Introduction
Mary Rowlandson’s narrative reveals a great deal about women’s roles at the time of her writing, as well as within her particular culture. Her story discusses how she lived in nature and with Indians, and this resultantly provided her with a life experience that was very unique, influential, and continues to be famous. Rowlandson’s ordeals within the wild permitted her to evolve in ways that the majority of women in her time could not evolve. The sort of power developed by Rowlandson was such that it set her apart from the traditional roles of the Puritan women in her time and within her culture.
The majority of women in Rowlandson’s culture were not independent, while Rowlandson would become independent. While many women could not fend for themselves and were given the tasks of cooking, cleaning, raising a family, and being subservient to their husbands, Rowlandson’s experience completely separated her from that environment while teaching her to function on her own. Through this experience, Rowlandson’s account provides a model of strength commonly considered in women’s studies while capable of being considered as an example of heroism while being an icon for femininity. Rowlandson ultimately reveals that the cultural differences between Indians and Christians are not as separate as the traditional Puritan Christian would have thought at the time, as she reveals the details of culture about women’s roles in both communities.
Rowlandson’s experience and development
Rowlandson’s experience began in Lancaster, Massachusetts. During her time there, King Phillip’s War was taking place between 1675 and 1677 (Baym). Rowlandson would be kidnapped by the Indians during this war and ultimately be held for nearly three months. It was in her captivity that she wrote about her overall experience with the Indians, and wrote on topics that would change perspectives while adding a fantastic account to women’s studies.
Rowlandson would choose to later function in life while refusing to acknowledge her evolved independence. This was revealed when she was out of captivity and visited her son, while she would claim that though she went, she rapidly lost herself in the journey and found her way out (Baym). She trivialized an ordeal which would seem to be a complete crisis to another woman, and perhaps the subject of a book in itself. Thus, this also revealed how Rowlandson was not a typical woman. During her time frame, it was very unique for any woman within her culture to be traveling even shorter distances without some sort of hired assistance. During her captivity, however, Rowlandson learned to operate independently while accepting how to function and adapt to strange situations. Rowlandson learned how to eat directly from nature with the Indians while witnessing and experiencing how they dealt with nature. It was such an experience that allowed Rowlandson to develop into a unique woman that ultimately did not fit the traditional role of a woman as seen by the Puritans.
Indian and Puritan women
Though Puritan women were taught to be subservient and ultimately helpless, the other aspects of the traditional roles of women between the two cultures were more similar. In both cultures, women were commonly involved with family, cooking, and crafts. Women were somewhat subservient to their husbands, but a lesser degree. The primary difference resulting in the comparison of helplessness between the two cultures is mostly because the entire Indian village is more independent than the Puritan villages at that time, as they more directly live off of nature. Ultimately, though, the roles of women are quite similar in regards to their duties, allowing Rowlandson to make such a rapid transformation in terms of helplessness with her experience and new perspective in a short period.
Concluding remarks: Rowlandson and feminism
Throughout the majority of classic American history, the roles of women have been similar while showing little cultural variation. Extreme instances of helplessness, a lack of independence, and other instances (such as a lack of formal education and spousal subservience, however, this is not relevant or only loosely relevant to this case) disempowering women were most evident in Rowlandson’s time in the 1600s. The Puritan culture supported these notions while giving them a new life, propelling their reoccurrence for future generations.
Rowlandson’s experience helped to offer a new perspective. Though she was biased towards the Indians, ultimately her account would reveal the underlying similarities between the female roles, divided mostly by religion and nature. Rowlandson’s Christianity provided the basis of her biases, and while she initially believed this bias was part of her duty as a Puritan and as a woman, her experiences would ultimately prove to be a revolutionary tool in the consideration of feminism and women’s studies.
Rowlandson’s transformation from helpless to independent took place in less than three months, while this transformation was possible in such a short time due to the unique experiences and similar roles between the roles. Though she was biased, Rowlandson could quickly identify with the Indian women, while her participation in the elements of their culture would quickly evolve her into someone who stood out upon her return. Rowlandson would eventually put effort into hiding her independence so she could better blend in with her native culture, though her new power would be an inspiration for women’s rights and general feminism.
Works Cited
Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of Literature. WW Norton & Co Inc, 2007.