The Prologue Summary | Anne Bradstreet

One of my friends once said that teaching is not limited to a classroom. It is more than that. My friend is right. You might have knowingly or unknowingly taught someone a life lesson or other valuable things and made someone's life better. Therefore, you are a teacher and I wish you a very happy Teacher's Day. Today, I will discuss with you the summary of the poem, The Prologue by Anne Bradstreet. Let me begin the video with some lines from the poem, The Introduction by Countess of Winchelsea, Anne Finch. Good reading, fashion, dancing, dressing, play are the accomplishments we should desire. To write or read or think or to inquire would cloud our beauty and exhaust our time and interrupt the conquest of our prime. Being a modern reader, you might have felt it is a sexist remark by the agents of patriarchy. But a comment like this was completely normal during the time. Men did not expect women to do things like writing, reading, thinking, etc. because they could challenge men. I have mentioned this to give you a brief idea of how patriarchy looked at women during the time. You will find the same attitude in the prologue. If you understand this, it will be easy to understand why the speaker in the prologue maintains a self-deprecating tone throughout the poem and why it is necessary to write about women by women. But what should a woman deal with in her writing? This is the dilemma the speaker of the poem, the prologue, encounters. The speaker wants to write about something, but she does not find any topic. She should avoid some subjects such as wars, captains, kings, exploration of cities, the beginning of the commonwealth, etc. The reason is these topics are too superior for a woman. Therefore, the speaker meekly says that writing about any of them is too heavy for her insignificant pen. Instead of drawing, she should let the male poets and historians work on them. She should not write these topics because she should not challenge their worth. Putting a limitation on her leads to the suppression of her desire. It comes out as envious resentment when she reads poems of French poet Duvertis. While reading Duvertis, she is both awed by his skill and feels a sharp pang of jealousy. She is jealous because she could have written like him, but she cannot. The muses who have inspired the male poets and writers did not give her the inspiration she needed to write. A man can do and get whatever he wishes, but a woman cannot. Since there is no such muse, she has to write based on her existing skill. Unfortunately, she laments she has no extraordinary skill. She is a novice like a schoolboy. We do not expect outstanding rhetorical skill from a schoolboy, sweet music from a broken musical instrument, and beauty from an impaired thing. Similarly, we cannot expect beautiful poems from the speaker whose muse is foolish and imperfect. Therefore, she feels the quality of her poetry is low. She cannot do anything about it. The reason is she is a woman and she has low cognitive ability. Therefore, she cannot improve her poetry. However, there are certain things that men can improve. For instance, the Greek orator Demosthenes had a speech impediment during childhood. He continued to improve himself, and because of his sheer efforts, he got what he needed. But this will not apply to a wounded brain. Her defective brain is incapable of performing creative things. Despite that, she tries to write. Therefore, each agent of patriarchy looks at her with total contempt. They find her unpleasant. They say that writing is not her job. Instead of the pen, she should take the needle in her hand. They think if she writes, she cannot do justice to poetry. Therefore, they keep all women writers away from writing. Even if she proves them wrong by writing a standard form of poem like this one in iambic pentameter, they will ignore it by labeling it as stolen or an act of coincidence. They are unfair to women. But in ancient times, the Greeks put women on a pedestal. They worshipped nine muses who were women and invoked calliope for epic poetry. Unfortunately, this is incomprehensible to the patriarchy in the 17th century. They reject all the statesmen and consider the Greeks fools and liars. The Greeks are not present. Instead of them, there are dominant agents of patriarchy everywhere now. Indeed, men have power and do better than women in certain situations. Therefore, it is meaningless to start a war against patriarchy. Women know men can do better than them. If the patriarchy cannot treat them the way the Greeks did, they can at least appreciate women a little that they deserve. Therefore, at last, she asks the successful male poets to acknowledge if they find her insignificant lines. She does not want any fancy reward like a laurel crown from them. Instead, the speaker wants them to give time or parsley. If they place her poem along with the words of men, it will not degrade their word. Rather, her mean and unrefined lines will make their refined, sweet lines shine. Don't you think it's a subtle way to interrupt the conquest of their prime?