Mary Rowlanson

Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan minister's wife, was captured during the war in an Indian raid on Lancaster, Massachusetts. She was held captive by a leading Indian family for eleven weeks, before being returned to her husband. In the book Rowlandson later wrote about her experiences, she describes traveling from one "remove" to another with her Indian masters, experiencing the difficulties of hard work and the cold outdoors. She continuously quotes Scripture- she found it to …

…an archetype of American literature, the "captivity account". As the female victim of male savagery, her tale can represent a rallying point for the English victors in the conflict. This text provided solid evidence for what they saw as the innate depravity and barbarism of the defeated Indians. For if they treated Mrs. Rowlandson so poorly, and allowed a woman such as Wetamo to hold power, how civilized could they be? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** none provided