Anna Letitia Barbauld (1743-1825)Anna Barbauld was born on June 20, 1743 in Kibworth, United Kingdom. His father was principal of Dissenting Academy and pastor at a nearby Presbyterian church. His family made a comfortable living and Barbauld was in the public eye because his family home was also a boys' school. She spent a lot of time with boys as a child and she adopted some of their good humor, something her mother discouraged and tried to squash because these types of behavior in women were frowned upon then. Barbauld never felt comfortable with her femininity and felt like she had failed in many aspects of womanhood. Much of her work reflects this, as she focuses on the issues women suffer from and being an "outsider". Barbauld's father taught her the classics she demanded of him, and she had the chance to learn Greek, French, Latin, and Italian, as well as other subjects deemed inappropriate for women. at the time. Barbauld's mother was proud of her accomplishments, but she feared that her daughter's intellectual tendencies would lead her to remain single for the rest of her life. However, Barbauld had many suitors and offers of marriage around 1758, all of which she refused. Barbauld became very close to her brother, John Aikin, when they were young and she was something of a mother figure to him. They eventually became literary partners. John Aikin also became a practicing physician, as well as a prolific author and writer in his own right (White 512). Barbauld published her first collection of poems in 1773, after her friends praised her writing and urged her to publish her work. The collection, titled Poems, was a great success and she became a respected literary figure in En...... middle of paper ......n. To rule by law is to use logic and intelligence, and yet she says to stay true to your heart and your emotions, so we can't really be sure what she says is most important. This happens throughout most of the poem and she seems to be almost in conflict with herself. She can't decide whether women should move forward and take a stand against men, or stay as they are to avoid conflict. her time and had many influences on female writers of her time. I think she is also a source of inspiration for writers today because she was very outspoken in her writing and the male-dominated society she lived in did not stop her from saying what she wanted. She stood up for what she believed in and that's a very admirable quality..