Anne Bradstreet "The Flesh and the Spirit"
Anne Bradstreet: "The Flesh and the Spirit"
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 in Northampton shire, England. Anne along with her husband and parents emigrated to America with a Puritan group. They settled in Massachusetts. She became one of the first poets to write English verse in the American colonies. However, the idea of the women writer was not popular at this time. It was quite rare and uncommon thing to find a woman writing poems or essays. She was also a daughter of a Puritan called Thomas Dudley. In America, her father and husband became governors.
It was during this time that she wrote many poems that were taken to England by her brother-in-law, and published in 1650 without her knowledge under the title The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America. Other poems were published in 1678 after her death.
"The Flesh and the Spirit" After reading Anne Bradstreet's poem "The Flesh and the Spirit,"I want to say that it reveals an interesting inner conflict in the life of a Puritan woman in the New World, as well as insight into Bradstreet and her own internal conflicts with Puritanism and the wilderness of America. I considered Bradsteet as a representative of the ideal Puritan wife and mother; her poems reflect those images as well as give the opportunity to question them.
In this poem, the influence of Puritan beliefs can be seen and detected clearly. Anne Bradstreet presents the idea of the Dual self which indicates the never-ending conflict between the good and the bad sides in the human being. She personifies the two sides as two sisters. The two sisters that the speaker overhears represent the two opponent aspects of the Puritan self. The first is called Flesh, and the second Spirit. The first represents the sinful, wicked side and the second stands for the redeemed side. This dichotomy always exists within every human being. There is also a continuous discussion in religion in order to subjugate and subdue the flesh and to make the
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 in Northampton shire, England. Anne along with her husband and parents emigrated to America with a Puritan group. They settled in Massachusetts. She became one of the first poets to write English verse in the American colonies. However, the idea of the women writer was not popular at this time. It was quite rare and uncommon thing to find a woman writing poems or essays. She was also a daughter of a Puritan called Thomas Dudley. In America, her father and husband became governors.
It was during this time that she wrote many poems that were taken to England by her brother-in-law, and published in 1650 without her knowledge under the title The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America. Other poems were published in 1678 after her death.
"The Flesh and the Spirit" After reading Anne Bradstreet's poem "The Flesh and the Spirit,"I want to say that it reveals an interesting inner conflict in the life of a Puritan woman in the New World, as well as insight into Bradstreet and her own internal conflicts with Puritanism and the wilderness of America. I considered Bradsteet as a representative of the ideal Puritan wife and mother; her poems reflect those images as well as give the opportunity to question them.
In this poem, the influence of Puritan beliefs can be seen and detected clearly. Anne Bradstreet presents the idea of the Dual self which indicates the never-ending conflict between the good and the bad sides in the human being. She personifies the two sides as two sisters. The two sisters that the speaker overhears represent the two opponent aspects of the Puritan self. The first is called Flesh, and the second Spirit. The first represents the sinful, wicked side and the second stands for the redeemed side. This dichotomy always exists within every human being. There is also a continuous discussion in religion in order to subjugate and subdue the flesh and to make the
Cited: 1.Bradstreet, Anne. “The Flesh and the Spirit.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Lexington: Heath, 1994. 302-305. 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bradstreet 3. http://www.annebradstreet.com/the_flesh_and_the_spirit.htm