Mary Collier and Anne Finch Break the “Rules” Anonymous College

Many people were wary of women writers in the eighteenth century. Women were supposed to be seen and not heard, and the fact that women were trying to be writers and voice their opinions broke this “rule”, two women who broke this “rule” with their writing were Mary Collier and Anne Finch. Mary Collier’s “The Woman's Labour” is a provider of sorts for 18th century working conditions and how gender and authority worked. Anne Finch’s “The Introduction” talks of how society wants women to be small and meek and not have the voice that writers should have. On the other hand Finch’s poem “Letter to Daphnis” defies her opinion of marriage and instead she shows the love that could be seen in her marriage. These women show that women during this time worked harder than men and that they should not be categorized by society, that they can do whatever they put their minds to.

Mary Collier was a washerwoman, so she knew how the life of a laboring woman was. She wrote “The Woman’s Labour” in response to Stephen Duck’s poem “The Thresher’s Labour” because in it Duck criticized women for being lazy workers and also because he didn’t take working women seriously whatsoever. Collier is trying to convey in this poem that both the men and women...