From Pilgrims to
Progress
Preparing for the Penny Dreadful Project
Mrs. Hinton
English 10
Montevallo High School
Read “A Narrative of the Captivity”
Question 1: What is the historical connection
between Metcomb’s raids and Mary
Rowlandson’s story?
Question 2: Is Mary Rowlandson’s side of the
story a reliable sense of what really happened?
Question 3: If a Native American were to tell the
story of the same incident, would their
stories be the same?
Biblical Allusion
Definition – Allusion is simply a reference.
Mary Rowlandson makes references (or
allusions) to the Bible.
How many Biblical allusions can you find in the
story?
Write three Biblical allusions she uses. (5 min.)
What is a tabloid?

A tabloid is a newspaper industry
term which refers to a smaller
newspaper format per spread; to a
weekly or semi-weekly alternative
newspaper that focuses on localinterest stories and entertainment,
often distributed for free);

or to a newspaper that tends to
emphasise sensational crime stories,
gossip columns repeating
scandalous innuendos about the
personal lives of celebrities and
sports stars.
(Wikipedia)
What is a captivity narrative?

American Indian captivity narratives, stories of
men and, particularly, women of European
descent who were captured by Native
Americans, were popular in both America and
Europe from the 17th century until the close of
the American frontier late in the 19th century.
Mary Rowlandson's memoir A Narrative of the
Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson is a classic example of the genre.
(Wikipedia)
Are captivity narratives historical?
American captivity narratives were often based
on true events, but they frequently contained
fictional elements as well, and some were
entirely fictional, created because the stories
were popular. As a result, historians treat
captivity narratives with caution, and many of
them are regarded more as folklore or ideology
than history. (Wikipedia)
What is a captivity narrative?
According to Richard Slotkin, "In [a captivity narrative] a single
individual, usually a woman, stands passively under the strokes of evil,
awaiting rescue by the grace of God. The sufferer represents the whole,
chastened body of Puritan society; and the temporary bondage of the
captive to the Indian is dual paradigm-- of the bondage of the soul to the
flesh and the temptations arising from original sin, and of the self-exile of
the English Israel from England.
In the Indian's devilish clutches, the captive had to meet and reject the
temptation of Indian marriage and/or the Indian's "cannibal" Eucharist.
To partake of the Indian's love or of his equivalent of bread and wine
was to debase, to un-English the very soul. The captive's ultimate
redemption by the grace of Christ and the efforts of the Puritan magistrates
is likened to the regeneration of the soul in conversion.
The ordeal is at once threatful of pain and evil and promising of
ultimate salvation. Through the captive's proxy, the promise of a similar
salvation could be offered to the faithful among the reading public, while
the captive's torments remained to harrow the hearts of those not yet
awakened to their fallen nature" (Regeneration Through Violence)
What was the purpose?
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Religious expression
Justification of westward expansion
Nineteenth-century: cultural symbol of American
national heritage
Popular literature
Reinforcement of stereotypes
a. Spanish: Indians as brutish beasts
b. French: Indians as souls needing redemption
c. English in Virginia: innocent exotics
d. Puritans: Satanic threat to religious utopia
Themes
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Fears of cannibalism
Fears of scalping
Hunter-predator myth: captive is caught between
savagery and civilization
Judea capta, for Puritans: Israel suffering under
Babylonian captivity. (include Biblical allusion)
Freudian view: captivity becomes adoption
(Puritan/Indian friendship development)
Myths
a. Myth of Love in the Woods
(Pocahontas and John Smith)
b. Myth of Good Companions in the Wilderness
(Cooper's Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook)
Pattern of the captivity narrative
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Separation: attack and
capture
Torment, ordeals of physical
and mental suffering
Transformation
(accommodation, adoption)
Return (escape, release, or
redemption)
NOW
Imagine you are a Puritan in
1677 who was captured during
King Phillip’s War. You
remained captive for five days
before release. Write a journal
that graphically describes each
day of your horrific ordeal –
starting with your capture until
your release.