What Is The Tone Of The Prologue
Virginia U. Jensen - “The actions of righteous women ripple on through time and space and even generations.”
In “The Prologue,” Anne Bradstreet writes a poem that seeks to understand her role as a female poet in a male-dominated Puritan society. She knows that her poetry is perceived as inferior because it was considered the province of men and appear to humble herself within the context of the poem by indicating her unworthiness, yet through the subtext, Bradstreet craftily challenges men and proves her poetic prowess. With an eloquent mixture of apologia and verbal irony, Anne Bradstreet produces a powerful poem that displays her creative talents and raises questions about the role of women in a patriarchal society without directly threatening …show more content…
She says, “A poet’s pen all scorn I should thus wrong/ For such despite they cast on female wits” (27-28). Her verbal irony is clear when she refers to herself as “a poet”, saying that her critics would ignore the poetry because of her “female wits.” She chides the “obnoxious” (25) nay-sayers for their “carping tongues,” (25) pointing out that it is the men who are acting in the supposed vindictiveness of women. “Carping”, harping, nagging and malice are the supposed traits of women, while it is the men who act in this manner by spiting the poetry simply because of its author. Bradstreet says: “If what I do prove well, it won’t advance/ They’ll say it’s stol’n, or else it was by chance” …show more content…
She says of the attitudes of Puritan men in relation to the Greek value of women, “Let Greeks be Greeks and women what they are,” (37), meaning that the men think that if the Greeks treated women with greater respect, that was the Greeks but the Puritans have their own ideas of the nature and place of women. Bradstreet says with veiled sarcasm, “Men can do best and women know it well” (40) since that was what the women were taught to “know,” but she appeals “grant us some small acknowledgement of ours” (42). She continues, “give thyme or parsley wreath, I ask no bays,” (46). Bay leaves were used by Greeks to make wreaths for those worthy of the highest honors; Bradstreet says she would be content with a wreath made of the cooking leaves thyme or parsely, indicating that she would like at least some concede some credit for her and her
In “The Prologue,” Anne Bradstreet writes a poem that seeks to understand her role as a female poet in a male-dominated Puritan society. She knows that her poetry is perceived as inferior because it was considered the province of men and appear to humble herself within the context of the poem by indicating her unworthiness, yet through the subtext, Bradstreet craftily challenges men and proves her poetic prowess. With an eloquent mixture of apologia and verbal irony, Anne Bradstreet produces a powerful poem that displays her creative talents and raises questions about the role of women in a patriarchal society without directly threatening …show more content…
She says, “A poet’s pen all scorn I should thus wrong/ For such despite they cast on female wits” (27-28). Her verbal irony is clear when she refers to herself as “a poet”, saying that her critics would ignore the poetry because of her “female wits.” She chides the “obnoxious” (25) nay-sayers for their “carping tongues,” (25) pointing out that it is the men who are acting in the supposed vindictiveness of women. “Carping”, harping, nagging and malice are the supposed traits of women, while it is the men who act in this manner by spiting the poetry simply because of its author. Bradstreet says: “If what I do prove well, it won’t advance/ They’ll say it’s stol’n, or else it was by chance” …show more content…
She says of the attitudes of Puritan men in relation to the Greek value of women, “Let Greeks be Greeks and women what they are,” (37), meaning that the men think that if the Greeks treated women with greater respect, that was the Greeks but the Puritans have their own ideas of the nature and place of women. Bradstreet says with veiled sarcasm, “Men can do best and women know it well” (40) since that was what the women were taught to “know,” but she appeals “grant us some small acknowledgement of ours” (42). She continues, “give thyme or parsley wreath, I ask no bays,” (46). Bay leaves were used by Greeks to make wreaths for those worthy of the highest honors; Bradstreet says she would be content with a wreath made of the cooking leaves thyme or parsely, indicating that she would like at least some concede some credit for her and her