What is the purpose of this document?

GENDER: What difference does it make that she’s a woman? How are the issues of gender addressed in the published versions of the narrative? * Had she been a man, she might not have been asked to sew or make certain things during captivity or work more closely with the other women (mostly King Philip’s wife) * Weetamoo- a political marriage- alliance between two tribes. She was of high status. Rowlandson does not like her and does not seem to realize her status. * Rowlandson’s high status before she was captivated made her capture very hard * As a woman it’s a touchy thing to put yourself out in the public- but she is doing it for religious reasons and talking about God in her writing * Importance of her mother as a religious role model * Her husband’s sermon and the male introduction help to justify her writing

IDENTITY: How would Mary Rowlandson identify herself? What was she? How did her captivity affect that? * In Lancaster she was a mistress because of her wealth- a minister’s wife- she thinks highly of herself because she is an important woman * She is also a strong Puritan * Her captivity took away her title of mistress and relabeled her as “servant” * Her captivity at times questioned her faith but in the end she would always turn to her religion for strength during her captivity- when something bad would happen she would turn to he Bible. This whole experience was a constant reminder of his presence and his plan and that everything happens for a reason. * In the end she is grateful for the experience because it reminds her that she has to be constantly strong in her faith. * Page 112- “Whom the Lord loveth…” * Through all her trials she had not turned away from God * She sees herself as civilized yet has to turn to the Indians for help * She is a mother- spends a lot of time focusing on her children during the narrative *

ENVIRONMENT/SURVIVAL: How does she relate to the natural world, the landscape? How does she survive captivity? * She relates it to hell * Puritans saw the woods as a dangerous place full of savagery, possibly the devil * She survives by taking care of her children of doing other domestic duties * She survives “out of her pocket” which is like her purse * The charity of the Indians helps her survive- she goes around from house to house and begs for food and a place to sleep *