Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma

by

Camilla Townsend

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Sir Thomas Dale Character Analysis

A tough and cruel English military commander who served as marshal and later governor of Jamestown. Dale established a smaller colony upriver from Jamestown at Henrico. After giving John Rolfe permission to marry the captive Pocahontas, Dale essentially served as the couple’s patron and even accompanied them on their journey to England in 1616.
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Sir Thomas Dale Character Timeline in Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma

The timeline below shows where the character Sir Thomas Dale appears in Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6: Imprisonment
Language, Communication, and Power Theme Icon
Women, Agency, and History Theme Icon
...is, at the time, under strict military rule—Sir Thomas Gates and his second-in-command, Sir Thomas Dale, rule with such iron-fisted cruelty that a report from a Spanish captive at the time... (full context)
Colonialism as Erasure Theme Icon
Language, Communication, and Power Theme Icon
Women, Agency, and History Theme Icon
...meet. By the end of the winter of 1613, Rolfe writers a letter to Thomas Dale asking permission to marry Pocahontas and professing his love for the young woman. Though Pocahontas... (full context)
Cultural Myth vs. Historical Fact Theme Icon
Colonialism as Erasure Theme Icon
Language, Communication, and Power Theme Icon
Women, Agency, and History Theme Icon
...marriage—and her remaining with the English in Henrico—was, in fact, politically significant. After Sir Thomas Dale takes over as governor of Virginia, he immediately launches an offensive against Powhatan, using Pocahontas... (full context)
Chapter 7: Pocahontas and John
Cultural Myth vs. Historical Fact Theme Icon
Language, Communication, and Power Theme Icon
Women, Agency, and History Theme Icon
...until a declaration of peace, her and her father’s goal, had been made. Whitaker and Dale each believe, Townsend says, that they’ve “won”—they had no idea, most likely, about the strategies... (full context)
Chapter 8: In London Town
Colonialism as Erasure Theme Icon
Language, Communication, and Power Theme Icon
Women, Agency, and History Theme Icon
In April of 1616, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, their young son Thomas, Sir Thomas Dale, and about a hundred other passengers make their way across the sea on a ship... (full context)