Racecraft and the Indian Queen in The Temple of Love (1635)

Abstract

AbstractThis essay addresses the potency of the Indian queen in early modern English dramatic culture, addressing the emergence of the figure at a moment of national crisis: during the personal rule of Charles I and in relation to the contested queenship of Henrietta Maria. Applying an intersectional critical race lens, I examine Henrietta Maria's performance of Indamora in William Davenant's The Temple of Love, arguing for the beleaguered consort's deployment of the popular Indian queen as part of her quest for legitimacy as a French and Catholic queen of England. Indian imperial women, despite alterity in race, gender and religion, were established and often esteemed in English dramatic culture and therefore represented a uniquely valuable trope for Henrietta Maria to make use of. Most significantly, I argue, the Indian queen experienced racial privileging that saw her occupy a fluid racial position enabling her to pass and perform White in early modern English drama. Critical examinations of The Temple of Love have long centred neoplatonic readings while overlooking the implications of this royal performance of a racial other by an unpopular foreign consort during the restless period of personal rule. This essay seeks to address a notable gap in readings of this remarkable Caroline court masque while shining a light on an overlooked layer of complexity in early modern racecraft.