Authority and Female Authorship in Colonial AmericaColonial American women relied on the same male authorities and traditions as did colonial men. As a result, they encountered special difficulties validating themselves in writing. In Authority and Female Authorship in Colonial America, William Scheick explores logonomic conflict in the works of northeastern colonial women, whose writings often register anxiety not typical of their male contemporaries. This book features the poetry of Mary English and Anne Bradstreet, the letter-journals of Esther Edwards Burr and Sarah Prince, the autobiographical prose of Elizabeth Hanson and Elizabeth Ashbridge, and the political verse of Phillis Wheatley. These works, along with the writings of other colonial women discussed, provide especially noteworthy instances of bifurcations emanating from American colonial women's conflicted confiscation of male authority. Scheick reveals subtle authorial uneasiness and subtextual tensions caused by the attempt to draw legitimacy from male authorities and traditions. |
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acrostic aesthetic Africa to America African American angelic train Anne Bradstreet Ashbridge Ashbridge's biblical allusions Bradstreet's Bradstreet's poem Bradstreet's verse Burr's captivity narrative Christ Christian church colonial American colonial women commentaries concerning Congregationalist context conventional Cotton Mather cultural David's disobedience displacement divine eighteenth century Elizabeth Elizabeth Ashbridge emotion ence especially Esther Edwards evident expression father feature female authors flesh gender Goliath Hanson's human husband identity indicates instance Isaiah Jesus likewise literary logonomic conflict Lord Luke male authority Mary English Mary of Bethany Mary's McElrath and Robb mind ministerial northeastern colonial nuance obedience Ornaments paraphrase passage Phillis Wheatley Pinckney poet poet's potentially pulpit Puritan Quaker Quaker women race readers reading religious resistance Saint Paul Salem Samuel Sarah Prince Scheick scriptural allusions second sex secular sense sentiment sion social soul specifically spiritual suggest theocratic tion tradition Turell verse letter voice Wheatley Wheatley's witchcraft witchery woman word writings