In 1659, Anne Bradstreet became the first American poet to be published. In a country formed on the foundation of reform, Bradstreet was still a particularly unconventional American. Her writings depicted a sense of intimacy and spirituality unrequited by Puritanical society. During her era, Bradstreet’s work was often overlooked in part because she strayed from traditional literary conventions and even more so because she was a female. A female perspective introduced experiences and topics unexplored by Bradstreet’s male contemporaries and in a patriarchal society, this generally constituted her work as inferior or “other.” Feminists in America rekindled an interest in Bradstreet’s poetry during the 1960’s, drawing attention to her accomplishments as a woman. Bradstreet has since been widely portrayed as an iconic figure for the canon of feminism in the literary world. While she is undoubtedly emblematic of social progress for women throughout American history, Bradstreet’s proto-feminist advances have become the focal point of her work. Analyzing her poetry through this particular lens narrows the spectrum of Bradstreet’s literary endeavors. Bradstreet may have been rebellious against the religious, social and gender dogmas of her time, but her American identity was created on a premise of rebellion from convention. From this perspective, Anne Bradstreet’s work is representative of an entire culture driven by change. Stripped from its author, her poetry transcends generational and cultural boundaries not because of a demand for female equality, but because of its portrayal of universal human emotions. It is difficult to look at Anne Bradstreet’s poetry through any canon of American Literature because she wrote it before any such canon existed; however, by demonstrating how Anne Bradstreet’s poetry constituted the beginnings of American transcendentalism almost two centuries before the writers usually associated with the movement, this essay will test the complexity and actual value of Bradstreet’s work within the progression of American Literature.
