“To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673)
This article focuses on John Dryden’s 1673 play Amboyna, or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants, and more particularly on the figure of Ysabinda, and the island she represents, as contested territory. This article demonstrates that Ysabinda’s relationship with her English fiancé Towe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
2022-12-01
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| Series: | XVII-XVIII |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/10378 |
| _version_ | 1797962027000397824 |
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| author | Mathilde Alazraki |
| author_facet | Mathilde Alazraki |
| author_sort | Mathilde Alazraki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article focuses on John Dryden’s 1673 play Amboyna, or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants, and more particularly on the figure of Ysabinda, and the island she represents, as contested territory. This article demonstrates that Ysabinda’s relationship with her English fiancé Towerson comes to politically stand for the fantasized absorption of the Spice Islands into Britain’s imperial project. Through a rhetoric of trade and ownership, Dryden stages Ysabinda’s commodification and ultimate rape as a way to fuel anti-Dutch sentiment while at the same time justifying Britain’s colonial practices. However, this literary endeavor is only sustainable through the erasure of the ruling power around the Indian Ocean at the time, the Mughal Empire, as well as through the distortion of the real-life figure behind Ysabinda’s character: the Armenian Indian Mariam Khan. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:06:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6207b4c43504e9d9f683db477d693f6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0291-3798 2117-590X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:06:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles |
| record_format | Article |
| series | XVII-XVIII |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6207b4c43504e9d9f683db477d693f62023-01-04T11:32:40ZengSociété d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe sièclesXVII-XVIII0291-37982117-590X2022-12-017910.4000/1718.10378“To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673)Mathilde AlazrakiThis article focuses on John Dryden’s 1673 play Amboyna, or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants, and more particularly on the figure of Ysabinda, and the island she represents, as contested territory. This article demonstrates that Ysabinda’s relationship with her English fiancé Towerson comes to politically stand for the fantasized absorption of the Spice Islands into Britain’s imperial project. Through a rhetoric of trade and ownership, Dryden stages Ysabinda’s commodification and ultimate rape as a way to fuel anti-Dutch sentiment while at the same time justifying Britain’s colonial practices. However, this literary endeavor is only sustainable through the erasure of the ruling power around the Indian Ocean at the time, the Mughal Empire, as well as through the distortion of the real-life figure behind Ysabinda’s character: the Armenian Indian Mariam Khan.http://journals.openedition.org/1718/10378John DrydenAmboynaMariam Khanthe Moluccasimperialism |
| spellingShingle | Mathilde Alazraki “To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673) XVII-XVIII John Dryden Amboyna Mariam Khan the Moluccas imperialism |
| title | “To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673) |
| title_full | “To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673) |
| title_fullStr | “To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673) |
| title_full_unstemmed | “To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673) |
| title_short | “To guard this Paradise from any second violation”: Ysabinda and the Eastern female body as contested territory in Dryden’s Amboyna (1673) |
| title_sort | to guard this paradise from any second violation ysabinda and the eastern female body as contested territory in dryden s amboyna 1673 |
| topic | John Dryden Amboyna Mariam Khan the Moluccas imperialism |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/10378 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mathildealazraki toguardthisparadisefromanysecondviolationysabindaandtheeasternfemalebodyascontestedterritoryindrydensamboyna1673 |