Anne Bradstreet's View of Women in Society

In her poems "The Prologue," "To Her Father with Some Verses," and "To My Dear and Loving Husband," Anne Bradstreet both addresses the roles and views women in society would normally hold and also goes against them in a subtle manner. All three poems demonstrate the view of women being held beneath men. Bradstreet writes passages in which men are seen as being superior to women, a view which most of society held in her time. However, she also goes against popular thought by using certain metaphors to show how she really feels about those views that society holds. Bradstreet leaves underlying tones in her poems that suggest even though at the surface it seems as though the words go with the grain of women's place in society, when taking a closer look they in fact defy the mold for women in this time period.

In "The Prologue," Bradstreet starts out by apologizing for writing poetry. She states that "...My obscure lines that not so dim their worth," (Prologue 116). By starting off the poem with an apology she is saying that women should not write because they are not as good at it as men are. Poetry is too much for women to handle and they do not possess the skill to write great poems. Bradstreet claims that if a woman writes a poem, it will not be good and if it does turn out to be good, then it was probably stolen or a fluke. "If what I do prove well, it won't advance, they'll say it's stol'n, or else it was by chance," (Prologue 116). However, as the poem progresses, Bradstreet switches her views around and states that women can, in fact, write poetry. She states that men are good at violence and war, so they should continue on with that, and leave the poetry up to the women to tackle (Prologue 116). This defies what society would have thought of a female poet in that time period but does so in a subtle way that seems to be praising men for all that they do. Also, despite the fact that Bradstreet has an apologetic tone in this poem, it seems as though she is not really giving a sincere apology. If she really believed in her own words of women being below men, she would not have written poetry, published it, or even be in this anthology. The fact that she did indeed go on with her writing proves that she does not sincerely mean what she writes in the poem. It seems as though some of her words are written just to keep her audience at ease with her subject manner while at the same time, bringing across her untraditional views.

In "To Her Father with Some Verses," Bradstreet praises the love and glory her father gave her. She states that his love for her was so great, that she will never be able to repay him back for it. She honors her father's love for her and makes their relationship out to be very close and loving. In this time period, it would be typical for a woman to go about paying tribute to a man. This once again contributed to the view of men being superior to women. However, Bradstreet's choice of words shows the reader that there are more than just feelings of gratitude on her mind. By using an economical metaphor, Bradstreet is claiming that she is in debt to her father for his love. She states that, "Such is my bond, none can discharge but I, yet paying is not paid until I die," (To Her Father 117). In a subtle way, Bradstreet states that she has become an indentured servant to her father. "The principal might yield a greater sum, yet handled ill, amounts to but this crumb," (To Her Father 117). No matter what Bradstreet does, she will always be in debt to him. Bradstreet could have used any type of metaphor to describe her relationship with her father, but she chooses to use one that had to do with money. This selection makes the poem seem cold and harsh because money is such an impersonal item. The relationship is not described in a warm and pleasant way in which one would expect it to occur. This poem once again goes to show that women are beneath men and spend their entire life serving them. It seems to be a social commentary on society in the eyes of a woman who is a part of that society.

Similarly, in "To My Dear and Loving Husband," Bradstreet once again goes on to praise the love given to her by a man, her husband. She compares her husband's love to the love of other husbands, and states that her husband is the ideal partner. "If ever wife was happy in a man, compare with me, ye women, if you can," (To My Dear 125). This poem goes along the same lines as the poem to Bradstreet's father in that both are about the love given to her by a man. In addition to praising men in both poems, she also once again uses the language of debt for a love relationship. In this poem, Bradstreet states, "Thy love is such I can no way repay," (To My Dear 125). Once more, this language shows the reader that she is an indentured servant to her husband as well because she will never be able to repay the love he has given her. By using the economic conceit in both poems concerning men, Bradstreet is stating she is a servant to all men in general. She is commenting on her position in society and stating that as a woman, she will always owe a man everything she has and is. By actually stating this out loud, however subtle the manner, Bradstreet is exceeding the role of a woman in her society. She is addressing the issue at hand and bringing it to the table, which would not have been done at the time. People did not speak of this type of male-female dynamic, and by writing about it, Bradstreet is truly stating her feelings concerning her views towards men in her life. She is making her opinion heard by anyone who reads and thoroughly understands her words.

Bradstreet was a popular poet because she wrote about subject matters that were appropriate for women to address in that time period. She apologizes for having the audacity to write poetry, and also praises men for being so wonderful to her. Bradstreet states what society wants to hear from a woman concerning men, and the relationship they have together. However, in taking a closer look, it becomes apparent that her words are not as sincere as they appear. By apologizing for writing poetry, but still going on to write more works, she is contradicting her words. She also praises the men in her life, but does so in a way that makes her seem like a servant to them, which would not be the most ideal relationship to possess. This goes to show that although Bradstreet writes poems about subjects that the audience would agree with, she uses subtle and clever ways to write about her true feelings, which would not be appropriate for her to do in that time period. She uses double meanings with most of her words which made it acceptable to read in that time, while at the same time not hiding how she truly feels about men and society.
Works Cited

Bradstreet, Anne. "The Prologue." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Nina Baym, Ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.

---. "To My Dear and Loving Husband." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Nina Baym, Ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.

---. "To Her Father with Some Verses." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Nina Baym, Ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.