1/3/2019 Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity: Summary and Analysis - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.

com

Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity: Summary and

Analysis

Lesson Transcript

Mary Rowlandson wrote a book about her time as a captive during King Philip's War. That book was the rst
American bestseller and the start of the popular genre of captivity narratives. In this lesson, we'll look closer at
Rowlandson's narrative and its in uence on American literature.
Note: Mary Rowlandson's book has two titles: A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs.
Mary Rowlandson or The Sovereignty and Goodness of God.

Mary Rowlandson
Life in early America was fraught with peril. Just ask Mary Rowlandson. Born in England, Mary and
her parents moved to present-day New England when she was a kid. Her father helped found the
town of Lancaster (in what is now Massachusetts) and was one of the wealthiest men in the town.
In 1656, a young Mary married Reverend Joseph Rowlandson and settled into married life.

But the dangers of early America were ever-present, and when war broke out between the Native
Americans and the English settlers, Mary and her children were captured and taken as prisoner.
After her release, Mary wrote a book about her experiences, titled The Sovereignty and Goodness of
God. Let's look closer at the situation that led to Mary's capture, her experiences, and the impact
God
her book had on American literature.

King Philip's War

In New England in the late 1600s, war broke out between the English settlers and the American
Indians. Native American nations, like the Wampanoag Indians, grew corn and other crops for food.
When the English settled nearby (in what is today Massachusetts), the Wampanoag and other
Native Americans were accustomed to sharing the land with each other.

The English, though, had di erent customs. They fenced the land to raise livestock. They saw a
distinct di erence between community and individual property. At rst, the Native Americans
believed that it would be ne to share with the English. But when the English took over the land
and began to raise livestock, destroying Native American crops and preventing new ones from
being planted, the leader of the Wampanoag (known as King Philip to the English) led several
American Indian nations to war against the English and some of their allies.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/mary-rowlandsons-the-narrative-of-the-captivity-summary-and-analysis.html 1/3
1/3/2019 Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity: Summary and Analysis - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

The war broke out in 1675 and o cially lasted until 1678, though the last two years of ghting were
far north of Massachusetts, in what is today Maine. But in that rst year of the war, many lives were
lost on both sides.

Captivity
In the midst of the war, the Wampanoag employed a shrewd strategy. They raided settlements and
took captives, which they could then trade for money, weapons, or provisions. The town of
Lancaster, Massachusetts was on the frontier and very close to Indian land. Mary Rowlandson's
husband, Reverend Joseph Rowlandson, traveled with some other men to ask the governor of the
colony to send protection to keep the town from being raided by the Wampanoag and their allies.

While the men were gone, Native Americans laid siege on the town of Lancaster. Among those
wounded and captured were Mary and her children. The Indians took Mary and the other captives
far west, into the wilderness and towards Indian settlements.

Along the way, Mary's youngest daughter, Sarah, who was wounded in the attack on Lancaster,
died. Meanwhile, Mary herself was sold to a neighboring Indian nation and was separated from her
remaining children. Her captors gave her a Bible that they retrieved on a raid, and she turned to
her faith to see her through her ordeal.

Through a long and arduous journey, Mary was eventually taken to the village where King Philip
lived, and there she stayed for several weeks while the tribe negotiated for her ransom. After 11
weeks in captivity, Mary was released and reunited with her husband. Her son and one of her
daughters were also released, and the family moved to Boston to start a new life.

First American Best Seller

Mary Rowlandson's book about her captivity became a huge hit and is seen as the rst American
best seller because of its popularity. It sparked a new genre of book, the captivity narrative,
which became very popular in the ensuing years. A captivity narrative is a non ction account of
what happened to someone while in captivity.

In early America, captivity narratives were one of the most popular genres of writing. They usually
described the captivity of women, since women were seen as innocent and vulnerable. However,
even though captivity narratives were mostly about women and were usually written in rst
person, they were actually written mostly by men. Mary Rowlandson's book is unique in that it was
actually written by her.

Many captivity narratives had religious overtones and discussed how faith carried the captives
through their ordeal. Rowlandson set the standard here; much of her book is about her faith and
how she nds comfort in the Bible her captors gave her in order to survive the wilderness.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/mary-rowlandsons-the-narrative-of-the-captivity-summary-and-analysis.html 2/3
1/3/2019 Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity: Summary and Analysis - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

The captivity narratives also painted a picture of Native American life to the settlers, though their
accounts were often skewed and outright wrong. Politics, racially motivated fear, and European
biases all a ected the way the captives viewed the American Indians, and, in turn, how their
readers did.

Lesson Summary
Mary Rowlandson was taken as captive by Native Americans during King Philip's War in 17th
century America. Her faith and a Bible given to her by her captors got her through her 11-week
captivity, and afterwards she wrote her story in a book titled The Sovereignty and Goodness of God.
God
Her book, the rst American best seller, sparked a genre of captivity narratives in American
literature.

Learning Outcome
After seeing this video, students should recognize that Mary Rowlandson's true life story of her
capture and ransom during the 17th century was the rst best seller in America and created a new
genre: the captivity narrative.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/mary-rowlandsons-the-narrative-of-the-captivity-summary-and-analysis.html 3/3