominated other religions until Enlightenment ideas found their way across the Atlantic” (Clark, 922). As for Puritan role of women, the “women were to have obedience, modesty, and taciturnity” (Saxton, Martha). The women were to obey their husbands and other male figures. They were also not to have actual careers. Instead, they were to produce and care for children but the men were the ones who had authority over the children. The reasons the Puritans list the roles like this is because of women’s descent from Eve, the first woman God
ENG 2130
13 February 2013
Puritan Women Roles and Anne Bradstreet’s Thoughts on These Roles
The Puritans were a very religious group of people. They always worshipped God and followed their church duties. They also saw men as superior to women. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan woman born in the 1600s. She was a brilliant writer and wanted her talents shown, but she had a hard time with this profession because of the roles Puritan women were to have. Today her work is very well known and has inspired many women and men. You may be wondering how her work became known if she was in a time period where women were not to have such careers. After reading this essay, you should have a better understanding of how Anne Bradstreet felt about the Puritan roles of women and what exactly those roles were. The Puritans were a well- educated group. They were also extremely strict when it came to church attendance. Since they were an extremely religious group, worship was very important for them and their families. The Puritans first came to America in 1620 from New England because they feared oppression from their ministers. They also wanted more people to live as Puritans. Over time the Puritans made their way to America and the religion began to become more known. However, even though the religion became known, it was always a minority in America because of the various religions already here. “In New England, Puritanism dominated other religions until Enlightenment ideas found their way across the Atlantic” (Clark, 922). As for Puritan role of women, the “women were to have obedience, modesty, and taciturnity” (Saxton, Martha). The women were to obey their husbands and other male figures. They were also not to have actual careers. Instead, they were to produce and care for children but the men were the ones who had authority over the children. The reasons the Puritans list the roles like this is because of women’s descent from Eve, the first woman God