Part Four, Memory, Chapter 8, The Curse of Metamora Summary and Analysis

In the late 1820s, a play called Metamora, debuted. It was a reinterpretation of King Philip's War where Philip was seen as a victim of Sassamon's betrayal and New England confusion. The play was very popular and words from it became part of the vernacular. A week before its debut, Andrew Jackson gave his speech pronouncing his infamous "Indian removal". The play, in the author's opinion, served as a representation of the tension at the time between American and Indian identity, as indicated by the "removal". King Philip's War again came to represent the struggle for white American identity against the supposed Indian past.

Edwin Forrest played Metamora first. He became very famous and made a lot of money as a result; he gradually became America's most...