William Bradford - Summary American Literature To 1900 PDF

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critical commentary on his life, works and excerpt....

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WILLIAM BRADFORD (1590-1657) LITERARY PERIOD: Early American Literature HISTORICAL CONTEXT: The establishment of the Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrim Fathers. At the age of 12, Bradford began attending Separatist meetings. He left his family home for the small village of Scrooby (Nottinghamshire) to join a community of dissenters who had separated from the Church of England. These strict Calvinist Protestants had established a church of their own in 1606. They were called “Separatists” because, despairing of reforming the Church of England from within, these independent congregations supported the separation of church and state and formed underground “covenanted” churches that swore loyalty to the group instead of the king. They were persecuted because they were seen not only as heretics but as traitors to the king. In 1608, The Scrooby congregation, fearful for their lives, goes to Holland. There he becomes a weaver and marries the daughter of a Separatist elder. Due to poor economic conditions, the Scrooby congregation decided to move to New England in search of a better life and set themselves apart from the rest of the world and establish the City of God on earth. They regarded their journey to the “promised land” as a religious pilgrimage they were called “the Pilgrim Fathers”. They were also labelled “Puritans”, since they wanted to maintain a church of “ancient purity” (most English Puritans at that time were non-separatists, they hoped to institute reforms). In July 1620, they sailed to England and hired the merchant vessel Mayflower and embarked from Southampton. They travelled with other emigrants recruited by the English investors. The English investors financed the voyage and the settlement, and the settlers invested their personal labour for seven years. After 66 days at sea, finally they disembarked at the site of the future town of Plymouth on December 11, 1620. Bradford was one of the authors of the Mayflower Compact a civil covenant drawn up by the Pilgrims (still on board) to guarantee co-operation because unity was essential for the survival of the colony and the settlers who were outside the church were included. The agreement provided for social and economic freedom, while still maintaining ties with Great Britain. Bradford was elected governor of Plymouth Colony and re-elected thirty times. Self-educated man, learned several languages (Latin, Greek, Dutch and Hebrew). WORKS: Bradford holds an important position in early American literature. He wrote a journal, some poems and a series of dialogues. His greatest contribution was his history Of Plymouth Plantation. Of Plymouth Plantation: It was written in two volumes: FIRST VOLUME: It started with the events that led the Scrooby community to leave England for Holland and gave a clear account of the Pilgrims’ voyage and the colony’s beginnings. He wrote the first ten chapters in 1630 and added an eleventh chapter in 1644. SECOND VOLUME: Written in the form of annals. It covers the years 16201646.It reflects the author’s disappointment at the gradual decline of the

once cohesive community, which he considered in danger of dissolution. He wanted to exhort the younger generation to live up to the religious ideals of the Pilgrims. The original manuscript disappeared from Boston during the American Revolution. It was discovered in the Bishop of London’s library and was returned to the US in 1897. The work was finished in 1650, but it was not published until 1857. However it was used by many New England historians. GENRE: Puritan history. This genre served the useful purpose of enhancing spiritual life by interpreting God’s design, because human history was considered a progress of mankind toward a predetermined end. History was perceived as a continuum, moving toward a particular outcome, according to God’s plans. Of Plymouth Plantation is not a chronicle (a record of mere deeds or a simple sequence of events), but a history (record of mere deeds or a simple sequence of events), but a history (a series of events with a shape and a purpose). It is a good example of providentialist historiography. PURITAN TYPOLOGY: Puritans saw social and human history as a cyclical succession of eras that lead toward a single, glorious design conceived in the mind of God. They saw their departure from England and Holland to a new promised land in America as yet another historical manifestation of this history, with themselves being the new Israelites chosen and favoured by God. In Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford tries to associate the Plymouth colonists with the Israelites of the Scriptures. CONTEXT: Of Plymouth Plantation was written after the original settlement was accomplished by the Pilgrims and after their intense suffering and sacrifices had finally brought about security and prosperity for the colony. AUDIENCE: The author addresses the second and third generations of colonists whom he believes to be strayed away from the original faith, piety and spiritual fortitude of their parents and grandparents. Bradford tries to inspire Puritan piety within a generation of spiritualists threatened by prosperity and worldliness. STYLE: Bradford’s prose may be found dry and burdensome. He deliberately chose a plain style in contrast to the deeply elaborated and ornate style of “euphuism.” PLAIN STYLE: Literary style of biblical simplicity and directness promoted by Puritan writers. They sought to purify language and communicate ideas as simply and clearly as possible. They sought plainness and practicality in their ways of life. It is opposed to the ornate style of their contemporaries, a complicated and decorative literary style, full of figures of speech, considered as the fruit of saint vanity. However, his style is anything but plain. He makes use of emphatic couplings to create a variety of sense and description, syntactical balance and antithesis, besides alliteration, assonance and consonance. EXCERPTS: Of Plymouth Plantation Book I, Chapter IX. Of Their Voyage and How They Passed the Sea; and of Their Safe Arrival at Cape Cod It is a description of the trials of the expedition, the hardships of the Atlantic crossing and the bleak impression the Pilgrims received of the New World. IDEAS:

According to the author, an early evidence of God’s favour toward the expedition is the fact that one seaman’s atrocious behaviour was punished by disease and death. On their crossing the weather encountered by the Pilgrims on their crossing was changeable and occasionally extreme. The Pilgrims felt happy but uncertain about arriving at Cape Cod. Crossing an ocean is a hazardous business, only to be undertaken with God’s help. The Pilgrims exhibited a devout character during their journey. The author asks his readers to feel pity for the recently landed Pilgrims because they had nowhere comfortable to go. The author’s description of the landscape invites readers to think that the Pilgrims’ immediate future will be difficult and dangerous. MAIN IDEA: The Pilgrims were like characters from the Bible, struggling against the elements to do God’s will. The Pilgrims’ only source of comfort in such hostile surroundings was looking at the sky and thinking about heaven. The story is told by Bradford himself. SUBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW: It does not only describe facts, but also gives comments on them. RELIABILITY: The author narrates real facts. Being Calvinists, the Puritans believed that God was in charge of the universe and they interpreted evens as symbols with spiritual meanings. The death of the young man is described as “a special work of God’s providence.” He despises the Pilgrims and behaves in a very arrogant way insulting them. He is consequently punished. He falls ill and this is interpreted as a sign of God’s intervention. NARRATOR: The narrator is Bradford himself. The author makes use of a first-person narrator so as to express subjective feelings and opinions. The third-person plural pronoun ‘they’ refers to the community, emphasizing its cohesiveness. STYLE: PLAIN STYLE: The literary style of biblical simplicity and directness promoted by Puritan writers, who sought to purify language and communicate ideas as simply and clearly as possible. Puritans strove for plainness and practicality in their lifestyle. Puritans officially condemned ORNATE SPEECH, which they associated with the English aristocracy and the preachers of the Church of England. They rejected literary artifice and promoted humble modes of verbal expression intended primarily to inform and instruct, not to please. Bradford declared that he would write in the plain style of biblical simplicity. However, being a true Renaissance man, he was familiar with the literary fashions of his day, which abounded in figures of speech of treater of lesser complexity. SYNTAX: Use of parallel sentences: “These troubles being blown over, and now all being compact together in one ship” (lines 1-2); “which continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them” (lines 2-3); “he would always be condemning the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations” (lines 7-8) FUNCTION: A balanced sentence gives rhythmical flow to the text. It draws attention of the readers to the sentence and makes it stand out among the rest. Writers use balanced sentences to emphasize particular ideas to the meanings clear as well as to create pleasing rhythms. Its rhythmical qualities have a good impact on the audience.

Use of antithesis: Contrast or opposition of thoughts. EXAMPLES: “(…) which was some encouragement unto them; yet, according to the usual manner, many were afflicted with sea sickness” (lines3-4). “After they had enjoyed fair winds and weather for a season, they were encountered many times with cross winds (…)” (lines 17-18). Use of emphatic couplings: “a proud and very profane young man” (lines 56); Use of alliteration: the repetition of the initial sounds in neighbouring words or at short intervals within a line or passage. Other definitions of alliteration require the fulfilment of one of the following conditions: The first consonant must be the same All consonants before the first vowel must be the same The first sound in the stressed syllable of the words must be the same. EXAMPLES: “These troubles being blown over” (l.1); “they put to sea again with a prosperous wind” (l.2); “which continued diverse days together” (l.3).”There was a proud and very profane young man” (l.5-6). Use of assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds in stressed syllables in which the consonant sounds are unalike. Assonance is a strong means of emphasizing important words in a line. EXAMPLES: “and did not let to t ell them that he hoped to h elp to cast half of them overboard…” (l. 8-9); “But it pleased God before they came half seas over” (l.12). Use of consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds in stressed syllables. According to G. Leech, it is the repetition of the final consonants in a word. According to M.H. Abrahams, it is the repetition of the whole sequence of consonants in a word, including the first and middle consonants. EXAMPLES: diverse days (l. 3 RHETORICAL STRATEGIES: AUTHOR’S PURPOSE: Didactic. Bradford is interested in instructing rather than pleasing. AUDIENCE: The author addresses the second and third generations of colonists whom he believes to be strayed away from the original faith, piety and spiritual fortitude of their parents and grandparents. Bradford tries to inspire Puritan piety within a generation of spiritualists threatened by prosperity and worldliness. ALLUSIONS AND QUOTATIONS: Bradford makes use of both biblical and classical quotations. The function of citing the Bible and classical authors is for the author to support his arguments. BIBLICAL QUOTATIONS: The Bible was the main source on Bradford’s writings. He often quoted it or paraphrased it. He drew a direct analogy to Saint Paul’s shipwreck. According to the author, the plight of the Pilgrims was worse than that of “the Apostle and his shipwrecked company” (l. 52). Saint Paul records how, after their shipwreck they were welcomed by some “barbarians” (people who spoke a language unknown to them). In Malta, the inhabitants built a fire for them against the cold and provided them with food and shelter for three months. However, the Pilgrims did not find a welcome attitude in the Natives referred to as “savage barbarians. In fact they were not given any food or any kind of accommodation. This can be understood if we take into account that the Wampanoags (the Native inhabitants) had had previous contacts with European explorers, often in the form of exchanges, but sometimes ending in violent disruption of their stable way of life. CLASSICAL QUOTATIONS: Bradford paraphrases Seneca’s Moral Epistles to Lucilius. It emphasizes the fact that a sea journey is so dangerous that is to be undertaken with the help of God.

ALLUSIONS: Pisgah: Allusion to the mountain ridge east of the north end of the Dead Sea, from which Moses viewed the Promised Land in Deuteronomy. Bradford parallels the Pilgrims’ journey to the New World with the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land. The Pilgrims could not go up to the top of Pisgah to see the Promised Land, but a bleak place and could not find comfort in the surroundings. Bradford combines the first-person singular pronouns with the third-person plural pronoun. He uses the first-person pronoun to express subjective comments and opinions, e.g. “It may not omit here a special work of God’s providence” (line 5). The pronoun ‘they’ (third-person plural) is used to describe the events, and it includes the narrator himself as part of the community. Bradford stands both as a witness to the events and as a member of the community experiencing them. By using the first-person pronoun, the narrator guides the audience how to interpret what they read. Of Plymouth Plantation shows little interest in Native culture and pays almost no attention to the beauty of the New World, as Bradford’s description of the landscape of New England on his arrival. The Pilgrims arrived in New England in winter, characterized by being sharp and violent, which made the exploration especially dangerous. There were wild animals and wild beasts. William Bradford portrays the sea so dangerous to be sailed. It described bad condition of the Puritans sailed on the Mayflower. Bradford portrays the Puritans’ view of the nature as something negative because the nature didn’t support their voyage. They had to struggle facing great danger in the sea. They fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers. Their destination was Hudson’s River, but they had to bear up again for the Cape. Fortunately, the next day they got into the Cape Harbour in safety. The Puritans believed that God had saved them from the dangerous situation. Bradford described the first winter as the worst condition of the Puritans. The Puritans first winter in Plymouth was very hard. Almost half the group died. They died of hunger, cold, and disease. The Puritans had to struggle against the nature, bad weather of winter. They had to face unaccommodated condition. They were wanting houses and other comforts, being infected with the scurvy and other diseases. However, the Puritans were tenacious in their habitation of the New World and quickly learned they had to preserve their tenacity. They beholden each other when they were in the low and sick condition. Of Plymouth Plantation is an account of the “hard and difficult beginnings” of the Pilgrims, describing their fears of the unknown land’s “savage barbarians,” struggles to climb out from the “depths of winter,” and battles against “scurvy and other diseases.” Bradford glorifies the way in which the Pilgrim community comes together over their first and extremely severe winter, subtly asserting the Puritan value of communal solidarity. Puritans believed that God was in charge of the universe and interpreted all the events as symbols with spiritual meanings. For example, the death of the young man who was profane, lusty and arrogant and bullied the Pilgrims is interpreted as God’s work. God choses who lives and dies, and protects those chosen by Him, because they are virtuous and follow God’s designs. It was by God’s providence that they overcame the dangers of their journey (l. 31-34). For Bradford, God is an agent present in every event. He emphasizes the fact that God spared them during the journey (the episode of the death of the young man). He tells us how they thanked God for having protected during the journey (lines 36-44), as crossing the sea is a dangerous thing.

However, they find themselves in a place on their own, without friends and shelter (45-66), Unlike St Paul, the Natives were unfriendly and hostile, and their only comfort was looking up to the heavens, as there was nothing there. Bradford emphasizes the idea that trials can bring out the best in believers (spiritual ordeal). In the covenanted churches, God was considered a contractual partner to the believers. Good fortune could signify righteousness and bad fortune divine punishment. He regarded Natives as “savage barbarians” and they were seen as excluded for Redemption in contrast with the Pilgrims, the “chosen ones”. In the first excerpt, Bradford establishes an opposition between the Pilgrims, who faithfully follow God’s laws and designs and are virtuous and lead a moral life with other people who do not, considered to be excluded for redemption. He also shows the opposition between them and the Natives, and between the commodities left behind and the bleak wilderness of the New World. EXCERPT 2: Book II, Chapter XII, Anno 1621 This episode took place the following autumn, when the colony was firmly established. Their first winter (1620-1621) had been extremely harsh. Half the group died of exposure, malnutrition and illness. They made friendly contact with the Wampanoag Indians, who taught them how to plant corn. In the autumn of 1621 they celebrated the harvest with a feast later associated with the Thanksgiving holiday, on the fourth Thursday in November. It was a traditional English harvest celebration was attended by Indian guests. It is a different event from the Puritan Thanksgiving, a religious ceremony which took place in July, celebrated in New England for the first time in 1623, after a providential rain shower saved the plantation crops. MAIN IDEAS: The Pilgrims spent their first summer in the New World mainly making provisions for the following winter. “All the summer was no want”: During the summer the Pilgrims had enough to eat. From the last sentence of the last excerpt we can infer that at the end of the summer the Pilgrims felt satisfied. The prevailing mood of the narrator in the excerpt from Book II, Chapter XII is peaceful. The prevailing tone of both excerpts is dignified. Use of the third-person plural. The narrator distances himself from the events and becomes omniscient, conveying objectivity. In the passage we can see how the bleak wilderness was transformed in the promise land. It conveys the opposition wilderness vs. civilization, relating the former with damnation and the later with the possibility of redemption by following God’s designs.

JOHN SMITH  Explorer  Emphasis on the individual self: first person singular and third person singular (I + he)  Political intent  Secular concerns  Classical sources  Fusion of fact and fiction  Informative and entertaining  Ornate style

COMMONALITIES WILLIAM BRADFORD  They travelled to  Settler America chartered  Emphasis on the by English welfare of a merchants. cohesive  They wanted to community: third offer their first person plural impressions of the (they). New World.  Religious intent.  They never went to  Spiritual concerns. university, but  Biblical sources. were learned men.  Providential Their utilitarian interpretation of texts have earned facts. them a prominent  Plain style. position in the canon of early American literature.  Both have a negative perception of the native People of North America....