Hope Leslie, or Early Times in the Massachusetts

“Home can never be transferred; never repeated in the experience of an individual” 

The concept of home is presented literally as a physical location. Magawisca, who can be at peace anywhere, will challenge this idea in the novel’s final third. 

“Necessity, however, is more potent than philosophy” 

A novel with such rigidly religious characters is an ideal testing ground for expediency versus faith. Characters often prove that they are willing to bend their principles to achieve aims that will, in hindsight, prove to be righteous. Intentions ultimately matter more than mistakes in Hope Leslie. 

“Mononotto’s heart melted within him; he stopped to raise the sweet suppliant” 

Despite the frequent naming of the Indians as savages, this is a moment of mercy. Mononotto, even at the moment of his longed-for vengeance, is unable to condemn an infant to slaughter. The innocence of a child is presented as something recognizable in all races, at all times.

“It is suitable that you should turn your affliction to the profit of the Lord’s people” 

Fletcher’s reaction—or lack of it—to the slaughter of his family is cause for concern among those in town who intend to hold the citizens firmly in their religious faith. Until he speaks, Fletcher’s silence is open to interpretation: either he is in shock, or perhaps he is angry with God. He is eventually persuaded to say, “God’s will be done,” although no one in that moment could have blamed him for bitterness or venom. 

“This continued and difficult march had been sustained by Everell with a spirit and fortitude that evidently won the favor of the savages, who always render homage to superiority over physical evil” 

Later in the novel, Everell will plead with Magawisca to help him learn how to be happy, free of other people and all conflicting desires. Early on, he is shown to be the equal of the Indians in every way; not only does he not need their help, he is shown to be as hearty and stoic as any of them could be, even though he is on an arduous journey for which he is not acclimatized. 

“Our new country develops faculties that young ladies, in England, were unconscious of possessing” 

America is highly romanticized by Hope Leslie. It causes her to see that England had stifled many innate parts of herself, and other young women. The new country is presented as an awakening element and a liberating force to women. 

“But as her narrative was confused by her emotions…we here give it, more distinctly, in our own language” 

Women in the novel are often presented as being ruled by their emotions, even to the point of not being able to express themselves clearly. It is a reflection of the times in which the book was written that the author, who is also a woman, is constantly stepping in to explain the female mind with patronizing digressions. 

“Whatever gratified the natural desires of the heart was questionable, and almost every thing that was difficult and painful, assumed the form of duty” 

This is a reflection of the Puritan temperament. Pleasure and pleasant sensations were often warning signals of dubious nature. The word “natural” speaks to the fallible nature of the natural, unrighteous man. But tribulations—whatever is difficult and painful—are seen as tests from God, trials to be overcome with fortitude and acceptance. 

“The lost may warn, but cannot guide” 

Those who do not steer by faith—by the Puritan faith—are seen as lost. The best they can do is to serve as signposts and cautionary tales for others. But they are literally incapable of showing the way forward when they themselves have left the righteous path. 

“Miss Hope was always like a crazed body of moonlight nights; there was never any keeping her within the four walls of a house”

Jennet’s poetic assessment of Hope Leslie is one of the clearest insights into Hope’s character. She cannot abide being (or feeling) confined, whether it is by the expectations of others, or of physical walls. 

“No one will wonder who knows that a savage feels more even than ordinary sensibility at personal deformity”

There is no elaboration as to why an Indian would feel a greater aversion to physical deformity than anyone else. But this is one more instance, and a strange one, in which the Indian is portrayed as being other, innately different. 

“They, in common with certain oriental nations, believed than an insane person is inspired” 

The xenophobia of the times extends, with pity barely disguised by the author, past the Indians to “certain oriental nations.” For a Puritan who believes that sober, stoic living is the key to salvation, few things could be as unnatural and uninspiring as anything less than sane. 

“Ladies must have lovers—idols must have worshippers, or they are no longer idols”

Sir Philip Gardiner summarizes the plight of the uncoupled woman at that time. One could not be a lady without being courted and then wed. A woman’s status depended on her acquisition of a husband.

“It cannot be supposed, even for a moment, that one of the superior sex should find pleasure in telling a secret” 

Men are referred to here as the superior sex. No matter how independent, brave, and strong Hope, Faith, or Magawisca may be, if the author here believes her own statement, they are still an inferior sex. 

“This having our own way, is what every body likes; it’s the privilege we came to this wilderness world for” 

Digby presents the wilderness of New England, with all its attendant miseries and hardships, as being preferable to England. Regardless of what has befallen them, he still believes that they have had their own way in the new country. 

“The savage was rather the vassal, than the master of nature; obeying her laws, but never usurping her dominion” 

Indians living in a harmonious relationship with nature was the recurrent theme of many books contemporary to Hope Leslie, including Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. However, there is a note of condescension here that goes beyond the use of the word savage. The Indians will ultimately become subjugated, murdered, and driven onto reservations in America by those who aggressively usurp the dominion of nature by pushing westward. 

“Teach us to be happy, as you are, without human help or agency”

Everall and Hope finally glimpse the limited foundations of their own happiness. They depend on circumstances, other people, and their choices to bring themselves peace. Magawisca is finally shown to have traits worth aspiring to and her way of life is presented as wise, versus merely alien. 

“Reason is but a jack-o’-lantern light in most people’s minds”

For Digby, as for other characters in the novel, religious belief and tradition are more important than reason. Reason is portrayed as fleeting, unreliable, and of being likely to abandon one at any moment. 

“Reserve thy tale, Antonio, for the ears of the faithful who marvel not at miracles” 

Even though Protestants are as committed to their Christian faith as the Catholic Antonio is to his, Antonio is portrayed as a well-meaning but credulous bumbler. Hope’s manipulation of his beliefs to her own advantage would be ironic to anyone standing outside of either faith. 

“Dost thou not know, that life can only be abated by those evil deeds forbidden by the Great Master of life? The writing of the Great Spirit has surely vanished from thy degraded soul, or thou wouldst know, that man cannot touch life” 

Because he is a coward driven by greed, Sir Philip cannot see anything more important than his own life. However, his attempt to bargain with Magawisca, for the sake of her life, brings this strong rebuke. She is at peace precisely because she has a different view of what value life has. Moreover, she believes that life cannot be extinguished by death, but only by acting in contrary fashion to the wishes of the Great Spirit, who alone can end one’s life permanently. 

“Perhaps there is not on earth a more difficult duty, than for a woman to place herself in a disagreeable light before the man she truly loves”

In a novel in which Magawisca’s arm has been chopped off, and in which women have been slaughtered because of their lesser physical strength, risking the displeasure of a beloved man is presented as being more difficult yet. 

“I am your prisoner, and ye may slay me, but I deny your right to judge me. My people have never passed under your yoke—not one of my race has ever acknowledged your authority” 

Even while sitting in trial for her life, Magawisca refuses to compromise her principles. Her integrity is worth more to her than her life, and she speaks on behalf of all the disenfranchised of her people. 

“Do you wait for him to prove that I am your enemy? Take my own word, I am your enemy; the sunbeam and the shadow cannot mingle. The white man cometh—the Indian vanisheth” 

The whites are unable to think that they have done anything that should render them enemies to anyone, including the Indians. But Magawisca makes it clear that there is no misunderstanding. Their actions make them an enemy to the Indians, because their mere existence and nature will result in the disappearance of Magawisca’s people.