The Negotiation In Anne Bradstreet's Poetry From The Perspective Of New Historicism

Anne Bradstreet is regarded as the first person to publish a freestanding volume of poetry in the New World.Her poetry is renowned for its expression of passion,anger,and uncertainty within the rigid social and religious atmosphere of New England in the seventeenth century,which demonstrates the distinct feature of that era.Domestic and abroad studies on Bradstreet's poetry mainly focus on biographical criticism,feminist reading and comparative studies,but few researches focus on the negotiation in her poetry.Therefore,this thesis explores the negotiation in Bradstreet's poetry in light of New Historicism.New Historicism provides a powerful theoretical support for the exploration of the negotiation in Bradstreet's poetry.New historicists pay considerable attention to the intertextual relations between texts and writers.The three key concepts are as follows: negotiation,subversion and containment.Negotiation refers to subjects' motile abilities.Subversion refers to the revolt against social ideology,which represents the ruling order.Containment refers to the suppression of the subversive power.Negotiation is finally achieved through subversion and containment.This thesis is composed of five chapters as follows: Chapter one takes a brief introduction to Bradstreet's poetic achievements,literature review on her poetry,theoretical framework and thesis statement.Chapter two analyzes the negotiation of matter and spirit in imagination and reality based on Bradstreet's poems “The Flesh and the Spirit” and “Upon the Burning of Our House”.Chapter three probes into the negotiation of earthly love and devotion in marriage and motherhood on the basis of Bradstreet's poems “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet”.Chapter four concentrates on the negotiation of gender and authority in Bradstreet's poems “In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess,Queen Elizabeth” and “The Author to Her Book” from the perspectives of gender and authority.Chapter five is the conclusion part.This thesis concludes that Bradstreet's poems manifest her distinct negotiating consciousness.Negotiation embodies the poet's responsibility and the complexity of her poems.An excellent writer is always reflecting the social complexity frommultiple aspects rather than simple judgement.The negotiation in Bradstreet's poetry not only demonstrates the distinct feature of that era but also reveals the awakening of her female consciousness which has a practical significance to the construction of female subjectivity.