Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet was the first every American poet, migrating with Puritans in 1630 to Massachusetts from England. Her father, as Governor of Massachusetts, made sure she was heavily educated in literature, Latin, Greek, history, and Hebrew. Her husband, who also became a Massachusetts Governor was her sweetheart whom she married at age 16.  Anne Bradstreet wrote poems pertaining to her family and children, often hinting at the idea that she feels suppressed as a woman. By growing up with an authoritative intelligent man as a father, she had a role model for knowing how to speak her mind in a way that wouldn't terrify the masses too much. In one poem called "Versus Upon the Burning of Our House" she says
 "I blest His name that gave and took,
That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just.
It was his own, it was not mine"
saying that "he, her husband has given her this house, and now she realizes that everything burning in it, all of her possessions as a housewife, are really not her possessions at all "it was his own".  She then continues on her complex emotions of losing her things, that isn't really hers by saying
"It‘s purchased and paid for too
By Him who hath enough to do.
A price so vast as is unknown,
Yet by His gift is made thine own;". 
Here she is saying that the gift of the house was the one thing that she was able to make her own, because at the time in society it was thought of as the only place for a women, so now that it's gone she has nothing left for herself, and what she had in the first place was not really hers because her husband bought it. 
In the poem titled "Author to her Book", Anne presents with caution asking critics to be careful where they take the book and says 
"If for thy Father askt, say, thou hadst none:
And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,
Which caus’d her thus to send thee out of door". 
Because of societies times, she did not feel comfortable being able to put her ideology fully out into the world, and she especially doesn't want to disappoint her father with it, saying that if he asks about any books, say she has none. Her mother would kick her out of the house because she feels she is not supporting the role of the lady. 
Although Anne Bradstreet had revolutionary ideas for her time, she was constantly scared of disappointing the patriarchal men she loved in her life, such as her father and her husband. She was active in her role as a mother, and often wrote love poetry to her husband, and accepted that he had the head role in her family. Anne is even quoted in saying "any woman who sought to use her wit, charm, or intelligence in the community at large found herself ridiculed, banished, or executed by the Colony's powerful group of male leaders."Her domain was to be domestic, separated from the linked affairs of church and state, even "deriving her ideas of God from the contemplations of her husband's excellencies," according to one document. This showed her adhering to the social prominence of her male counterparts, for fear of her voice being fully shut down. By staying inside the lines of the safe zone, she was able to add a few revolutionary ideas into pieces that fit the mold of society in that day, but also brought up questions to spark the women's movement. Anne makes me question if women are still trying to stay in the lines to make a difference, for fear of their male counterparts. Are we as women being truly honest on what standards of equality we want? Or are we toning our ideas down, and tweaking them to satisfy the patriarchy?