That Far-away Country and Far-fetched Product: China on the Early Modern English Stage, 1595–1637

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article traces sketches of China on the English stage from 1595 to 1637 and explores their relations with the early modern globalisation. By examining how China – both country and commodity – was imagined and staged in the period before England’s first (failed) attempt to establish direct trade with China in 1637, it argues that China was for the English a means through which to project ambitious plans for commercial and cultural expansion, and the paradoxical image of China, admirable and contemptible, can offer a window on England’s anxiety about its place in the structure of the early modern globalisation.