Anne Bradstreet v. Puritan Beliefs

The Puritans believe that women should not be writers. Anne Bradstreet, while being Puritan, continues to pursue her desire to write. She writes poetry that follows the structure that male Puritans use when writing poetry. It starts with the story, transitions into a message, and ends with a prayer. I feel as though she is not looked down on because of her writing. She took a social standard, decided to ignore it, and continue to write. Her poems have a lot of meaning behind them, and can be looked up to as a form of example for how Puritans should act. One of her poems that we have read in class was called " Upon the Burning of Our House." The story was about her house burning down. She was going through her house and reminiscing on everything she lost and everything she could not get back. She realized the material things were gone; however, she talked about how she was going to miss the genuine happiness of her family more than anything. This is a very mature way of thinking, and for this, I think she is looked up to by the Puritans. She is setting an example for people of their religion. She shows them that God gives gifts, and takes gifts away; therefore, everyone should be thankful for what they have while they had the opportunity to have it. She is a very wise woman who keeps her priorities in order. She is able to overcome the human instinct of feeling hostile and not being able to understand. Of course she is upset, but she is able to realize that God has a better place for all of us that is better than any house any of us will ever have the opportunity to live in. The Puritans should definitely follow this example. They revolve their life around God and follow the way of God, so she sends a very good message to her readers.