Anne Bradstreet: The Heretical Poet :: essays research papers fc

Anne Bradstreet The Heretical PoetGreg Saxon     The end of this research is to discuss heretical elements in thepoetry of Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672). This is not to take that Bradstreet wasa heretic in the sense that American religious crusader Anne Hutchinson was.Hutchinson (1591-1643) emigrated to Boston in 1634 and preached a doctrine ofsalvation through transcendental apprehension of grace rather than by works, andattacked the rigid moral and lawful codes of New England Puritanism. AnneBradstreet received the tenets of Puritanism and was a very religious person.Anti-Puritan themes are, however, to be ready in her poetry in terms of herreligious doubts, her expression of ad hominem emotions and thoughts, and herartistry. She did not write to preach or teach,, as Puritan writers wereinstructed to, except to express herself. It is this personal expression thatforms the basis of the heretical elements in her poetry.     To perceive why personal expression may be considered heretical, thesociety in which Bradstreet lived and wrote must be examined in order tocomprehend what kinds of human activities and behaviors were bankable and howBradstreet deviated from these behaviors.     Bradstreet was not truly unorthodox in that she did not dissent fromaccepted precepts and doctrine. She was a woman of the 17th Century and lived ina manful dominated, intensely religious society. She lived within the limitationsnot only of the beliefs and standards of her society, but of her sex. A womansplace was definitely in the home in Colonial America. The experiences of womenwere considered compact and trivial in comparison with mens.     Puritanism was more than a religious belief it was a way of life. "Inthe dozen years before 1640, whatsoever 15,000 Englishmen crossed the Atlantic inorder to establish a Holy Commonwealth in which that way of life couldflourish"(Hall 1).      The Puritans were a party in the church service of England that arose inElizabeths reign with the purpose of carrying out the Protestant reformation,and to base the church service of England on the foundation of the scriptures. Asidefrom a literal belief in the Bible, Puritans wholly accepted the doctrines ofJohn Calvin and his stern legalistic theology. The Puritans held that religionshould permeate each phase of living. The purpose of life was to do Godswill everything else was subordinate to this canonical doctrine.     The Colony set up by the English Puritans was essentially an investigatein Christian living. Religion and earning a living were the two priorities ofthe Puritans of the milliampere Bay Colony. In contrast to the Pilgrims, theywere well-off and well-educated men, many of whom were professionals and