To_My_Dear_and_Loving_Husband_Analysis

Real or Fabricated to Satisfy Him To argue the question of the narrator’s love for her husband in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” as real or fabricated you must first understand the author and the time in which she lived. Anne Bradstreet was born in England and later moved to the American Colony in Massachusetts. (574) She was raised a Puritan, which are known for their conservative religious views. Puritans believed their sole responsibility on Earth was to live for the glory of God. Marriage’s were influenced by the parents and social class and made lawful by contract. With this information being revealed about Puritans, the question arises, “Is the love described in the poem true and real or fabricated to satisfy Him'” I use Him in the proper tense to signify God, since working towards the glory of God is the Puritans number one focus in life, I think it fits in this poem. Most will argue that these feelings cannot be true or genuine. This could be for various reasons ranging from the readers own personal experiences to fact based theories. Some readers may hold close to personal values that true love does not exist in which one partner would state “My love is such that a river cannot quench” (Bradstreet 7). To them these are lines used as metaphors in music to exaggerate a singer’s love, but are only fiction and meant to push the description to the limit. Using facts to argue that this type of relationship could not be authentic would be the most logical argument. Those who believe these feelings are not pure would say, “Puritans always place God first” and that, “The only reason a person may try to feel this way is to satisfy Him,” thus the feelings being more focused on God than the husband. Another fact based argument would be that because most marriages were very much restricted and almost arranged, the probability of the two people involved in the marriage being such a good fit is unfeasible. All of these reasons would be presumptuous and cynical. Because this type of relationship is so sparse in today’s world it is hard for most to relate, but does not mean that it did not occur with this author or could not happen in the present. In the poem the author reveals much about her feelings and her marriage. Anne implies that her love is reciprocated in the first line “If ever two were one, then surely we” (Bradstreet 1). One person in a relationship could be very much in love, however if their partner does not love them in the same manner they surely would not feel as one. As stated in the argument against these feelings being real, the author does link her Puritan beliefs to her love for her mate, however I believe for a totally different reason than to place God first. In the last three lines by saying that she prays that the heavens will reward them for their love of each other with everlasting life, she only wishes to extend their relationship beyond their mortal life into eternal life in heaven (Bradstreet 10-13). The narrator’s love for her husband is real and the author truly feels as she writes. The expressions used in the poem are not stretched to make a song sound better they are a true account of her feelings for her husband. When a person is truly and wholly in love there is never enough that can be done to show it. The line “Thy love is such that I can no way repay” is not stating that she feels she must repay her husband’s love. (Bradstreet 9) The author is simply demonstrating how her husband feels for her. Each of these examples of love in the authors marriage are easily understood based on the readers experiences with love. I am and have been in love with my wife for many, many years. Our relationship and the relationships in our family make this poem easy to understand and believe. My marriage grows stronger year by year, we both agree that our goal, although not originally planned, has been for us to become one and the love we feel for each other has pulled us so close together that our friends and family no longer see us individually. We still maintain our own lives however they always seemed interlocked. I firmly believe that this poem illustrates real love as closely as written words can. Bradstreet, Anne. “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” Making Literature Matter. Ed. Scipione, Stephen A. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 574-575. Print. Scipione, Stephen, ed. Making Literature Matter. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2009.