Reframing crusading discourses in seventeenth-century English drama

Hussain, A

Abstract

Portrayals of Turks in early modern cultural discourses resisted historical accuracy: Turks are represented as violent, lustful, barbaric, and despotic despite the existence of numerous seventeenth-century Anglo-Ottoman correspondence documents, in which Turks are often associated with wealth, military strength, and political efficiency. The stereotyped cultural Turk figure also affected the way dramatists portrayed Turks on stage. This very popular dramatic type is violent, lustful, and, as a result, politically corrupt. By looking at how the theatrical type may have generally encouraged early modern resurgences of crusading rhetoric, I explore how Fulke Greville’s (1554-1628), Thomas Goffe’s (1591-1629), and Roger Boyle’s (1621-1679) work may, instead, be read as a response to culturally influenced portrayals of Turks on early modern English commercial and university stages, thus prompting the emergence of an anti-crusading discourse. In order to fully appreciate the work of these three authors and the way they conceived their plays, and positioned their voices, in this particular historical period, this thesis also includes two chapters which focus on ‘Turk’ plays by Robert Greene (1558-1592) and by Aphra Behn (1640-1689). Their work, I argue, reframes the way in which Ottomans were physically assimilated into English society and, thus, English culture. This study meets a major need in the field of early modern English drama in identifying and exploring how the emergence of a new Turkish type on stage, which focused on more accurate portrayals of Turks whose violence is always ‘justified’ by Ottoman law, aligned with an anti-crusading agenda in the works of Greville, Goffe, and Boyle.

Citation

Hussain, A. Reframing crusading discourses in seventeenth-century English drama. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Feb 2, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 2, 2023
• Additional Information: Projects : Pathways to Excellence Studentship
• Award Date: Jul 20, 2022