The Captivity Narrative and Mary Rowlandson

What Is a Captivity Narrative? ● American Indian captivity narratives o Stories of men and, particularly, women o Of European descent o Popular in both America and Europe ● White woman’s captivity by natives a metaphor for New England’s experience in the New World o Anxiety of female captivity: that she may choose to stay, become part of the community

Are Captivity Narratives Historical? ● Often based on true events ● Contained fictional elements ● Some entirely fictional o created because the stories were popular

Captivity Narrative’s Purpose ● Religious expression ● Justification of westward expansion ● Popular symbol of American national heritage ● Reinforcement of stereotypes o Spanish: Indians as brutish beasts o French: Indians as souls needing redemption o English in Virginia: innocent exotics o Puritans: Satanic threat to religious utopia

Themes ● Fears of cannibalism ● Fears of scalping ● Hunter-predator myth: captive caught between savagery and civilization ● For Puritans: Israel suffering under Babylonian captivity ● Freudian view: captivity becomes adoption (Puritan/Indian friendship development)

Pattern ● Separation o attack and capture ● Torment o ordeals of physical and mental suffering ● Transformation o accommodation, adoption ● Return o escape, release, redemption

The Puritan Worldview ● Providence: History is ordered according to God’s plan ● Typology: Biblical events and figures serve as types for historical events and figures ● Doctrine of predestination: The sovereignty and goodness of God ● Election: The covenant of grace ● Uncertain salvation: Looking for signs

The Narrative as Myth ● Captivity as exceptional and exemplary o A singular experience and test o A moral and religious lesson for readers ● Biblical frame of reference ● Captivity as symbolic conversion o Collapse of boundaries o Wandering in the wilderness o Test and conversion o Restoration

Captivity and the Revolution ● Popular beyond Puritan era and region ● Colonies seen as captives of British Crown o King George = savage ● Americans as chosen people being tested

Captivity Narrative as Critique of Europeans ● Not just English genre ● Captive identifies with captor ● Captivity narrative threatened the collapse of boundaries between o home and captor culture o between white and native identity

Readers Love ● Details of Indians’ lives ● Gory descriptions ● Descriptions of wilderness ● Threats of sexual violation ● Individual Christian struggles ● Captivity narratives forerunners of dime novels, sensational true crime stories, and reality television

The Wilderness ● Does not equal no people ● Equals being unsure of one’s place ● Typical European response o Reassert one’s old sense of place family, social standing, religion, Bible o Learn the new place social order, cuisine, language o Improvise spaces to inhabit ● Unhoused especially receptive to the dangers of the wilderness

King Philip’s War ( ) ● ● “King Philip” (Metacom) becomes leader of Wampanoags & creates a coalition to resist the English ● ● In 1675 Philip puts an informer to death; the English retaliate & kill three. War breaks out ● ● 600 English & 3,000 Indians die by war’s end, brought about by widespread starvation among Indians & Philip’s death

King Philip’s War & Religion ● Puritan interpretation: God’s judgment on New England for its sins ● Jeremiad: sermon that castigated the people for the sins; compared them unfavorably to predecessors ● Mary Rowlandson’s text as Jeremiad

Mary Rowlandson’s True History ● International bestseller. ● Most famous example of the “Indian captivity narrative” ● First and only work by its author ● Retells 11 weeks, 5 days that a minister’s wife spends among the Wampanoag people

Rowlandson as a Captive Puritan Woman ● Rowlandson’s position o Family (born in England 1637; arrived in Salem in 1639; mother active in church) o Marriage and social standing ● Rowlandson copes with captivity o Skills and activities o Survival strategies o Comparison with other captives

Rowlandson’s narrative ● ● Puritan conventions barred women from writing for publication and unauthorized public speaking ● ● Rowlandson’s motives o Title page o Comments in text

Plot of Rowlandson’s Narrative ● Lose home ● Lose family ● Dwell in Wilderness ● Regain family ● Regain home

Representative Affliction ● Rowlandson’s afflictions those of New England’s ● God’s special notice of Rowlandson and his chosen people ● Rowlandson an example for others: how to persevere and remain faithful in a time of great suffering

Unintentional Commentary? ● Rowlandson describes her adventures using the values, language, and assumptions appropriate to her “place.” ● Despite herself, she shows us the following: o The Wampanoags remarkably generous, despite their desperate circumstances o The Wampanoags far from immoral o Rowlandson successful in creating “space” for herself (sewing); no passive victim o English bungled in how they’ve handled the situation

Sources ● Burnham, Michelle. Captivity and Sentiment: Cultural Exchange in American Literature, Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, ● Derounian, Kathryn Zabelle. "The Publication, Promotion, and Distribution of Mary Rowlandson's Indian Captivity Narrative in the Seventeenth Century." Early American Literature 23.3 (1988): ● Gookin, Daniel. "An Historical Account of the Doings and Sufferings of the Christian Indians in New England." Archaeologia Americana: Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society Vol. 2 (1836): ● Mather, Increase. A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New- England. London: Chiswell, ● Salisbury, Neal, ed. and intro. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, and Related Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, ● Slotkin, Richard. Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, Middleton, CT: Wesleyan UP, 1973.