Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Washington, Sondra

Abstract

Many scholars discount the colonial poetic production of early America due to its seemingly European-derivative nature of form or its repetitive focus on stringent pedagogy regarding virtue and religiosity. Because of this, many overlook colonial poets and their poetry as being of little significance to the modern reader; this could not be more incorrect. Through analysis of the writings of the Puritan poets Michael Wigglesworth and Anne Bradstreet, as well as those of Enlightenment poet Phillis Wheatley, a remarkable trend of subversion of the cultural hegemony of colonial America emerges. This honors thesis analyses the ways in which colonial American poets fought against the hegemonic oppression they faced by thoroughly breaking down the overlooked canon of Wigglesworth, Bradstreet, and Wheatley. In doing so, the ways in which the aforementioned poets protested their suppressed creativity, personhood, and freedom become clear.

Comments

Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, 2023

Extent

56 p.

Identifier

FAUHT00328

Download

Share

COinS