Mary%20Rowlandson%20

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Mary Rowlandson Narrative of the Captivity and
Restoration

• American
  Literature I
• 10/11/2004
• Cecilia H.C. Liu

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Brief Biographical Background on Mary Rowlandson
(c. 1636-1711)

• Mary Rowlandson was born circa 1637-1638 in
  England.  With her parents John and Joan White,
  she sailed for Salem in 1639.  Joseph Rowlandson
  became a minister in 1654 and two years later he
  and Mary were married. They had a child, Mary,
  who lived for three years their other children
  were Joseph, b. 1661 Mary, b. 1665 Sarah, b.
  1669. At the time of their capture, the children
  were 14, 10, and 6.

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Capture and Redemption

• In 1675 Joseph Rowlandson. went to Boston to beg
  for help from the Massachusetts General Assembly,
  during which period Mary Rowlandson was captured.
  After her redemption, the couple lived in Boston
  and then moved 1677 to Wethersfield, Connecticut.
  Joseph Rowlandson died 24 November 1678 after
  preaching a powerful fast-day jeremiad.

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Disgrace in the family

• Mary Rowlandson remarried 6 Aug 1679 to Captain
  Samuel Talcott. He died in 1691 she lived until
  1710. Disgrace later came to the family her son
  Joseph got his brother-in-law drunk and sold him
  into servitude in Virginia.

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Mary Rowlandsons Travel

• While a prisoner, Mary Rowlandson traveled some
  150 miles,  from Lancaster to Menamaset then
  north to Northfield and across the Connecticut
  river to meet with King Philip/Metacomet himself,
  sachem of the Wampanoags.  Next she traveled up
  into southwestern New Hampshire, south to
  Menamaset, and north to Mount Wachusett.

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Rowlandson's narrative

• According to Katherine Derounian-Stodola,
  "Introducing her work in all four 1682 editions
  was an anonymous preface to the reader, signed
  only 'per Amicum' (By a Friend), but almost
  certainly written by Increase Mather. In 1681,
  Mather had proposed to a group of Puritan
  ministers that they collect stories of 'special
  providences' concerning New England to be
  evaluated, sorted, and eventually anthologized.
  Quite probably Rowlandson's narrative was among
  the providential accounts he received, but owing
  to its length, local currency, and intrinsic
  worth, he may have suggested separate publication
  and agreed to help. . ."

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captivity narrative

• Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan wife and mother,
  published only one book during her life. That
  book, however, not only became one of the era's
  best-sellers, but earned her an important place
  in the history of American literature. A
  Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of
  Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, an account of her captivity
  among the Narragansett Indians during King
  Philip's War in the 1670s, is a frequently cited
  example of a captivity narrative, an important
  American literary genre used by James Fenimore
  Cooper, Ann Bleecker, John Williams, and James
  Seaver.

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• Because of Rowlandson's intimate relationship
  with her Indian captors, her book also is
  interesting for its treatment of cultural
  contact. Finally, in its use of autobiography,
  typology, and the jeremiad, Rowlandson's book
  helps us to understand the Puritan mind.

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King Philip's War

• A general Indian uprising in 1675-76 to resist
  continued expansion of the English colonies in
  New England. It was the bloodiest of the Indian
  wars in terms of relative casualties, and several
  tribes were virtually or totally eliminated. Six
  hundred colonists were killed, which included
  about one-fifth of all the men fit for military
  service.
• Philip was the Christian name assigned to
  Metacomet (known as King Philip or Metacom), a
  war chief or sachem of the Wampanoag Indians.
  Massachusetts colonial settlers frequently
  referred to the Native chiefs as Kings.

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THE OLD TRAIL TO KING PHILIP'S FORT AT SQUAKEAG
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A Puritan and Narragansets
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A current paperback book
cover What different "appeals" to emotion do you
find in these two covers? How do you explain the
differences?
Cover of first edition, showing Mary shooting a
musket
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(No Transcript)
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London,A True History of the Captivity and
Restoration, (1682 The Newberry Library)
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LOOKING TOWARD KING PHILIP'S FORT AT SQUAKEAG ON
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER
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MOUNT WACHUSETT
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Here negotiations for her ransom began toward the
end of April. On May 2, 1676, Mary Rowlandson was
exchanged at Redemption Rock for a ransom of
twenty English pounds.
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When she returned to Lancaster, there was not one
European to be seen or one house left standing.

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The tree marks the site of the ROWLANDSON
house in 1676.
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Study Questions

• Discuss the relationship between mourning and
  religious faith in Rowlandsons Narrative. How
  does Rowlandson mourn her losses, and how does
  she integrate this mourning into a faith in Gods
  will and plan?
• Discuss how Rowlandson integrates her
  characterization of the Indians as barbarous
  creatures with a respect for them as agents of
  Gods will.

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References

• Mary Rowlandson Captive in 1675/76 (with some
  photos) http//www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.rive
  r/mary.html
• American Literature Survey I by Dr. Ron
  Tranquilla
• http//www.eng.fju.edu.tw/ron/american_lit1/index.
  htmReports
• Mary Rowlandson (c. 1636-1711) http//guweb2.gonz
  aga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl310/
• rowland.htm
• http//www.chapmanbillies.com/Narrative.html
• http//www.neiu.edu/edepartm/dep/profs/scherm/218
  /
• colonial.htm
• Who was Mary Rowlandson http//rowlandson.nrsd.n
  et/about/mary.html