Hope Leslie, or Early Times in the Massachusetts

“There are times when every true subject has his price” 

 Fletcher sets a cynical tone early, but it is not borne out by the novel. As it turns out, the people who can be bought are those who will suffer the greatest disgraces. The true price for most of the characters is not of this earth, because they follow religious creeds that preach against dishonesty as a means to acquiring worldly riches.  

“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.