The Moorish Body in Resistance

Abstract The female Moor of Islamic Spain appeared frequently on the English stage in the seventh and eighteeth centuries; however, the discussion of her character, presence, portrayal and performance on stage has been widely missing in most critical studies on feminine orientalism. The image of Andalusian women in English theatre is very intriguing and worth dealing with since it offers a site where different dimensions combine, interact, intersect and even melt: orientalism, gender politics, theatrical topicality and the Andalus legacy. This article focuses mainly on Sophia Lee’s Almeyda; Queen of Granada (1796) as a female-authored play staging a Moorish heroine. It argues that the Moorish heroine offers a performing experience that goes beyond imperially-oriented drama and conventionally-played oriental roles. Combining notions of orientalism as western self-criticism with Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the Romantic grotesque, I try to demonstrate that Almeyda’s body, while inscribed with authority, possesses carnavalesque-like qualities that negotiate gendered western power structures. In a deliberately-made manoeuvre, Almeyda resorts to artificial madness through which she and, by implication, Lee grapple with western patriarchy, promote feminine-oriented rule, transcend neo-classical constraints and undermine Enlightenment reason.