the conquest of spain (mary pix)

 In a conversation about classic British theatre texts, C upbraided me for not being more disposed to include female writers in the conversation. Which seemed upon reflection, a completely reasonable complaint. Aside from Aphra Behn, there are no female writers in the British theatre cannon pre twentieth century (and precious few post.) And to mention Aphra Behn is something of a false lead, as we were never given Aphra Behn to study. All of which lead to some more investigation and the discovery that there have been far more female writers of theatre than we are given to realise. Amongst whom, the name Mary Pix and the title, The Conquest of Spain, stood out.

The Conquest of Spain, first performed in 1705, is a tragedy in five acts, which contrasts the fate of two female characters, Jacincta and Margaretta, both victims of duplicitous male behaviour. Jacincta, daughter of the noble warrior, Julianus, is raped by the King whilst his forces are waging a war against the invading Moors, his army lead by Julianus. Margaretta’s betrothed, Antonio, is part of that army,  but Antonio’s right hand man, Alvarez, has designs on her. Much of this feels, in story terms, quite conventional. There are plenty of Elizabethan and Jacobean plays where the female characters own the stage just as much as the male characters. Pix gives her characters agency, but they are passive characters and the play doesn’t feel as though it is breaking any feminist ground.

What is most curious about the play, relates to another element in the culture wars of today, which we can see spiralling out of the bedrock of history. The enemy the Spanish forces are confronting is the Moors, who they initially defeat. But because of the king’s moral decadence, Antonio and Jacincta’s former lover ally themselves with the defeated army to turn on the king. The Moorish leader, Mullymumen, joins them and together they prevail against the king’s forces. When Antonio asks him to return to North Africa, Mullymumen refuses, announcing the conquest of Spain. Jacincta and Julianus both die, but Margaretta and Antonio are permitted to flee and live out their lives. (“Fly you beauteous mourners”).

There is another moment when Jacincta appears disguised, wearing the veil. These cross-cultural allusions and representations feel surprising to the modern reader, accustomed to an inherited idea regarding racial and religious stereotypes from this era. Not only is Pix representing the Muslim Moors on stage, she is also portraying them as having greater moral integrity than a European king; and there is nothing in the denouement to suggest that Mullymumen will not make a far better ruler than the man he has vanquished. Our inherited understanding of how people saw the world pre twentieth century seems suspiciously limited, when one starts to scratch the surface.