Pocahontas persuades her father, King Powhatan, to free Smith and becomes attracted to John Rolfe, breaking off her arranged marriage with a neighboring tribal prince, an action that leads to war.

Scholars have debated whether the piece is progressive in its depiction of the natives and have commented that the work reflects an emerging American dramatic and musical sensibility.

[2] Although in his preface, Barker cites his primary source of inspiration as John Smith's The Generall Historie of Virginia (1624), he was likely more influenced by a series of popular books by John Davis, including, Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America (1803), Captain Smith and Princess Pocahontas (1805), and The First Settlers of Virginia (1806) which featured a more sexualized and romanticized characterization of Pocahontas.

At the Powhatan River, Smith, Rolfe, Percy, Walter, Larry, Robin, and Alice disembark from a barge as the chorus of soldiers and adventurers sing about the joy of reaching the shore.

When Grimosco coerces Powhatan into believing he should kill all the White men, by casting doubt about their intentions, creating fear about how they will act in the future, and invoking religious imagery, Pocahontas runs to warn the settlers about the danger.

Back in Jamestown, a comic bit ensues in which Larry's wife Kate has arrived disguised as a male page, and teases him before revealing herself.

[9] The surviving published version of the musical score appears in the format of a simplified keyboard transcription using a two-staff system (treble and bass).

Based on records of payments made to musicians at The Chestnut Street Theatre at the time of the premiere, it was likely that the production employed approximately 25 pieces, which may have consisted of pairs of woodwinds (flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons) and brasses (horns and trumpets) as well as some timpani and strings.

Mr. Webster, a tenor who played the role of Larry, was an object of public scorn at the time because of his effeminate manner and dress, and audience members rioted in outrage at his participation, causing Barker himself to order the curtain to be dropped.

[14] There is some discrepancy about the date of the New York premiere, which took place at The Park Theatre, either on June 14, 1808,[6] or on January 14, 1809, as a benefit for English actress Mrs. Lipman.

[6] It was the standard practice in all these productions for the Native American roles to be played by white actors wearing dark makeup.

[16] The Indian Princess has been cited as the first well-documented case of a play that was originally performed in America being subsequently staged in England.

Barker himself wrote that the production was done without his permission or even his knowledge, and based on a critical response he read of the London performance, he deduced that there was very little in the play that was his own.

Barker borrows heavily from Shakespearean comedy, as can be seen most blatantly in the gender disguises employed by the characters of Kate and Geraldine.

[7] Still others have said that the categorization of the piece as a melodrama is accurate, considering the play's portrayal of the genre's typical persecuted heroine (Pocahontas), villainous antagonists (Miami and Grimosco), virtuous hero (Smith), and comic relief (Robin and others).

The play allows for an acknowledgement of the troubling aspects of the nation's history of conquest, violence, and greed, by couching the negative implications in a romantic plot.

[21] There has been less critique of Bray's musical work, but Victor Fell Yellin tried to recreate what he felt was the score's melodic expressiveness and sonorous grandeur in his 1978 recording of it.

[33] The Indian Princess certainly began a long American tradition of romanticizing and sexualizing Pocahontas, who was only a child in Smith's original accounts.

[7] However, more recently uncovered evidence shows a record of an anonymous melodrama entitled Captain Smith and the Princess Pocahontas produced at The Chestnut Street Theatre in 1806, calling into question whether Barker's play was really the first of its kind (though no further information is known about the earlier piece).

[37] Barker's play has also been cited as the earliest surviving dramatized account of Smith and Pocahontas,[2] although this idea is debunked by the availability of the aforementioned Johann Wilhelm Rose work.

[39] The piece is also of note as one of very few of its time to have the entire musical score published and available today, as opposed to only individual popular songs.

[14] Edward Henry Corbould's engraving (c. 1850), "Smith Rescued by Pocahontas" was possibly also directly inspired by The Indian Princess.