The Struggles and Fears of a Puritan Mother
             Being a Puritan woman, Anne Bradstreet had trouble writing poetry in a patriarchal, unimaginative world. Although Bradstreet grew up in affluence with the luxury of an excellent education, she was expected to behave as a normal Puritan woman. She was the wife and child of colonial governor, but her status could not save her from the maltreatment and contempt of a women stepping over the line. The Puritan belief that a women's place is in the home, perturbed Bradstreet. She did not agree with the cultural bias toward women in her time. Bradstreet was criticized harshly for her role as a female writer; nonetheless, she wrote more and more about being a woman. Bradstreet used her feminine side in her poetry to fight her inner struggles. She showed the world that being a woman was to her advantage in the realm of her poetry. Bradstreet uses a variety of metaphors throughout her poetry, but the metaphor that shows her struggles with being a woman is her metaphor of a mother to a child. This metaphor is seen in two of her poems, "The Author to Her Book," and, "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659." In these two poems, Bradstreet uses the metaphor of a mother to her child to accentuate her role as a female and a mother.
             In the poem, "The Author to Her Book", Bradstreet uses the metaphor of a mother to a child to cope with her struggles of shame and pride toward her book. She addresses the book as if it was a child and compares it to one that is misbehaving and embarrassing. Bradstreet is embarrassed by her, "ill-form'd offspring of my feeble brain (l. 1)." Even though she is embarrassed by her work, she lets the reader know that it is by her own fault that it is deformed. "Who after birth did'st by my side remain, Till snatcht by friends, less wise than true Who thee abroad expos'd to public view, (ll. 2-4).&qu...