"The Other": Anne Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley

Outcasts of Academia
Encountering the “Other” in the Poetry of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley

Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley were two of America’s early poets, who are known for their trailblazing work in American Women’s literature. These women not only published poetry (a rare enough thing in America during the 17th and 18th centuries) but overcame gender and racial difficulties in the process. As a woman writing in 17th century Puritan New England, Bradstreet was the pioneer of women’s American literature, sailing the hostile waters of the 17th century literary world, dominated by men. One century later, Wheatley also faced many obstacles; as an African slave, the racial prejudices which she faced were compounded with the gender discrimination that Bradstreet had battled a century before. Both women made remarkable social progress and advancement despite the challenge of writing from the position of the ‘Other,’ or minority positions, in which they found themselves. Bradstreet and Wheatley represent the outcasts of early American society, and so their literary achievements take on even more significance as they strive for gender and racial acceptance during America’s youth.
The intellectual potential of women in 17th century Puritan culture was often minimized or dismissed. Most everywhere, they were barred from speaking or advising in a church or court setting, and were not largely supported as scholars or writers. The poetry of Anne Bradstreet represented a major step toward the rearrangement of the role of women in society. Much of her poetry scorned the typical Puritan view of women and emphasized their intellectual capabilities, as exemplified in her Prologue, where she navigates the tempestuous waters of cultural prejudices and stereotypes: “I am vulnerable to each scornful tongue who says my hand a needle better fits. A poet 's pen all scorn I should thus wrong, for such despite they cast on female wits. If what I do prove well, it won 't advance, they 'll say it 's stol 'n, or else it was by chance” (Bradstreet). Her poems were published at the urging of her husband and brother-in-law, as well as being prefaced and supported by many other prominent male writers. However, this support was not widespread; Bradstreet often wrote defenses of her work in order to satiate her uncomfortable, possibly threatened, male audience. Bradstreet skillfully employed her understanding of how literary conventions operated to validate her entry into the public sphere as a poet. William Scheick touches upon this concept in his book Authority and Female Authorship in Colonial America, exploring how the work of female authors, such as Bradstreet, contains a “dynamic of multiplicity… A delicate balance in speech and action was required for a colonial woman to conform to the prevailing standard of female respectabilities” (Scheick 9). Furthermore, Scheick says, any submission to conformity to norms was “utterly natural for [female authors]” because their place in society left them no alternative (ibid., 10). By breaking out of these cultural restraints, authors like Bradstreet identified themselves as the “Other,” often sparking harsh critiques from the rest of the literary world.
Phillis Wheatley was another early female American author who defied social norms and identified with the “Other.” Though an African slave, Wheatley had a better life than many African slaves; however, her place was irrevocably designated by the white world in which she lived and she was virtually cut off from her own people. Although superior to many white Americans in regards to her intellectual and literary accomplishments, it was impossible for her to ever be their social equal; Wheatley’s self-identity as “Afric’s Muse” separates her from conventional authors of the time, invoking her race and social status in her writing (Schlotterbeck 14). She makes no attempt to join ranks with mainstream 18th century literature, and is thus Wheatley is exiled to the realm of the “Other”. Even in her doubly difficult social position as a woman and a slave, however, Wheatley, like Bradstreet, was not afraid to use her poetry as an opportunity for social criticism. In her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” she bravely rebukes America’s white, and specifically Christian, population for their mistreatment of slaves. The concern which many expressed over publications of Wheatley’s works is indicative of the difficulty in approaching and interpreting the writing of persons labeled as the “Other.” The response to works by writers such as Wheatley, who seemingly prevailed against all odds, provides a reflection of this country’s changing perceptions of race and gender over time.
Although not part of the dominant social and academic groups of their time, Bradstreet and Wheatley’s viewpoint from the context of the “Other” heavily influenced the dominant demographics of their day. The appropriation of style and language allowed Bradstreet and Wheatley to make their brave voices heard through the din of social prejudice. The variety within these texts has larger implications for the way we perceive the concept of the ‘Other;’ which allows for inclusion on one level and, at the same time, exclusion on another. When we look at the people behind the writing, we see that neither woman experienced equality within her society. “Recognition of Bradstreet’s literary talent and the praise bestowed upon her poetry,” says Schlotterbeck, “did not improve the status of women in Puritan New England. Likewise, and perhaps even more blatant, Phillis Wheatley’s Selected Poems would have appeared on the bookshelves of many respectable white households, which also owned slaves” (ibid., 4). So we see Bradstreet and Wheatley utilize poetry as a socially acceptable medium by which they give voice to the “Other,” whether it be women, silenced by Puritan principles, or Africans, not only physically, but intellectually, enslaved and repressed.
In the larger picture, Bradstreet and Wheatley made only small steps forward. However, the ground gained by these two courageous outcasts of the literary world is the very ground upon which future writers, who also found themselves categorized as the “other,” could stand upon, ground from which could make new conquests and advances. The war that Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley waged on societal norms and traditional acceptance modestly utilized conventions, but not without recognizing their import. Positioned as brilliant minds in restrictive and unique situations, Bradstreet and Wheatley offer us a second narrative of early American literature.

Works Cited

* Bradstreet, Anne, “Prologue,” Collected Works. 2012. Web.

* Burke, Helen. "Problematizing American Dissent: The Subject of Phillis Wheatley," Cohesion and Dissent in America, edited by Carol Colatrella and Joseph Alkana, State University of New York Press, 1994.

* Scheick, William J. Authority and Female Authorship in Colonial America. Lexington,
KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.

* Schlotterbeck, Marian. "Modestly Appropriating Conventions: Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley and the Literary Sphere of Early America." Oberlin, OH: Oberlin University, 2002. Web.

Cited: * Bradstreet, Anne, “Prologue,” Collected Works. 2012. Web. * Burke, Helen. "Problematizing American Dissent: The Subject of Phillis Wheatley," Cohesion and Dissent in America, edited by Carol Colatrella and Joseph Alkana, State University of New York Press, 1994. * Scheick, William J. Authority and Female Authorship in Colonial America. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1998. * Schlotterbeck, Marian. "Modestly Appropriating Conventions: Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley and the Literary Sphere of Early America." Oberlin, OH: Oberlin University, 2002. Web.