Of Rites of Narration and Representation of the Orient and the Occident in Thomas Heywood's The Faid Maid of the West

Abstract

Writing both in prose and verse, Thomas Heywood was one of the most prolific playwrights in the period as was Shakespeare in particular. Heywood was well informed about Morocco and could write in greater detail about a possible dialogue among cultures. As it is a historical platform for power relations, The Fair Maid of the West recalled the heroism and excitement of English counterattacks against Spain in the Post-Armada period. This paper therefore pins down the acts of narration and representation of Morocco and Moroccans and attests to the metamorphosis the plot undergoes in Part I and Part II. As an adventure play, The Fair Maid of the West teaches about, informs of and confirms the existing patterns of virtue in European voyages and at the same time it asserts how honor and chastity are European par excellence whereas villainy and wickedness are Oriental assets by distinction. Once taken captive, these virtues and traits are put into task as the plot disentangles. This paper also examines how the play in both parts generates a whole history of stereotypes about Morocco and unexpectedly subverts this Orientalist tradition; such a biased mode of narration of the Orient the playwright took up at first was played down at a later phase in the narrative.