England in disguise: The Orient on Restoration and eighteenth-century stage
Abstract
This study examines the contents and the role of the Restoration and eighteenth-century serious dramas that stage the Orient, namely the Muslim Orient. Critics have analyzed the rise and the role of these dramas differently. For instance, Edward Said in Orientalism views Orientalism (which, according to his definition of the term, encapsuls these dramas) as an Intentional distortion of the Orient which served as a mechanism to “define Europe,” on the one hand, and served as “a sign of European-Atlantic power over the Orient,” on the other hand. Naji Oueijan in The Progress of an Image attributes the distortion to “cultural misunderstandings” and the appearance of such plays on the English stage to the desire of English audiences “to see, an orient filled with treachery, cruelty, and false doctrines….” Mita Choudhry does not talk about the content of this literature in Interculturalism and Resistance in the London Theater, 1660–1800; however, he presents a different reason for the appearance of other cultures on the English stage. Curiosity, according to him, was behind the production of non-English histories in the English theater. Driven by the same curiosity that made them bring the products of numerous nations to England, the English people, he maintains, liked to know about other cultures. This study looks at the serious dramas that represent the Orient in particular from a new perspective. It shows that these dramas were on the main disguised representations of England itself. Thus, the social, political, and religious problems that characterize the Orient in these dramas are seen as projection of the English social, political, and religious problems that plagued England in the Restoration and eighteenth century. To justify why the playwrights resorted to this dramatic mode, this study suggests that the censorship policy (which was adopted by the court in both the Restoration and eighteenth century) and the reluctance of the English people to accept serious criticism pushed the playwrights to use foreign and remote settings to embody their ideas and concerns about the domestic matters of their country.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
McKenzie, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Theater|British and Irish literature
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