Mojica Character Analysis

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Recommended: Role of Pocahontas' identity in history

The Female noble savage is represented by a character called Pocahontas/ Lady Rebecca / Matoaka. Mojica represents Pocahontas as a one character who carries her three names in different three stages of her life. This one character is a stereotype Pocahontas, the good Indian and the one who welcomes and assists the White man. Matoaka was her name as a child. Lady Rebecca,her new name after she was Christianized and married John Rolfe- the White trader, represents the Christianized Indian and the myth of successful assimilation. This character represents also the Indian princess stereotype. Mojica writes in the character's description of her play: "Pocahontas/Lady Rebecca/ Matoaka is a Powhatan woman whose father was Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy at the time of Jamestown Colony in …show more content…

She is best known for saving the life of Captain John Smith when she was eleven years old, and for saving the colonists from starvation. The legendary Pocahontas of the ballads and romantic poetry has become the archetype of the good Indian (Princess Pocahontas 14). This character is a rewriting of the White discourse which helps deconstructing the White stereotypes. Mojica uses her strategy of transformation within this character and depicts an adolescent Pocahontas (as Matoaka) undergoing a puberty ritual to initiate her into traditional gender roles. The scene moves backwards in time, beginning with a troubadour's account of the famed rescue of John Smith and ending with Matoaka becoming a healer and entering women's time. Pocahontas/Lady Rebecca/ Matoaka ironically says, "Can I still remember how I plant corn? I'll stay. Never, never go back where anyone might know Matoaka. My name is Lady Rebecca forever and always. I am a Christian Englishwoman!" (Princess

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