Francis Standish

Myth of Destiny Francis Standish

This play is a historical drama about the pioneer 'Pilgrim Fathers' who, guided 'by divine purpose' though escaping religious persecution, founded the Plimouth settlement, New England, in the 1620s. The theme of the play focuses on their struggles to become a new religious colony in this 'promised land' of the biblical 'New Canaan' after crossing the symbolic waters ('Red Sea') of The Atlantic from old England. The Pilgrims ('Saints') believed they were given a divine opportunity to create a new kingdom of God in a new world, a 'manifest destiny' - social liberty through religious freedom, having escaped a feudal system demanding allegiance to the rituals, power and wealth of the Church of England.