The puritans

The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England.

England in the 17th century was what is known as a “confessional state” – everyone was supposed to practice religion in the way the government decided.

But puritans didn’t much like the way religion was practised by the Church of England.

There is a difference between the puritans and the pilgrims that were also known as the separatists. The puritans believed the church could be saved and they wished to purify it whereas the separatist thought it was not a good idea to have the same person in charge of the church and the state so they wanted a real separation of church and state so they started their own churches.

Similar to the pilgrims, the puritans did not agree with anglican church of England and wanted to find a place where they could establish a community built on the teachings of the bible and where they would not be persecuted for their religious beliefs.

So in 1629 the puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony and got a royal charter to establish a colony in North America. The pilgrims had already settled in New England where they established the Plymouth Colony.

In 1630, John Winthrop led 900 puritans to America landing North

of Plymouth near what is today Boston.

John Winthrop believed that the puritan colony in America would become an example to the world on how to live. He believed the puritan colony would inspire the rest of the world to follow their beliefs.

Between 1630 and 1640, over 13 000 puritans would come to America to escape persecution and an economic crisis in England, in what became known as the great migration.

Puritans are represented as grumpy people who always wore black and never smiled. But in reality they were not that group of people that was somehow always dour somehow always sad and depressed. Actually puritans wore bright colours and were known for having feast. Indeed they founded the feast of Thanksgiving. They loved beautiful poetry or beautiful painting.

Puritans’ society : -The role of women

Women in Puritan society had limited rights.

The puritans, like many societies in this time period, believed that women were culturally inferior to men. Indeed, married women were expected to follow their husbands decisions and they were unable to interact with local government on their own. In addition, married women were unable to sue for divorce. As they were seen inferior to men, their point of view would not be taken seriously. So as a matter of fact, they were not allowed to vote in the General Court.

They maybe had limited rights but they had very important roles in this society.

The most important role for a Puritan woman was to give birth. Even though, the risk of infant mortality were very high and the lack of available birth control was important. Puritans achieved to create a perfect model of society which allows Puritan women to have children regularly despite the dangers. They are really trusty, and even if they have really high chance to die in childbirth, they continued to have children. As mothers, they had to guide the next generation of Puritan Children.

Those women, also had to work as farm hands, by tending their vegetable gardens. They had to act as wives, responsible for caring for their husbands.

In addition to their roles as mothers, wives, and workers, Puritan women could also be educated artists.

Any Puritan town of a significant size had to establish a school. Although the rates of girls attending school were lower than the rates of boys, many Puritan girls and women did gain a basic education.

Indeed some Puritan women, such as the poet Anne Bradstreet, produced beautiful poems and other works relating their experiences in the colony.

To conclude with the life as Puritan women, they had a very little amount of rights and a lot of roles, they were used by men in this society.

The fact that their most important role was to procreate shows how they were used by men to create descendants for the Puritan society

2) Margaret Atwood and Puritanism

Atwood’s interest in Puritan New England relates to several aspect from her life :

To begin with, her interest is due to her own ancestry. Some of her ancestors were in fact, those creepy 17s century Puritan New Englander. But one of them, Mary Webster, which she dedicated her book to, was even more special. Mary is known for being accused and hanged for witchcraft in 1689, several years before the Salem Witch Trials.

However, her interest in this subject is also due to her studies. When she was a student at Harvard under Professor Perry Miller, she studied the 17’ century Puritan New England. Perry Miller who was the man who kind of brought this theme into academia has something to study, he was indeed the great scholar of the Puritan mind. He was her mentor and really helped her through her study of 17’ centuries puritans.

Her family history and her studies really influenced her through her writing, this is why Margaret Atwood dedicated her famous novel “The Handmaid’s tale” to Mary Webster and Perry Miller. They both played a role in the Puritan influence of the book. Therefore, this influence is clearly visible, in particularly with the fact that

Atwood’s Republic of Gilead borrows selectively from the historical model of the Puritan forefathers of America.

3) Puritans in The Handmaid’s Tale

Puritanism had a strong influence in the writing of the book "The handmaid’s tale".

The place/ setting : First of all, the story is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a city that during the American colonial period had been ruled by the theocratic Puritans, with an ancient Puritan church. The choice of Cambridge as a setting symbolizes the direct link between the Puritans and their spiritual heirs in Gilead. Harvard has been transformed into a detention center - Gilead has become an illiterate and non-educational place, highlighting the fact that the leaders of Gilead have broken with the old system

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