Anne Bradstreet And Phillis Wheatley Analysis

America’s First Women Poets Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley defied the strict social norms in their days. Being a woman writer in a patriarchal society sure was a huge obstacle to overcome. Women at the time were expected to be housewives and child bearers. With the education and privileges afforded to them both Bradstreet and Wheatley, were able to write and publish works that in a time that suppressed creativity in women. This showed people at that time that neither race nor gender is a factor of intelligence. Bradstreet, being born in a wealthy Puritan household was given an education not many were able to receive in that day. It was also true for Wheatley, who when enslaved was fortunate enough to find a hospitable mistress. Bradstreet expressed her gratitude to her father stating, “my stock so small I know not how to pay” (To Her Father (7)). Being an educated woman at the time was atypical even more so an educated African American. Wheatley’s situation seemed dire at first being captured from her home yet she made the …show more content…
Wheatley believed that she was saved from by the hands of God, “’Twas the mercy brought me from my pagan land” (On Being Brought (1)). She also wanted people to know that, “… Negroes, black as Cain, / May be refined, and join the angelic train.” (On Being Brought (7-8)). Wheatley might have been using this poem as a way to show those with discriminate beliefs that even though her work is form an African American it is still relatable. Bradstreet intensified the belief in the God’s sovereignty. She accepted the death of her grandchildren stating, “Is by His hand alone that guides nature and fate.” (In Memory (14)). Poems like these were more widely accepted by her audience backing up Puritan or the Christian beliefs. Even though both women wrote such poetry they also wrote pieces that were not generally