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Abstract

Postcolonial studies explore the cultural impact of empire on the colonized. Postcolonial theory also refers to the relationship of the colonised with the rest of the world. Within this 1 critical genre, Edward Said’s Orientalism has stimulated extensive debate regarding the historical relationships between West and East. Said argued that Western nations have sought to impose themselves politically and culturally on the East since the classical period. One of the critiques of Orientalism raises Said’s focus on imperial relationships after the mid-eighteenth century.2 This dissertation will explore whether Said’s insights in Orientalism therefore impacted an earlier period. Elizabethan England will be analysed within this framework. This study will focus on the relationship between England and the Islamic world in the late sixteenth century.
The findings from this study demonstrate that England was unable to impose themselves either culturally or politically on the East. The historical realities of England’s minor role in global politics developed anxieties within the post reformation state. The representation of Muslims on stage articulated these concerns. Rather than imposing themselves on Islam, these representations served to define Englishness.
This study will use examples of popular plays from the late sixteenth century to analyse the representation of Muslims and the reaction of the audience. This will be juxtaposed against the diplomatic exchange from Queen Elizabeth to the Morrocan and Ottoman courts respectively. By doing so, this work ascertains the widest scope of sentiment towards the East which represents a broad selection of English society.

Course: History - BA (Hons) - C1087

Date Deposited: 2021-03-10

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13667.html