The Turkish Dress
Daniel Defoe’s novel Roxana is an exploration of a woman’s lack of choice and the steps she takes to ensure her survival. The middle of the novel sees Roxana at the zenith of her power, and its relationship with the Turkish dress that she parades at the party. This dress symbolises the turn of the narrative that will inevitably lead to Roxana’s downfall. When reading Defoe’s Roxana, we see the key tenets of the 18th Century reflected through principle characters and their dialogue. One of these principles is central to my discussion of Roxana’s Turkish dress; the ‘presence of trade and travel during the century’ this and the rise of imperialism and manifestation of the foreign outside of immediate Europe.[i]
Roxana’s charade is acknowledged by Defoe. The scene is set as ‘the masks came in, and began with a Dance a la Comique.’[ii] The ‘masks’ symbolize temporary or false identity, pretence so bold that it enables them to behave as they please. It was often assumed that if the mask is lavish so is the wearer. Joseph Baretti notes, that ‘dressing is one of the many things that increase the difference between the reasonable animal and the unreasonable, and anything, be it ever so small that increases that difference, is never much amiss.’[iii] Even the way in which Defoe describes the dance instantly places Roxana in a certain socio-economic class; this intentional choice of phrasing continues to add to the spectacle of Roxana. The French vernacular sounds exotic; the choice of language is prevalent, as ‘France was not only exporting the actual styles of fashion, but a way of life in which this fashion played such an important part.’[iv] Furthermore, French was spoken in ‘particular by the […] nobles,’ suggesting the protagonist of Defoe’s novel is of the cultured elite as is Defoe himself. [v]
The way someone presents himself or herself has always been a factor of consideration, ‘Physiognomy has its roots in antiquity. As early as 500 B.C.’[vi] Social standing in the 18th Century, was believed to be of such importance, that ‘it was not the level of income that mattered most, but their social ranking.’[vii] This is represented by the Turkish dress, as it is impossible to view the attire as just an outfit that pleases the eye. ‘Identity results from the negotiation between where one is placed and where one places oneself within society, working through what is possible as well as what is forbidden.’[viii] It was used to shape her identity, and propel her into the right spheres of influence via her appearance – this was the only way women could progress in seventeenth and eighteenth century society due to its expectations and restrictions. Roxana had to dress and behave in such a manner as to receive the affections of all the aristocratic men in the room, and she must continue to profit in her trade to keep her out of poverty and, more importantly to Roxana, to keep her in style.
In the scene where Roxana emerges in her finery, Defoe write that after the mistress ‘withdrew’ she ‘returned in less than half an hour’, dressed in a ‘Habit of a Turkish Princess’:[ix]
The Dress was extraordinary fine indeed, I had bought it as a Curiosity, never having seen the like; the Robe was a fine Persian or India Damask; the Ground white, and the Flowers blue and gold, and the Train held five Yards; the Dress under it, was a vest of the same, embroidere’d with Gold, and set with some Pearl in the Work, and some Turquois Stones; to the Vest, was a Girdle five or six inches wide after the Turkish Mode; and on both Ends where it joined or hook’d, was set with Diamonds for eight inches either way, only they were not true diamonds; but no-body knew that but myself. [x]
This lavish description of the dress is seen to include rare stones, and materials, such as ‘Pearls’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Diamonds’. The dominant idea behind dressing at this time was to dress expensively and behave elaborately. The period saw fashions for elaborate wigs, rich embroidery, thick make-up and full skirts.’[xi] Yet the closing line in the quotation demonstrates Defoe’s cynicism towards Roxana. Defoe is demonstrating both his characters pretence and making a social comment. Clearly this century’s preoccupation with physical appearance was open to abuse and the footfalls of ‘pretence.’[xii] There are strong elements of performance and Roxana sets her own stage by ordering ‘the folding doors to be shut for a minute or two till’ she ‘had received the Compliments of the ladies that were in the Room, and had given them a full view of my dress.’[xiii] She is a glutton for approval and applause from her guests and compounds the want to demonstrate ones possessions and aesthetics, to display her dominance amongst the people.
The quality of Roxanna’s dress is not only found in the gems, but also in its exotic nature. ‘The Robe was a fine Persian or India Damask.’[xiv] She is not aware of its true origin; ‘I bought it as a curiosity, having never seen the like before’, yet she is somewhat compelled by knowing that it is not British.[xv] The same can be said with regards to her ‘Turkish slave.’[xvi] The prospect of owning a slave highlights Roxana’s need to be reminded that she has risen in class. Here Defoe gives us irony – whilst Roxana may own a slave, she herself is a slave – a slave to the men whom she trades her body and wit to gain money and status. This concept of owning and exploring was rising at the time of Defoe. Whilst the terms ‘imperialism’ and ‘empire’ were not widely used in the eighteenth century’, it is said that it ‘witnessed a number of different forms of imperialism or imperial activity.’[xvii] For example, it is arguable to state that Roxana herself is used as a commodity, a foreign entertainment that is acquired by a certain gender and class type via display of wealth and currency.
In this novel, we see Roxana treading the steps that society deems available to her. Her performance is expressed through dress and even dance. She gathers together the fashions of trade and commerce to appeal to her gaudy, posturing and perhaps wealthy audience. She is transformed by these traits and fashions herself into a desirable consumable. So much so, that she is a star; worthy of public note, kept firmly in her place by her compliance with consumerism and in no way a threat to any of the noble gentlemen she entertains. By being subservient to these boundaries set down by the oligarch, she is critiqued and chastised by that very same society, and is furthest from the freedom she desires than she has been in the novel thus far.
[i] Jeremy Black, Eighteenth Century Europe 1700-1789, (London: The Macmillian Press, 1990) p.63.
[ii] Daniel Defoe, Roxana, (Oxford University Press, 1996) p.173.
[iii] Aileen Ribeiro, Dress in the Eighteenth Century Europe 2ndedn. (Yale University Press, 2002) p.6.
[iv] Ribeiro, p.6.
[v] Hamish Scott, Cultures of Power in Europe During the Long Eighteenth Century, Ed.by Hamish Scott and Brendan Scott (Cambridge University Press, 2007) p.65.
[vi] ‘Physiognomy, The Beautiful Pseudoscience’, The Getty Iris, http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/physiognomy-the-beautiful-pseudoscience/ [Accessed 13/10/14].
[vii] ‘English Social Structure in the Early 18th Century’, Academia.Edu, http://www4.wittenberg.edu/academics/hist/crom/brit/socstruc.html [Accessed 6/10/14].
[viii] Kathleen Wilson, ‘The Island Race, Englishness, Empire and Gender in the Eighteenth Century (Routledge, London, 2003) p.3.
[ix] Defoe, p.173.
[x] Defoe, p.174.
[xi] ‘18th-Cenutry Fashion’, Victoria and Albert Museum
http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/0-9/18th-century-fashion/ [accessed 6/10/14].
[xii] ‘Gillray on Wigs and Pretence’, Newcastle Univeristy Library,
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/exhibitions/current-and-past-exhibitions/gillray/pretence/ [Accessed 11/11/14].
[xiii] Defoe, p.175.
[xiv] Defoe, p.174.
[xv] Defoe, p.174.
[xvi] Defoe, p.173.
[xvii] The Penguin Dictionary of Eighteenth- Century History [ed. by Jeremy Black, Roy Porter], (Penguin Books, London, 1994) p.345.
Paris is currently studying English with Creative Writing at Falmouth University. She recently obtained the position of Editor of the Falmouth chapter of Her Campus, an online magazine for women attending Universities across the UK and US. She also works for Penryn Press, a student run publishing company, as Marketing Assistant. Along with writing, she is interested in fashion. She runs an independent fashion blog as well as contributing to a weekly blog for Atlas Magazine. Her first printed article for Atlas will be released this June. You can follow her Atlas blog on at http://www.theatlasmagazine.com/atlasblog/.
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