Angelina Korakakos
Liberty University
ENGL201 American Literature
Professor Stephanie Hobson
April 26 2023
Age of Reason Assignment: Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley Analysis
THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSIGNMENT
1
2 THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSIGNMENT Phillis Wheatley and Anne Bradstreet are two
influential female writers who lived during
different periods of American history. With each author living in a different era, their works
offer
unique perspectives on their lives as a woman in the 17th century and a slave in the 18th
century,
respectively. Although her works were intended to be private, Anne Bradstreet historically
challenged the social norms in a male dominated society. Similarly, Phillis Wheatley
challenged
the moral rights and freedoms as a slave. Using different themes and styles in their
distinctive
literary periods, these two strong respected women alike used American literature to
express their
thoughts, advocate for change, and have a voice in a time where their voices otherwise
would
.never been heard
Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan woman living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the
17th century. She is known as the first skilled woman New World Poet. The themes of her
writings follow domestic and religious matters. While her poems did focus on biblical and
domestic themes of being a mother and the love that she had for her husband and family,
she too
often questioned the patriarchal society of her time and the belittling surrounding women’s
intellectual pursuits. This theme of sexism and social limitations is reflected throughout
Bradstreet’s poem, The Prologue: “I am obnoxious to each carping tongue— Who says my
hand
a needle better fits, — A poet’s pen all scorn I should thus wrong, For such despite they cast
on
3 THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSIGNMENT simultaneously destabilizes accepted gender
assumptions and seeds the poetic landscape with
feminine symbols…with the written world she fabricates, she seeks to model in her lived
world a
.(place for the female author” (Henton 2012
Similar to Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley faced her own set of trials and tribulations.
Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa and brought to America as a slave when she was
seven
years old. She was bought by the Wheatley family in Boston where they quickly recognized
her
intellectual abilities. Like Bradstreet, she received an advanced education and was taught
through
a religious eye. Unlike many slaves, she was considered family to the Wheatley’s and they
encouraged her writings. With this encouragement, Wheatley had the spirit to go public and
have
a voice. Her poetry challenged the hypocrisy of whites and the notion that African Americans
were intellectually inferior. Wheatley incorporated themes of morality, virtues, spiritual
freedom
and salvation, life and death, and devoted christianity. Phillis Wheatley wrote in her poem On
Being Brought to America,’Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,— Taught my
benighted soul to understand— That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:— Once I
redemption neither sought nor knew. —Some view our sable1 race with scornful eye, —“Their
colour is a diabolic die.” —Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,— May be refin’d,
and
join th’ angelic train.” Using a passive tone and consistent theme of hypocrisy and religious
salvation, Wheatley illustrates how while the whites saved her soul, they enslaved her being.
With this and many other writings, she quickly grabbed the attention of many. However, “the
4 THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSIGNMENT voice was an “insult transformed into an indictment
of the racial, gender, and class prejudices
which contributed to years of devaluing Wheatley’s literary contributions” (Walker 2011).
Despite the efforts against her, Wheatley persevered becoming a notable poet discussing
matters
.of politics, religion, and slavery that would advocate for a change that would later come
These two women, through their literary works, helped steer in the direction of change.
Both Bradstreet and Wheatley display a variety of subject matter and historical relevance in
their
writings, including important events, religious symbols and devotion, and a desire for
morality.
Bradstreet and Wheatley grew up in different literary time periods using different styles and
tones. For instance, Bradstreet wrote more personal and intimate in a more traditional style,
while Wheatley used a neoclassical style to write in a more formal tone. Nonetheless, both
authors faced significant challenges in societies that did not value their intellectual pursuits.
They
shared a common goal to reveal in their writings the discrimination occurring around them.
Most
importantly both Bradstreet and Wheatley’s writings serve as a testament to the resilience of
women and slaves during periods of significant societal change and provide valuable insight
to
.the perspectives of marginalized groups during these times
5 THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSIGNMENT
Bibliography
Belasco, Susan. (2019). The Bedford Anthology American Literature, Volume 1, Second Edition,
Liberty University (2nd ed.). Macmillan Higher Education. https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/
books/9781319324414
Henton, A. (2012). “Once Masculines... Now Feminines Awhile”: Gendered
Imagery and the Significance of Anne Bradstreet’s “The Tenth Muse.” The
325. New England Quarterly, 85(2), 302–
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23251813
Walker, M. (2011). The Defense of Phillis Wheatley. The Eighteenth Century,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41468142 52(2), 235–239.
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