«But that I be not tedious»: Women’s role, representation, and lack of relevance in Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

Abstract

«But that I be not tedious» (para no ser tedioso) es la excusa que Bradford emplea para explicar su omisión de la perspectiva de las mujeres en el mítico viaje del Mayflower hasta el Nuevo Mundo. En este ensayo analizaré cómo en Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford deliberadamente elige durante la mayor parte de su diario bien minimizar o bien ignorar la participación de las mujeres en la creación de la colonia de Plymouth y la forma negativa en que retrata a las mujeres en las contadas ocasiones en que éstas aparecen. Señalaré que la aparición de mujeres en esta obra es excepcional y como medio para ilustrar las maldades de las sucesoras de Eva.

Abstract: «But that I be not tedious» is the excuse William Bradford uses to explain his omission of women and their perspective on the Pilgrims’ now-mythical journey from the Netherlands to the New World, as well as their thoughts and sufferings and the problems the journey implied. In this essay I will analyze how in Of Plymouth Plantation Bradford deliberately chooses for most of his journal to minimize or simply ignore women’s participation in the creation of the colony of Plymouth and the derogatory and negative ways in which he portrays women in the very few instances when women appear in his narrative. That way, I will show that women’s representation is an exception and, when they appear, more often than not, it is just in order to illustrate the evils of Eve’s successors.