Metamora; or The Last of the Wampangos is a hit nineteenth-century play written by John Augustus Stone in 1828. This play took place in New England in the 1670s during King Philip 's war. Many historians claim that Metamora highlighted the European American distinctions between civilization and savagery. Civilization is marked by cultural awareness, advancements in science and industry, and established government based on a common set of values, while savagery is a state of chaos in which there is little to no organization or government (Ferdinando). It is also argued that this play reinforces the dominant myth of the “vanishing” Indian.
During the 1820s, Native Americans were no longer an immense threat to New England, although they weren’t really heros either. However, popular culture had become a huge sensation. This is the widely shared set of ideas, attitudes, and images that are within the mainstream of culture time (Ferdinando). The main source of nineteenth century popular culture were novels, magazines, and plays. As you would expect, playwrights romanticized aspects of …show more content…
Metamora wanted to hold his son in order to quell his aching heart, nonetheless, when he spoke with his wife, Nahmeokee, she told him that she had tried to save their son but she could not shield him from the white men. They had shot him, and Nahmeokee plunged into the water after him. The white men assumed they had shot her as well, so they left them both to die. Metamora’s response to this was “Better to die by the stranger’s hand, than to live his slave” (Stone 15). He then holds his wife and speaks of how they will see their son again in the peaceful land of the spirits. While doing so, he stabs her. He believed this was the virtuous thing to do because he was protecting her from the bondage of the white men. He thought of her as living free as the air and dying pure as the
During the 1820s, Native Americans were no longer an immense threat to New England, although they weren’t really heros either. However, popular culture had become a huge sensation. This is the widely shared set of ideas, attitudes, and images that are within the mainstream of culture time (Ferdinando). The main source of nineteenth century popular culture were novels, magazines, and plays. As you would expect, playwrights romanticized aspects of …show more content…
Metamora wanted to hold his son in order to quell his aching heart, nonetheless, when he spoke with his wife, Nahmeokee, she told him that she had tried to save their son but she could not shield him from the white men. They had shot him, and Nahmeokee plunged into the water after him. The white men assumed they had shot her as well, so they left them both to die. Metamora’s response to this was “Better to die by the stranger’s hand, than to live his slave” (Stone 15). He then holds his wife and speaks of how they will see their son again in the peaceful land of the spirits. While doing so, he stabs her. He believed this was the virtuous thing to do because he was protecting her from the bondage of the white men. He thought of her as living free as the air and dying pure as the