Thursday, September 15, 2011
Anne Bradsreet and Feminism
Today in class we discussed Anne Bradstreet and feminism. While we were able to talk about how men believed that Bradstreet's writing ability was rare for women, or how Bradstreet was an exception to women writers, and was the only woman who could write in a style and at a level that only men displayed in the 17th century, I feel like we didn't pay attention the fact that Anne could have been starting a new view of women her own. Reading the first two pages of the prologue, the main idea that was coming from the class was that the author believed that Bradstreet was an excellent writer, but she was the only woman that had that ability, and it shouldn't have been assumed that any other woman could write at he level. When I read the first two pages, I thought that the author was trying to get across the fact that maybe there are women who can write just as well as men, and not just Bradstreet. I believe that he was explaining that the obvious writer with talent that was superior to most men was Bradstreet, but that men should also keep an open mind and begin to accept what women had to write. If a piece of literature is interesting and enjoyable to a man, he should accept that work whether it was written by a man or woman. The author, I thought, was only using an example of an exceptional woman writer. Bradstreet, in my opinion, was at the beginning of starting a revolution for women, by showing that woman, and herself, have goals, ideas, and the capability to be an excellent writer. In Bradstreet's "The Author to Her Book", you are able to get and idea of how Bradstreet was never completely satisfied with her writing, since her ideas were always growing and he goals were always becoming more of a challenge. In conclusion, I think that the prologue's first two pages was not saying that Bradstreet was an exception, but that she was an example, and that this could have been a start to feminism in the 17th century, not just a society that looked at Bradstreet as the only acceptable woman writer. Do you the society was becoming more feminist, or do you thin that Bradstreet was just an exception? Do you think other men had faith that since Bradstreet had the talent to write well there could possibly other women who could write well?
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I think that Bradstreet and her writing represented the very beginnings of feminism but her society was still very far from accepting that women could be as good as men. In Bradstreet's poem "The Prologue" in the 7th stanza, she states that although men are better, and women know it, women should still be acknowledged for their acheivements. I think this shows the very beginning of feminism becuase she isn't trying to show that men and women are equal (which would be a drastic step), she just wants women to be seen as more powerful than they were generally seen. In the preface to her book, the author praises Bradstreet's style and ability to write and encourages men to read the book, but she is still just seen as a woman and is in a lower position. I think Bradstreet was seen as an exception to women at the time, but she helped to change society's opinions and caused them to think that if there is one exceptional woman, maybe there are others. Even if she didn't realize it, she slowly paved the way for emerging feminism.
ReplyDeleteI think that Bradstreet opened the eyes of the men at the time and made them start to question their beliefs about woman and what woman could and couldn't do. I think she got a lot of attention because she did have talent but more because she was a woman who had talent and to the men at the time that was like unheard of and they just couldn't believe it. I think a lot of other woman at the time had the writing talent of her but never were able to publish their writings or get the attention as Bradstreet did. I think she got the idea of equality between woman and men out there and I think the men at the time sort of played down her accomplishments and made fun of her in a way because they were intimidated by her and they knew she could write better than them.
ReplyDeleteI feel that feminism had already emerged by the time Bradstreet published her poems. For men not only to read her works, but also to write praiseful notes tells us something about the time. Since it appears that feminism is only just beginning in Bradstreet's time how do we know that women authors before were truly awful? The only account we have of their works is by men who were not accepting of the idea of women writers at that time. They might have been just as good or better than Bradstreet, and were just publishing their works into an unaccepting society. Does anyone else believe that they might have gotten the same amount of praise as Bradstreet if they had published their works at a later date?
ReplyDeleteI think that Bradstreet was seen as both an exception and a step in feminism. As we had discussed in class, not many females were seen as being capable of an educated mind able to publish works. We also found out that Bradstreet did not exactly want her works to be published, which gives her a bit of modesty. It still does concern me that men HAD to tell other men it was okay to read Bradstreet's work. This still supports the fact that feminism was not necessarily existant. However, I do think Anne was a step in a positive direction for women and their rights. Anne's fascinating works were eye-openers for society and showed a woman's capabilities.
ReplyDeleteI think that Bradstreet was pretty far ahead of her time. The fact that she is being written about as a testament to female writers is itself evidence for the fact the at the time of it's writing, women writers and poets were still a rarity and a prejudice against them still existed. However, if you think about it, the fact that she is being written about is also evidence that people's mindset was changing, and they were beginning to acknowledge female writers as comparable to men. Bradstreet was an exception at the time, not for her writing ability, but for the fact that she was the first published and widely read female writer. Society was becoming more accepting, and Bradstreet was the turning point for this change.
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