Puritanism in American Literature (America or New England 16th – 17th Century)

Darrel Abel asserts that because the 17th Century was the great age of British religious
literature, in New England, it was the great century of Puritan literature. In a way which is
difficult for the modern reader to appreciate, Abel further submits, this literary genre was not
only a subject of everyday life, but was an intelligent, often artistically wrought literature. It
was also strenuous and serious, because Puritans saw life as an unremitting moral struggle.
Puritan literature attempted to represent life truly; moreover, Puritan literature was just as
"realistic" as modern naturalism, albeit in the service of a different perception of reality. The
great structure of the Puritan creed, Perry Miller has asserted, will only be meaningful to
most students today "when they perceive that it rested upon a deep lying conviction that the
universe conformed to a definite, ascertainable truth, and that human existence was to be had
only upon the terms imposed by this truth."
Plain speech was the high literary value of this society, as expressed by William Bradford,
who enjoined "a plain style, with singular regard to the simple truth in all things. Ornate and
embellished stylistics were distrusted as adornments and adulterations; sensuous tropes and
imagery were seen as the literary analogs to the perceived idolatry and ceremonial trappings
of the Anglicans and Catholics. "Painted sermons" were an abomination, since they were like
painted windows that obscured the clear light of truth, and the "words of wisdom" were
privileged over the "wisdom of words." This plain style was distinct, orderly, emphatic and
proportionate, while employing rhetorical devices sanctioned by Biblical use: parables and
analogies, similes and metaphors, rhythmic and formal syntax. While Miller and Thomas
Johnson opine that the Puritans failed to develop a lively aesthetic sense in their appreciation
of music, painting, and sculpture, George Waller points to the poetry of Ann Bradstreet and
Edward Taylor as evidence that piety did not altogether preclude an aesthetic sensibility
which appreciated the glories of nature or imagery that was at least colorful, if not sensuous.
Furthermore, there a pragmatic element to this style, inasmuch as its audience was comprised
of many unlettered common people.

Nevertheless, most Puritan writers were literate and learned, and their plain style, holds Abel,
was not the meagerness of illiteracy rather the restraint of “skilled and instructed writers.” As
Renaissance men, their respect for learning, their relish for the word fitly spoken, and their
energy and robustness gave vigor even to writing that held humanity to be contemptible in its
character and vain in all of its works. Gustaaf Van Cromph out has posited Cotton Mather as
the most impressive exemplar of the Renaissance Man in American Puritanism, remarking
that his magnum opus, Magnalia Christi Americana of 1702 is not only colonial history and
glorification of its faith, but also “a work whose style and rhetoric reveal his adherence to
humanist literary principles.” Mather, along with Robert Beverly, may be seen as a Founding
Father of American literary criticism as well. The two great Anglo-American literary giants
of the colonial period, Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin, while usually distinguished
from each other in terms of the provincial minister versus the cosmopolitan man-of-the-
world, shared a commonality which, while less obvious, is no less significant. Edwards,
conversant in the ideas of Newton and Locke, combined science and philosophy as a basis for
a body of religious literature unrivaled in logical and literary perfection in the entire history
of human writing. Franklin’s Autobiography, the sort of self-improvement tract favoured by
the early Puritans, used formulaic conventions of the spiritual autobiography borrowed from
them while espousing his own worldly wisdoms. Franklin expropriated the Protestant/Puritan
work ethic to serve his secular humanism, which embraced the ethical morality of Puritanism
and modernized it in the process, making it possible for subsequent generations of American
readers to inherit the ethical legacy of Puritanism without having to embrace its spiritual
tenets. One of Puritanism’s chief tenets was expressed in the favorite Biblical text of New
England ministers, enjoining us to call no man father. Atheological egalitarianism, which
decreed as its primary requirement an individual experience of God’s grace, ramified into an
underappreciated emphasis on freedom of the mind, a freedom that was unique then, and
which today is far from universal. It has also been suggested that the greatness of the Puritans
lay not so much in their conquest of a wilderness or in carrying their religion in to it, but in
their refusal to make any intellectual concessions to the primeval forest. In the midst of
frontier conditions, they maintained schools and a college, a high level of scholarship and of
excellent writing, and a class of men devoted entirely to the life of the mind and the soul.
This crypto-Puritan legacy was eventually inherited by Abraham Lincoln, whose own mythos
includes the image of the young boy poring over Euclid in a rude frontier cabin, and who, in
his maturity, pointed to our Puritan forefathers and gave us a Biblically-informed rhetoric of
simplicity, purification, and communion with the “better angels of our nature.” “Early
literature written by Puritans in America often appeared as first person narratives in the form
of journals and diaries. Early American colonists wrote their accounts of immigration,
settling in America, and day-to-day life in journals to pass their stories down. Many Puritans
also wrote letters to send back to Europe to family and friends they left behind. Very little
fiction appeared during this period; Puritans valued realistic writing with an emphasis on
religious themes.
Three important Puritan genres included: • Sermons • Historical narrative • Poetry Puritans
held deep religious beliefs based on their own perspective of Christianity. The Bible played
an important role in the daily lives of the Puritans. Families attended church regularly and
read the Bible in their homes. Due to this influence, most Puritan writing is based on the
styles of the Bible. Puritans compared their own lives to biblical narratives and events and
compared themselves to biblical characters to illustrate points. Puritans lived a simple life
based on the concepts of humility and simplicity. This influence comes from their religious
beliefs and the Bible. Wearing elaborate clothing or having conceited thoughts offended
Puritans. Puritan writing mimics these cultural values in its plain writing style. Puritans wrote
directly to the point, and avoided much of the elaborate writing style that became popular in
Europe. Simple sentences with common language allowed Puritans to communicate
information without feeling like they were drawing attention to themselves. Puritans wrote
with specific purposes in mind. Even the letters they wrote to friends and family in Europe
performed more of a purpose than simply communicating about their lives and keeping in
touch. Puritans' religious beliefs affected their lives on all levels, and their writing illustrated
their religion's values, such as the importance of the church and the influence of God in their
lives. Writing often became instructive, teaching Christian values. The Puritans did not
believe that literature was for entertainment; therefore, they frowned upon "entertainment"
genres such as drama (plays) and fiction novels.