Washington, Sondra

Many scholars discount the colonial poetic production of early America due to its
seemingly European-derivative nature of form or its repetitive focus on stringent pedagogy
regarding virtue and religiosity. Because of this, many overlook colonial poets and their poetry
as being of little significance to the modern reader; this could not be more incorrect. Through
analysis of the writings of the Puritan poets Michael Wigglesworth and Anne Bradstreet, as well
as those of Enlightenment poet Phillis Wheatley, a remarkable trend of subversion of the cultural
hegemony of colonial America emerges. This honors thesis analyses the ways in which colonial
American poets fought against the hegemonic oppression they faced by thoroughly breaking
down the overlooked canon of Wigglesworth, Bradstreet, and Wheatley. In doing so, the ways in
which the aforementioned poets protested their suppressed creativity, personhood, and freedom
become clear.

Inferno, the first part of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, notably divides its depiction of hell into nine “circles,” structuring them in a manner that forms a descending hierarchy of increasingly immoral sins. However, this study argues that Dante’s hierarchy doubles as an invisible scale, wherein I classify the sins of upper hell as “inner sins” (twisted values that incriminate their practitioner) and those of lower hell as “outer sins” (unethical acts conducted against individuals). This fundamental aspect of The Divine Comedy transforms the epic poem into a unification of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy, as Dante integrates values and judgements from both schools of thought into his inner/outer conceptions of spiritual damnation and ascension. Understanding how the concepts of inner and outer sins serve as the basis of Dante’s moral beliefs ultimately unveils a complex ideology that structures the poet’s entire journey around the virtues of reason and faith.