Anne Bradstreet - The Forces Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 772 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 3

" This allusion to the Garden of Eden reminds the reader of how they should be suspicious of their own, base instincts, for that is how human beings fell in the garden -- by being disobedient and acting upon their base desires. Instead, they must appeal to God for guidance. Rather than seek success on earth, for the Spirit: "my ambition lies above." The Spirit replies to every temptation made by the Flesh with a reference to the world above.

Although the two are sisters within the same human family, the Spirit is confident that she will triumph over the Flesh. Perhaps the most powerful imagery of the poem is the reversal of the conventional image of humankind as slaves of fleshy desire. When the Spirit triumphs: "When I am victor over thee, / and Triumph shall, with laurel head, / When thou my Captive shalt be led." Lest the reader think that the pull between love of the world and its beauties, and the pull to a higher calling was one that Bradstreet merely created for instruction, According to the Bradstreet critic and biographer Ann Woodlief, this inner conflict often tormented Bradstreet: "One must remember that she was a Puritan, although she often doubted, questioning the power of the male hierarchy, even questioning God (or the harsh Puritan concept of a judgmental God). Her love of nature and the physical world, as well as the spiritual, often caused creative conflict in her poetry.

Stuck Writing Your "Anne Bradstreet - The Forces" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Anne Bradstreet - The Forces Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

Though she finds great hope in the future promises of religion, she also finds great pleasures in the realities of the present, especially of her family, her home and nature (though she realized that perhaps she should not, according to the Puritan perspective).

Woodlief, "Biography of Anne Bradstreet," 2006) Puritanism in its most extreme forms was a world-denying religion, but Bradstreet's poetic gifts allow the reader to acknowledge the world's attractions, even while the Spirit wins out. The crown worn by the Spirit at the end of the poem is the crown of Christ, not the crown of a monarch.

Works.....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Anne Bradstreet - The Forces" (2006, October 25) Retrieved May 21, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/anne-bradstreet-forces-72539

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Anne Bradstreet - The Forces" 25 October 2006. Web.21 May. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/anne-bradstreet-forces-72539>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Anne Bradstreet - The Forces", 25 October 2006, Accessed.21 May. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/anne-bradstreet-forces-72539
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example