'Thou glorious kingdome, thou chiefe of empires': Persia in seventeenth-century travel literature

Houston, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3062-1839 (2009) 'Thou glorious kingdome, thou chiefe of empires': Persia in seventeenth-century travel literature. Studies in Travel Writing, 13 (2). pp. 141-152. ISSN 1755-7550 doi: 10.1080/13645140902857240

Abstract/Summary

Bringing together a range of little-considered materials, this article assesses the portrayal of Persia in seventeenth-century travel literature and drama. In particular it argues that such texts use their awareness of Islamic sectarian division to portray Persia as a good potential trading partner in preference to the Ottoman Empire. A close reading of John Day, William Rowley and George Wilkins’ The Travailes of the Three English Brothers (1607) demonstrates how the play develops a fantasy model of how relations between Persia and England might function. The potential unity between England and Persia, imagined in terms of both religion and trade, demonstrates how Persia figured as a model ‘other England’ in early modern literature.

Additional Information	Special issue on Early Modern travel writing: varieties, transitions, horizons
Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/22127
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/13645140902857240
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Literature and Languages > English Literature Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Early Modern Research Centre (EMRC)
Uncontrolled Keywords	Renaissance travel, Safavid, Persia, Islam, travel drama, Sherley brothers
Additional Information	Special issue on Early Modern travel writing: varieties, transitions, horizons
Publisher	Taylor and Francis
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