1

Construction of Islam and Muslims by Jacksonian Era Authors Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe

Lyba Khan

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Religion under the advisement of Stephen Marini

May 2020

© 2020 Lyba Khan 2

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to my advisor, Professor Marini, without whom, this thesis would not exist. Despite your busy schedule and heavy workload, you always gave the most useful strategic advice. I always looked forward to our conversations and they were always thought provoking. You have been nothing but encouraging and supportive, even when I had doubts. Thank you.

Thank you to my Thesis Committee members. Professor Elkins and Professor Geller, for teaching me how to analyze images and how a group of people becomes othered. Thank you both for your kindness, enthusiasm, and taking the time to provide feedback on my thesis.

Thank you to my Honors Visitor, Professor Miwa, who has been kind and supportive to me through challenging coursework. Thank you for believing in me since day 1 of Chem 105P and thank you for making this commitment.

Thank you to Professor Marlow for inspiring me to major in Religion and pursue this thesis, to follow up our independent study. It was always refreshing to attend your class and learn about Islam from an academic perspective. I always learned something new and you did every topic justice.

Thank you to my dearest friends Huzaifa Ejaz, Nayab Khan, Sulaikha Buuh, and Loiselle Gonzalez. Huzaifa Ejaz, for holding me accountable in this endeavor. Sulaikha Buuh and Nayab Khan, for their endless love and kindness. Loiselle Gonzalez for being my mentor and older sister, throughout my time at Wellesley.

Thank you to my family. Mama, for teaching me to work hard and believe in myself. Talal, for serving as the best support system and role model for me. Nawal, for distracting me and keeping me sane. All of you for helping me finish this thesis, especially in the last few weeks. 3

Table of Contents

Introduction (4) 0.1 American Islamophobia: Past and Present (4) 0.2 Defining Orientalism (10) 0.3 The Jacksonian Era (13) 0.4 Masonic Symbols (16) 0.5 Abstract (17)

Chapter 1 -- The Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (19) 1.1 Irving’s Origins and Orientalist Influence (19) 1.2 The Journey (29) 1.3 Interior of the Alhambra (30) 1.4 Reflections of the Moslem Domination in Spain (32) 1.5 The Adventure of the Mason (33) 1.6 Legend of the Arabian Astrologer (35) 1.7 Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses (39) 1.8 Legend of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel; Or, the Pilgrim of Love (45) 1.9 Legend of the Moor’s Legacy (50) 1.10 Legend of the Two Discreet Statues (52) 1.11 Conclusion (54)

Chapter 2 – Edgar Allan Poe (56) 2.1 Poe’s Biography and Orientalist Influence (56) 2.2 Al Aaraaf (67) 2.3 Israfel (71) 2.4 Ligeia (79) 2.5 Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (84) 2.6 Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade (85) 2.7 Eureka (88) 2.8 Review of Stephen’s Arabia Petraea (90) 2.9 Conclusion (91)

Conclusion (94)

Bibliography (97) 4

INTRODUCTION

0.1 American Islamophobia: Past and Present

A few months ago, September 27th, 2019 to be specific, Imran Khan addressed Islamophobia in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. As the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he was using the lens of Islamophobia to explain India’s Hindu-Nationalist-fueled ethnic cleansing of Kashmiris (predominantly Muslim) from Indian controlled Kashmir. All eyes were on him when he said “Islamophobia has grown since 9/11 and it is alarming. It is creating divisions…

Post 9/11, war against ‘radical Islam’ started...”1 Blatant Islamophobia is becoming the norm in

America and hate crimes are increasing. Lives are on the line. There was one instance where three young students were executed by a man named Craig Hicks over a “parking dispute.” This is in quotation marks because several news outlets portrayed that as the reason for their murder instead of acknowledging that it was a hate crime.2 While Khan is correct in stating that

Islamophobia and violent hate crimes against Muslims rapidly grew after 9/11, Islamophobia was rampant in the United States before the states were even united.

Today, Islamophobia encompasses more than the fear of Islam or Muslims. For one, you don’t need to be Muslim to experience Islamophobia. Erik Love, in his book Islamophobia and

Racism in America, cites the murder of Cameron Mohammed. Contrary to what his last name may lead you to believe, he was not Muslim. He was a Catholic, who likely had Muslim ancestry. His shooter first asked him if he was Middle Eastern, to which Mohammed replied

1 Business Recorder Web Desk. “Full Transcript of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Speech at the UGNA.” Business Recorder. Last modified September 27th. 2019. https://www.brecorder.com/2019/09/27/524851/full-transcript-of- prime-minister-imran-khans-speech-at-the-unga/

2 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear (Oakland: University of California Press, 2018), 23-44. 5

“no.” The shooter then asked him if he was “Muslim.” Mohammed replied “no” again but he was shot regardless. When the shooter was finally found by the police and informed that Mohammed was not Muslim, his reply was “They’re all the same.”3 This hate crime occurred because

Mohammed looked Muslim, not because he was. The shooter’s interest in whether or not

Mohammed was Middle Eastern also illustrates that he conflated the race with the religion.

Khaled Beydoun, prominent scholar of Islamophobia, cited a similar example in his book

“American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear.” He described the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man who was killed in Mesa, Arizona six days after 9/11. His murderer, Frank Roque, shouted “I stand for America all the way!” right after taking Sodhi’s life.

He believed Sodhi was Muslim and he murdered him because he stands for America and he believed the “Muslim” man was a threat to America.4 The term “Muslim” has become more racialized than it was in the past, in the sense that whether or not you are perceived to be Muslim depends on how you look. In other words, it depends on your physical appearance, which is closely tied to race. As Beydoun states, this group of who can be perceived to be Muslim is vast and includes, “a wide swath of non-Muslim groups and communities, most notably non-Muslims from South Asia, the Arab world, Middle Eastern nations, and Latinx states, and particularly

Sikhs.”5

This concept of the racialization of Muslims is not unique to the contemporary context. In the past, the terms “Moor,” “Mohammedan,” “Oriental,” and “Turk” have all been used to

3 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America (New York: New York University Press, 2017), 1-34.

4 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 92-124.

5 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 23-44. 6 describe American Muslims.6 Although this form of racialization is more complex in some ways, since it includes races (Turks and Moors, in particular), it is similar in that people were usually assigned these labels based on how they looked.

When I, like the previous scholars mentioned, use the term “racialization of Muslims,” I am referring to the intersection of racism and Islamophobia. In other words, I am referring to violence against Muslims on the basis of their presumed races (determined by their physical appearance) and the association of those races with Islam. That use of the term is distinct from the historic conflation of race and religion, in which all Muslims were referred to as “Turks” or

“Orientals.” Both of these definitions contribute to the othering of Muslims and into making them a quintessential other, in regards to race and religion. In this analysis, this historical conflation of race and religion its seemingly more relevant.

In his definition of Islamophobia, Beydoun discusses how many different forms of

Western society, “...casts Islam as the civilizational antithesis of the West.” In his framework, there are three types of Islamophobia: private, structural, and dialectical. Private Islamophobia is the fear, suspicion, and targeting of Muslims by private actors.7 The shooting of the three Muslim students would qualify as private Islamophobia committed by an individual. Another example, cited by Love, of an individual engaging in private Islamophobia is when Hillary Clinton

“referred to Muslims with qualifiers such as ‘terror hating’ or ‘peace loving.’”8 This need to

6 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 70-91.

7 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 23-44.

8 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 117-143. 7 clarify that Muslims are not terrorists implies that without her saying that, she thinks they would be perceived as such.

Then, there are endless examples of groups engaging in private Islamophobia. One such example that Beydoun cites is the vandalization of mosques, which are probably the greatest symbol of Muslim-American identity. Then, there are more organized forms of group-based private Islamophobia. For example, Beydoun mentions the Gatestone Institute in New York City.

This is a “a rightwing think tank focusing on the Middle East, Muslims, and Islam’s incompatibility with Western societies.”9

Structural islamophobia is the “fear and suspicion of Muslims on the part of government institutions and actors.” Beydoun provides the examples of the Patriot Act and the Muslim Ban.10

Love lists several FBI practices that are rooted in Islamophobia and also perpetuate

Islamophobia. The FBI incentivizes informants who are in legal trouble to go to mosques and report activity related to terrorism. They display predatory behavior and target young Muslims or those who have intellectual disabilities and often arrest people who are in contact with the FBI informants as suspected terrorists.11 However, according to Human Rights Watch, their allegations are mostly false.12 Also, in one known incident, they shot and killed a “suspected” terrorist as part of this operation.13 Love also cites slides from the FBI “counterterrorism”

9 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 23-44.

10 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 23-44.

11 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 83-116.

12 “US: Terrorism Prosecutions Often An Illusion.” Human Rights Watch. Last Modified July 21st, 2014. https:// www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/21/us-terrorism-prosecutions-often-illusion, as cited in, Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 83-116.

13 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 83-116. 8 training materials that literally show that the Quran induces its followers to be constantly violent.14

Love also exemplifies the Islamophobic traditions and rite of passage for politicians.

Although politicians are individuals, they are a part of structural Islamophobia as well in that they shape the laws and regulations of the U.S. Love cites then Congressman (and later senator)

Mark Kirk of Illinois who said that he is “OK with discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist producing states.” Love also cites Oklahoma State Representative John Bennett also said that Muslims are “a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out.” He defends himself with this public statement: “...Well, if I’m an Islamophobe for speaking the truth about Islam, then you’re absolutely right. But I find it hard to believe. How can I be a racist against Muslims or Islam when the ethnicity is actually Arab? This is king of confusing.”15 Rep. Bennett’s statement shows his confusion on the topic but his comments are still widely circulated and received by the public. Politicians intrinsically have a responsibility to represent facts to their people but there are other factors in place. For instance, there is a whole industry termed the

“Islamophobia Industry,” in which corporations and other private groups fund so-called-experts to make Islamophobic statements.16

Dialectical islamophobia is “the process by which structural Islamophobia shapes, reshapes, and endorses views or attitudes about Islam and Muslim subjects inside and outside of

America’s borders.”17 In a way, Rep. Bennett’s statements are an example of dialectical

14 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 83-116.

15 Love, Erik. Islamophobia and Racism in America, 117-143.

16 “Countering the Islamophobia Industry.” Carter Center. Last modified May, 2018. https://www.cartercenter.org/ resources/pdfs/peace/conflict_resolution/countering-isis/cr-countering-the-islamophobia-industry.pdf

17 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 23-44. 9

Islamophobia. He is a member of a structural organization who is broadcasting his views to the public and reinforcing Islamophobia. Beydoun also cites “A Rage Shared by Law: Post-

September 11 Racial Violence as Crimes of Passion” by Muneer I. Ahmad, in which, Ahmad discusses how the state uses the victims of terrorist attacks to justify a broad range on antiterrorist policies that infringe on the Constitutional rights of Muslims.18

It is evident that these three types of Islamophobia are amplified in today’s America.

However, anti-Muslim sentiments are foundational to this country. Historians disagree on when

Muslims first came to America but many also agree that one of the first (if not the first) Muslims came from Senegambian Africa in the early fourteenth century. There is also the popularized theory that the Muslims who were banished from Spain in the Spanish Inquisition sailed to the

Gulf of Mexico. In addition, many believe that there were Muslims (the most popular of whom is a man named Istafan) that sailed to the New World with the Spanish in the early 16th century.19

With all these of these theories, it is likely that Muslims were in America before the conception of the United States.

Despite such early beginnings of Muslims on this continent, there were still generally negative attitudes surrounding them in early American history. Beydoun also cited how before

American independence, many statesmen viewed ‘“Islam as the antithesis of the ‘true faith’ of the Protestant Christianity.’” Muslims were barred from becoming American citizens from

1790-1944. The Naturalization Act of 1790 curbed the migration of Muslims to the United

18 Ahmed, Munir. “A Rage Shared by Law: Post-September 11 Racial Violence as Crimes of Passion,” California Law Review. Vol. 92, No.5, 2004., as cited in, Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 23-44.

19 “Islam in America.” Public Broadcasting Service. https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/islam-in- america/ 10

States.20 In addition, America’s first large group of Muslims were reduced to chattel. The statistics range greatly but a conservative estimate is that as many as 30% of the African slaves that were brought to the U.S. from West and Central Africa were Muslim.21 One historian, Dr.

Sylviane Diouf, the Senegalese author of Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the

Americas, estimates that Muslims make up 15-20% of the total number of slaves in the diaspora.

She also points out that these numbers are estimates and she believes that it is possible for the actual percentage of Muslim slaves to have been much greater.22

However, through oppression and stripping of identity, Islam was eroded from many

Muslim slaves. This was rooted in the belief that Christianity was superior to any other religion, an idea imposed on them by slaveholders. In this thesis, we will be analyzing Orientalist literature through the framework of Islamophobia and Orientalism.

0.2 Defining Orientalism

Orientalism, the belief that the West and its Occidental inhabitants are superior to the East and its Oriental inhabitants, has influenced cultural practices in the U.S.23 The U.S. also adopted its own brand of Orientalism from Europe. As Malini Schueller points out, Orientalism allowed

Americans to identify with “a powerful, colonial, national identity, one which linked the country

20 Beydoun, Khaled. American Islamophobia, 45-69.

21 Khan, Saeed. "Muslims arrived in America 400 years ago as part of the slave trade and today are vastly diverse." The Conversation, April 11, 2019.

22 Diouf, Sylviane A. Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas. (New York: New York University Press, 1998), 49-70.

23 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. 11 with the ethnocentrism of post-Enlightenment Euroamerican culture.”24 As Edward Said, author of Orientalism points out, the European powers of France and Britain engaged in extensive

Orientalism to justify their colonialism.25 In the early history of the United States, the nation had to build credibility of being a strong power and so, it engaged in practices such as Orientalism to identify with its European ancestors.

Said uses a framework of three major definitions to define “Orientalism.” These are distinct from the three definitions of Islamophobia, that were previously mentioned. Orientalism also differs from Islamophobia, in that it is how the literature or other work around Orientals is negatively portraying them; whereas Islamophobia requires an agent to have negative feelings or sometimes, engage in negative actions towards Muslims. In the first definition, Said defines anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient as an Orientalist. This would include writers such as Thomas Moore and Lord Byron, who actively portray the Orient in their works.

Although this definition is useful in understanding Orientalism, the second and third definitions are more helpful in this analysis. In the second definition, he says that “Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between ‘the

Orient’ and (most of the time) ‘the Occident.’” He later clarifies that the Occident is Europe. This definition is particularly useful in the analysis of works by Edgar Allan Poe, who does create a distinction between the orient as the other and the occident as the us.

Said’s third definition of Orientalism was inspired by Foucault’s notion of a discourse in

The Archaeology of Knowledge and Discipline and Punish. Said defines Orientalism as “...the

24 Schueller, Malini, “Harems, Orientalist Subversions, and the Crisis of Nationalism: The Case of Edgar Allan Poe and ‘Ligeia’,” 601. Wayne State University Press. Vol. 37. No. 4 (Fall, 1995). Pg. 601.

25 Said, Edward. Orientalism. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), 166-201. 12 corporate institution for dealing with the Orient--dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism is a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.”26 That is, in other words, any work written by an Occidental author that constructs the Orient and the

Orientals in a way that reinforces their perceived inferiority to the Occident. In this thesis, it will be of interest to note Orientalism from an Occidental, Christian author towards Oriental, Muslim characters. Orientalism is rooted in casting the Muslim world as the mirror opposite of the West.

Samuel Huntington, in the “Clash of Civilizations,” perpetuates this portrayal by insisting that

Islam is not compatible with Western civilization.27 This particular definition is best employed in the analysis of works by Washington Irving, who is purposeful in his antagonization of the

Muslim world, with a socio-cultural agenda.

Said provides an example of this particular type of Orientalism when he describes the

Prophet’s depiction in Orientalist texts. He was seen as a false prophet in the best scenarios and as the devil himself in other examples. Said explains this phenomenon by discussing how Islam and the Prophet spreading it had become a nuisance to the Europeans because they had dominated the world stage for so long. Islam was possibly the only other religion to compete with Christianity, which created a lot of hostility from the European Perspectives.28

In this thesis, we will be analyzing the works of Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe.

Both were prominent authors during the Jacksonian era, during which, national identity is being

26 Said, Edward. Orientalism. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), 11.

27 Huntington, Samuel. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Touchstone, 1996.

28 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. 13 questioned. It is necessary to keep in mind the idea that Orientalism was previously used to frame national identity.

0.3 The Jacksonian Era

Some historians believe that the Jacksonian Era is limited to President Andrew Jackson’s terms as President (1829-1837). However, most historians can agree that it includes through

James K. Polk’s presidency, which ended in 1849. This era was characterized by changes in the economic, political, intellectual, and social spheres of the country. To begin, there was a shift from self-sufficient agriculture to market agriculture, which was driven by the development of a large and inexpensive transportation network. This shift to market agriculture naturally led to a boom in “urban crafts and manufacturing,” which led to urbanization and the growth of cities.

Although the economy was booming, there were many who were suffering as a result of this booming agriculture. For example, the slave population increased rapidly as there was more demand for agricultural goods (especially cotton). In addition, as more and more land was being designated to agriculture, more and more Native Americans were being displaced from their homes.29

In addition to this significant economic change, it was the birth or rebirth of the political parties of this country. Although most agree that this was the birth and not rebirth of the political parties, some argue that it was a reformation or rebirth of the Federalists and Democratic-

Republicans. The two major parties of this time were the Democrats and the Whigs. Andrew

29 "Jacksonian Era." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Finkelman. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed May 6, 2020). https://link-gale- com.ezproxy.wellesley.edu/apps/doc/BT2350040193/UHIC?u=mlin_m_wellcol&sid=UHIC&xid=b5b02d7f. 14

Jackson was central to this development as the Democrats rallied around his popularity. At the same time, he united the Whigs against him. Instead, they praised Henry Clay’s American

System that advocated for more central control of the federal government. The Whigs were also known for their belief of governmental involvement in social issues such as those related to

“education, the poor, criminals, and the insane.” On the other hand, Jackson’s supporters were against governmental funding and support for these causes. With this major change, there were some smaller wins for democracy. For example, suffrage was more inclusive (although it was still white males), more political offices were changing from appointed positions to elected, and there were overall greater voter turnouts for elections.30

This changing image of the country’s values and the “national character” prompted an intellectual Golden Age of sorts. This period gave rise to the first wave of American authors, including Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe (whose works are analyzed in this thesis).

There are also others like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville, just to name a few. There was also a surge in American painters, such as

William Sidney Mount and George Caleb Bingham.31

Socially, there was diversity in the treatment of roles of women. For most families in the middle class, the women exclusively performed their domestic duties. Their method of making an impact in societal values was through instilling values in their children. This misogynistic mindset only values women for child-bearing and child-raising qualities. At the same time, there was a smaller movement of women who were working outside the home. There was also an

30 "Jacksonian Era." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Finkelman. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.

31 “Jacksonian Era." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Finkelman. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 15 organized movement for women to have equal rights as men and at the woman’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, they published a manifesto demanding their rights. Women, from all walks of life, played a major role in tackling issues such as “slavery; intemperance; war; poverty; cruelty toward the blind, the insane, and the criminal; and a host of other social and moral ills.”32

The country was changing in many ways but the physical territory that Americans inhabited was also expanding. This was due to Jackson’s tactics of propagandizing the phrase

“Manifest Destiny,” which is the idea that it is Americans’ destiny and right to expand west, and his policy of low public land prices to settlers willing to travel west. There was rapid settlement over the Appalachians into the Old Northwest Territory and the Old South West, Texas, Oregon

Country, much of the western United States. In particular, the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe

Trails were commonly travelled by settlers seeking to move west. This movement west was expedited by the discovery of gold in California. As the Americans were moving into these territories, they were invading Native American land and displacing many of them. This is how the infamous Trail of Tears, which was a government mandated migration that was deadly and horrific, came about.33

During the Jacksonian era, social and political structures were reformed but also, the country was also physically expanding its borders. With the rapid transportation of the country as

Americans prior knew it, it is not a surprise that a lack of national identity left Americans feeling insecure. Therefore, in their artistic endeavors, it was important for authors to address this.

32 "Jacksonian Era." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Finkelman. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.

33 "Jacksonian Era." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Paul Finkelman. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 16

0.4 Masonic Symbols

Freemasonry is the “oldest initiatory society in the West not dependent on a religious institution.”34 It is also currently the largest fraternal order in the world. Its origin is unknown, but it was formalized in Britain and rapidly gained international followers. The traditions of

Freemasonry are based on “the building of King Solomon’s Temple and its fraternal ceremonies use the working tools of the stonemasons to symbolize moral lessons of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.” There are currently over 3 million members that adjoin in 450 local Lodges.35

Although they are (for the most part) allowed to practice openly, Freemasons have been discriminated against significantly in the past. By the 1820s, American Freemasonry had been well established in the U.S., separate from other organized versions of Christianity. While

Freemasonry was gaining followers, it was also gaining opposition. As David Hackett mentions in That Religion in Which All Men Agree, he points that “seen from the perspective of Anti- masonry…the brother-hood was a secret cabal of politically connected, secularizing, affluent men deeply threatening to the common man and evangelical Christianity.” This was precisely the narrative that Anti-Masonic sentiment was centered on. There was an expansion of this fear of

Freemasonry through popular media, mob protests, and violence.36 With the power of the common man increasing during the Jacksonian era (mainly through suffrage and economic opportunity), this organization of elite men who kept all of their practices secret was alarming to

34 Bogdan, Henrik and Snoek, J.A.M., Handbook of Freemasonry. (Boston: Brill, 2014), 1.

35 “What is Freemasonry?,” The Grand Lodge of Ohio: Free and Accepted Masons. https://www.freemason.com/ how-to-join/what-is-freemasonry/

36 Hackett, David. “Freemasonry in American Culture.: In That Religion in Which All Men Agree. (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London:University of California Press: 2014.) 111-115 17 many Americans. This context is crucial for understanding the scope of this thesis, in which

Masonic symbols are repeatedly alluded to. Some common Masonic concepts that are associated with Freemasonry and therefore, can serve as symbols are Egypt’s hidden knowledge

(specifically with the Great Pyramids), a Mason and his tools, esoteric knowledge, and references to the Old Testament.37

0.5 Abstract

In this thesis, I will begin by analyzing the image of Islam and Muslims portrayed in

Washington Irving’s “Tales of the Alhambra,” given Irving’s personal background and influence from Orientalist sources. I will be analyzing the following chapters: “The Journey,” “Interior of the Alhambra,” “Reflections of the Moslem Domination in Spain,” “The Adventure of the

Mason,” “Legend of the Arabian Astrologer,” “Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses,”

“Legend of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel; Or, the Pilgrim of Love,” “Legend of the Moor’s Legacy,” and the “Legend of the Two Discreet Statues.” Similarly, with Edgar Allan Poe, I will begin by noting his biography and influence from Orientalist sources. Then, I will analyze the following works, in chronological order: “Al Aaraaf,” “Ligeia,” “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque,”

“Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade,” “Eureka,” and “Review of Stephen’s Arabia

Petraea.”

A comparison of the two authors’ treatment of Islam and Muslims yields some interesting results. In conclusion, Irving’s repeated portrayal of Muslim characters as untrustworthy, violent

(particularly men), and not beautiful culminates in a negative portrayal of Islam and Muslims.

37 Bogdan, Henrik and Snoek, J.A.M., Handbook of Freemasonry. Boston: Brill, 2014. 18

Given the elaborate references made, these references and therefore, othering seems intentional.

Given the relentless repetition, it seems that Irving is purposefully trying to antagonize and other

Muslims to construct an image of the “other” that would be useful in defining national identity during the uncertain times of the Jacksonian era. On the other hand, Poe’s use of Islamic symbols seems to be based on the fact that they are an artistic source of inspiration for him. Additionally, he intentionally uses elaborate Islamic symbols for aesthetics in his work. He, likely unintentionally, gives greater agency to his female, Muslim characters. He also, at times, places them higher on the hierarchy of beauty, than Christian women. While revolutionizing (though exoticizing) the portrayal of Muslim women, Poe is also complicit in portraying the same negative trope of Muslim men being violent and irrational. 19

CHAPTER 1

The Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of The Moors and Spaniards

1.1 Irving’s Origins and Orientalist Influence

Washington Irving was born on April 3rd, 1783, in New York City, to a Scottish merchant and his English wife. He began his life leading an economically modest lifestyle but as the

American Revolution opened up economic opportunities that did not previously exist, Irving’s family’s socioeconomic status recovered. He grew up as the youngest child, who received a lot of attention from his seven siblings. Unlike his siblings, his father did not hold him in the same high regard because Irving often resisted his father’s strict Presbyterian upbringing.38

From a young age, Irving had been engrossed in and passionate about literature but he could not pursue it forthrightly, due to the social stigma that existed against being a full-time author. Being an author was perceived as a hobby and so, Irving pursued an apprenticeship with a lawyer. However, Irving was distracted by literature and not able to pass the Bar exam on his first attempt.39

Irving began his writing career when his brother Pete, who owned a newspaper titled the

Morning Chronicle, allowed Irving to publish several essays under the pseudonym “Jonathan

Oldstyle.” Soon after, Irving was admitted to the Bar and even began representing his family business as an attorney. While he was practicing as an attorney for his family business, Irving

38 “Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” American National Biography, Last modified June 16, 2017. https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697- e-1600829.

39 “Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017. 20 wrote and edited a periodical called Salmagundi, with a friend and one of his other brothers. In this satirical periodical, they often critiqued New Yorkers and politics, including President

Thomas Jefferson.40

In Salmagundi, arguably Irving’s first momentous work of writing, he makes his first

Orientalist reference by utilizing an Oriental, Muslim character named Mustapha whose satirical fictional letters poked fun at American life.41

After this periodical ceased publication, Irving began writing the History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (commonly referred to as

History of New York) with his brother Peter, under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker.42

While Peter assisted in the initiation of this project, he went abroad soon after and left Irving to write most of it.43 The History of New York also contains a reference to the Orient and specifically, to Islam. One major example is the reference to the “Arab” theory of creation of the world, which is probably referring to the Muslim theory of creation of the world.44 Irving had been exposed to the theory in a book titled Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the

Library of the King of France.45

40 “Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

41 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination: The Middle East in the works of Irving, Poe, Emerson, and Melville” (doctoral dissertation, University of New Hampshire, 1988), 31. https:// scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2560&context=dissertation

42 Knickerbocker, D. A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World. London, 1825.; “Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

43 Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

44 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination”, 31.

45 Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France. London: Printed for R. Faulder, 1789.; Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney. University of New Hampshire., as cited in, Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination”, 31-32. 21

Meanwhile, young Matilda Hoffman had caught Irving’s eye. She was the daughter of

Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman, who insisted that any suitor considering marrying his seventeen year old daughter should be financially secure. To achieve this financial security, Irving demanded that he become one of Hoffman’s legal partners. Entranced by Matilda, Irving exchanged his literary pursuits for Matilda’s hand in marriage. Unfortunately, due to illness,

Matilda died shortly after. To keep himself preoccupied, Irving focused on finishing History of

New York and published it. He gained monetary wealth as a result but he still did not feel confident enough in his writing career to pursue it.46

A few years later, Irving traveled to Europe with the intent of going on a tour. However, when he reached his first destination in England, he found his brother Peter in poor health and as a result, his family business was suffering. Placing his ambitions aside, Irving spent two years attempting to recover the business. After being burnt out from this experience and realizing that his family business would fail regardless of his actions, he finally decided to pursue his passion for writing.47

His first publication under his own name was The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., which was a collection of essays, drawings, and fiction ranging in topics from history to satire.

The protagonist of the book, Geoffrey Crayon, shared many traits with Irving and it is speculated that Crayon was modeled after Irving. This book was received relatively well by the English and the Americans. In addition, Irving was able to copyright his name, with the help of his brothers.

Some pieces of short fiction from this book are cited today as some of the first examples of short

46 Knickerbocker, D. A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World. London, 1825, as cited in, Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

47 Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017. 22 stories. Irving’s target audience for this book was middle class American and English women.

Accordingly, he focused on themes that he thought would appeal to women: romance, love, and morally decent behavior. The success of The Sketch Book built a loyal audience and readership for Irving’s future work. Partially due to an established and loyal readership, he wrote four more pieces built off of the plot and characters of The Sketch Book and they were all met with great success.48

Unlike these four works, Irving’s next work failed miserably. His Tales of a Traveller went unappreciated and in large part, critics perceived it to be too sexually suggestive for the

“family” centered audience that he had established with The Sketch Book.49

While he was incredibly disappointed in his latest work and concerned about his future,

Irving accepted the task of going to Madrid to translate some works pertaining to Columbus’ voyages.50 This task, offered by Alexander Everret (the U.S. Minister in Madrid), was to translate the works of Spanish scholar Martin Fernández de Navarrete.51

While doing this work, Irving noted that there was not yet a biography written for

Columbus that he believed did Columbus justice. This observation motivated him to write The

History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, which critics perceived as being a

48 Irving, Washington. The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon. Paris: A. & W. Galignani, 1825., as cited in, Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017. https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1600829.

49 Irving, Washington. Tales of a Traveller, by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Carey and Lea, 1824,,as cited in, Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

50 Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

51 Stanley, Williams, “The Spanish Background of American Literature” (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955), vol. 2, p.8. 23 useful historical document although it contained more romantic aspects than Irving’s fictional work.52

Irving’s work on Columbus initiated a motif that is found in many of his other works: juxtaposing history and fiction in the same works. Irving lingered in Spain for a total of three and a half years, spending most of this time in Granada, where he was inspired by the Moorish architecture, which he perceived to be exotic and oriental.53

While in Spain, Irving also wrote Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, parts of The

Alhambra, and Voyages of the Companions of Columbus. Following this, Irving returned to

England to assume his role as the secretary of the American legation in London. Because of his connection with the government and his career in London, Irving routinely received criticism that his career and his writing were too British for an American audience. Regardless of this criticism, Irving enjoyed great success with international audiences and stayed abroad for seventeen years before returning to the States.54

Irving then left for a tour of the Western frontier of the States and published his works “A

Tour of the Prairies,” Astoria, and Adventures of Captain Bonneville soon after. These works were widely circulated and improved Irving’s reputation as an “American” writer. Following this

52 Irving, Washington. The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: G. & C. Carvill, 1828. Vol.1, as cited in, Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

53 Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

54 Irving, Washington. The Conquest of Granada. Chicago: Belford, Clarke & Company, 1850.; Washington Irving, A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (London: Colburn & Bentley, 1832),; Irving, Washington. Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus. Stockholm: H.G. Nordström, 1837., all as cited in Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017. 24 praise, Irving settled down in a home in New York with his 5 nieces. He once again travelled to

Spain before returning to the U.S. in 1846.55

Upon his return, he wrote Oliver Goldsmith, Mahomet and His Successors, and Wolfert’s

Roost, all three of which earned very little acclaim and recognition. As a result, Irving reflected on his earlier works and published a collection of them, which was considered a landmark of a successful American author.56

Irving’s last work was a George Washington biography, titled Life of George Washington.

He died soon after the last volume of this installation was published.57

Irving was perhaps the first American to be a full time author and earn a living through his writing. His career was a testament to young aspiring authors across the country. He was able to take advantage of consumerism and utilized his literature as a means of spreading and influencing popular culture.58 Even in a contemporary context, Washington Irving is commonly referred to as the “first American man of letters,” as he wrote several noteworthy and critically acclaimed works of literature during his lifetime and pioneered careers in writing for American authors. 59

55 Irving, Washington. The Sketch Book ; The Crayon Papers ; A History of New York ; A Tour of the Prairies. New York: John B. Alden, 1883.; Irving, Washington. Astoria. New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1895.; Irving, Washington. Astoria ; Salmagundi ; The Adventures of Captain Bonneville. New York: Hooper, Clarke, 1837., all as cited in Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

56 Irving, Washington. Oliver Goldsmith. New York: Putnam, 1897.; Irving, Washington. Mahomet and His Successors. New York: Putnam, 1896.; Irving, Washington. Wolferts Roost, and Other Papers, Now First Collected. New York: G.P. Putnam & Co., 1854., all as cited in, Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

57 Irving, Washington. Life of George Washington. Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1859., as cited in, Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

58 Irving, Washington (1783-1859), Author: American National Biography.” Last modified June 16, 2017.

59 Adam Augustyn, “Washington Irving,” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/ Washington-Irving 25

One of his acclaimed publications is titled, The Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, commonly referred to as The Tales of the Alhambra. It was published in 1832, first by Colburn & Bentley in London, then by Carey and Lea in Philadelphia, and finally by Galignani in Paris.60

Irving’s travels from Seville to Granada in 1829 inspired this collection.61 In particular, he was galvanized by the legacy of the Moors on the Iberian peninsula, fascinated by the exotic

Oriental and its tales. In fact, in some of his works regarding Spain, Irving designed metaphors for the events of his own life.62 For instance, the theme of “an earthly paradise” is central to these works but also prevalent in his “personal search for a transcendent, all encompassing experience.”63 In particular, Grenada was a subject of Irving’s fascinations, as it was the last territory that the Moors controlled before it was taken back in the Christian conquest.64

During his travels, Irving was even granted access to the Alhambra Palace in Grenada because of his celebrity status.65 Furthermore, he was allowed to live in the Alhambra for twelve weeks, where he gained first-hand insight into the lives of the Moors who had previously resided

60 Washington Irving, A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (London: Colburn & Bentley, 1832), 1.; Washington Irving, A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (Philadelphia: Carey and Lea, 1832), 1; Washington Irving, A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (Paris: Galignani, 1832), 1.; “The Alhambra,” Biblio.com, accessed December 6, 2019, https://www.biblio.com/the-alhambra-by- irving-washington/work/35211

61 “The Alhambra - Tales of the Alhambra,” andalucia.com, accessed December 6, 2019, http://www.andalucia.com/ cities/granada/tales-of-the-alhambra.htm

62 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 58.

63 Williams, Hedges, “Washington Irving: An American Study,” 1802-1832 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1965), pp. 236-67.

64 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 54.

65 “The Alhambra - Tales of the Alhambra,” andalucia.com, accessed December 6, 2019. 26 there. Through this endeavor, Irving was allowed “to enter the lost, exotic world of the Moors in a way that no amount of research could.”66

The book, a product of his travels, was met with immediate acclaim internationally. In fact, there is a tourist route going from Seville to Granada dubbed the “Ruta de Washington

Irving” and even a plaque inside the Alhambra reading “Washington Irving wrote his Tales of

Alhambra in these rooms in 1829.”67

Not only was Irving honored for his work in Spain, he was also praised by international literary critics. “In the Works of Washington Irving,” one critic wrote in The Athenaeum, “there is more polished elegance than rough strength: he is always graceful and neat, flowing and harmonious…”68 Another London critic described the book as presenting “...wild legends and fairy tales gathered among the ruins of the Alhambra, and having that dash of humor, simplicity, and extravagance which form the greatest charm of the Arabian nights...culled fresh from the romantic hills of Spain.”69 This critic’s invocation of Arabian Nights, formerly known as One

Thousand and One Nights, is consistent with Irving’s inspiration for his work.70

Arabians Nights or One Thousand and One Nights contains many different types of genres, ranging from romance to comedy to folk tales. According to a piece published at the

66 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 47.

67 “Route of Washington Irving,” España, accessed December 6, 2019, https://www.spain.info/en_US/que-quieres/rutas/grandes-rutas/rutas/ruta_de_washington_irving.html; “The Alhambra - Tales of the Alhambra,” andalucia.com, accessed December 6, 2019.

68 “Tales of the Alhambra. By Washington Irving. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1832. Colburn & Bentley,” Review of Tales of the Alhambra, by Washington Irving. The Athenaeum, May 5, 1832.

69 “The Alhambra. In two vols. London: Colburn & Bentley. 1832,” Review of Tales of the Alhambra, by Washington Irving. The Tatler, June 7, 1832.

70 Bulaq, One Thousand and One Nights, Cairo: Government of Egypt, 1835. Note, this is the first surviving Arabic version of the tales. 27

University of Kent, the most common genre present in One Thousand and One Nights is

“the genre of the Oriental tale,” that is a tale that includes one or several Oriental characters as the main characters of the plot. Oriental tales typically consist of “...a Middle Eastern setting, exotic action (often involving Eastern nobility and magicians), enchantment, love, and hidden treasure.”71 This genre is present in Irving’s work and repeated in almost every tale.

Before Irving begins the first chapter, he references Arabian Nights. He mentions how his travels with his companion David Wilke, to whom he dedicated the book, reminded him of scenes from the Arabian Nights.72 The Arabian Nights is a collection of Islamic folktales but through inspiring authors like Irving and being a keystone work of literature in their understanding of the Orient (and specifically, Islam), it has become a source of Orientalism. In an article titled “Popularity of the Arabian Nights,” a critic writes, “The ‘Arabian Nights’ made their way amongst us at once, because, in addition to stories of enchantment which interest the young, they exhibit a true picture of life and manners which comes home to the bosoms of men in whatever climate they breathe.”73 The reviewer, who published in The Mirror in London in

1834, believes that if you remove the magical elements from these stories, they depict life in the

Orient accurately. In other words, these fictional tales were constructing an image of what readers perceived to be the reality of the Orient and the Orientals.

71 Bulaq, One Thousand and One Nights, Cairo; Isani, Mukhtar Ali. “The Oriental Tale in America through 1865: a Study in American Fiction.” Princeton University Press, 1962.

72 Washington Irving, A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (Philadelphia: Carey and Lea, 1832), 1a.

73 “Popularity of the Arabian Nights,” Review of Tales of the Alhambra, by Washington Irving. The Mirror, April 19, 1834. 28

It is likely that Irving grew up reading The Arabian Nights, as the book was popular during his childhood. It was one of the most in demand books at the time and between 1794 and

1800, there were more than eleven different versions published in the U.S. It is also evident through Irving’s repeated allusions to The Arabian Nights in his books and in his other writing such as his essays, letters, etc.74

Another construct of literature that was formative to Irving’s early years was Gines Perez de Hita’s The Civil Wars in Granada (the English translation). Hita’s work was altogether historically inaccurate. Yet, it was a landmark endeavor of literature in Spanish Orientalist literature of tales and legends surrounding Moors.75 In his own words, Irving described Hita’s influence on him by saying, “From earliest, boyhood, when, on the banks of the Hudson, I first poured over the pages of old Gines Perez de Hita’s apocryphal but chevaleresque history of The

Civil War in Granada…”76

Both The Arabian Nights and The Civil Wars of Granada (a collection of Oriental tales and a Romantic history, respectively), influenced Irving to write The Alhambra.

Irving was also influenced by the works of prominent authors of the time, such as Lord

Byron, whom Irving “virtually idolized.” During Irving’s time in Britain, his social circle consisted of many influential literary figures, which granted him access to details of Byron’s life.

In fact, he was able to read the manuscript of Byron’s autobiography before it was burned.77

74 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 10-11.

75 Perez de Hita, Gines. The Civil Wars in Granada, 1606.; Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 30.

76 Irving, Washington, William T. Lenehan, and Andrew B. Myers. The Alhambra. Boston: Twayne, 1983.

77 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 33. 29

Another Orientalist author, Thomas Moore, was the subject of Irving’s admiration.78

Irving actually knew Moore personally and was a great enthusiast of his Lalla Rookh. Following

Moore’s example in conducting extensive research on the Orient to create an authentic narrative,

Irving conducted his own research on the lives of the Moors by residing at the Alhambra, conducting interviews with the locals, and reading previous works (mostly by Western writers) on the Moors and the Alhambra. Specifically, Irving heavily relied on research that he conducted in the libraries of Madrid, which were filled with biased, Orientalist sources, especially pertaining to the Moors. Irving’s Orientalism stems from his childhood idols, “...early neoclassical literary models, and the Romantic Oriental vogue which swept Europe in the early nineteenth century.”79

This chapter consists of a close reading of Irving’s Orientalist The Tales of the Alhambra, with a focus on themes of othering of Muslims and by extension, Islam. Some of these themes include the dynamics of romantic relationships between Muslims and Christians, beauty standards skewed against Muslims, and the portrayal of Muslim men following the trope of being stern and irrational.

1.2 The Journey

Beginning with the first chapter of the work The Tales of the Alhambra, titled “The

Journey,” Irving conflates the terms “Moors,” “Moslems,” and even “Arabs.” One example of this is in the first chapter, when Irving is describing the Alhambra and says, “...surrounded by

78 Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 33.

79 Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852. Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance. New York: T. Y. Crowell & co, 1891.; Kleitz, Dorsey Rodney, “Orientalism and the American Romantic imagination,” 33. 30

Moorish battlements...carry the mind back to the chivalrous days of Christian and Moslem warfare...”80 He is relating the Moorish battlements with Muslims, when he is stating that the

Moorish battlements remind him of the warfare between Christians and Moslems. This exchange of terminology is racializing Muslims as Moors, or North Africans as well as othering them as they are not Christian or White.

This conflation between these terms in this section and in later sections, indicates that in this book, the Moors are likely Muslims. Therefore, it is likely Irving’s depictions of the Moors

(although they are a racial group) are informed by his existing prejudices about Islam and in turn, reproduce these prejudices for an American audience. Therefore, I will be referring to many characters as Muslims and Moors in my analysis.

1.3 Interior of the Alhambra

In the chapter titled “Interior of the Alhambra,” when describing the Muslim Courts inside the Alhambra, Irving uses the term Oriental: “...for the immediate trial of petty causes; a custom common to the Oriental nations…”81 This use of the term “Oriental” implies that Irving is well versed in other literature that uses that term, usually in a negative light. As Edward Said discusses in his Orientalism, the Orient is constructed through those living outside the Orient with an agenda that deviates from accurately portraying the Orient.82 This theoretical framework

80 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 19-20.

81 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 50.

82 Edward Said, Orientalism. 31 is useful for this close reading of Irving’s text and evidence of Orientalism is present throughout his musings.

Outside of academics and those well versed in Orientalist literature, the “common people” of Spain at the time of Irving’s visits also had a constructed view of the Moors. This is evident when Irving is describing the symbol of the hand on the interior of the Alhambra and the explanations for the symbol offered by “the common people.” He says that those who claimed to be familiar with “Mahometan symbols” were claiming that it was to showcase opposition to the

Christian symbol of the cross while the others thought the symbol was a magical device that was in charge of the fate of the Alhambra.83 The hand in the building constructed by the Muslims was perceived to be in direct opposition to Christianity, which reflects a complex tension in between the two religions, as discerned by the locals of Grenada. This tension also makes an appearance in other sections of this book. Furthermore, Said credits this tension as the motivation behind intentionally Orientalist texts.

On the other hand, the symbol of the hand was also recognized by the locals as having to do with magic, which contributes to the association between Islam and magic, that is a common theme in later chapters as well. Irving further mentions how the common people perceive

“something of mystery and magic to every thing Moorish.”84 While he hears these theories from the locals and is influenced by them, he also contributes to them in his own work, as demonstrated in later chapters.

83 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 51.

84 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 51. 32

This Orientalist perception of the Moors as magicians or opponents of Christianity is constructed through popular literature such as Irving’s and through such accessible literature, is widespread amongst his American readers. Irving replicates the folk understanding of the

Spanish locals discussed above into his writing, which is delivered to American audiences. This negative, inaccurate and therefore, Orientalist perception of Islam and Muslims has led to the further othering of Muslims in America. This construction of the Orient had roots before Irving’s work (in works such as Arabian Nights) but it was perpetuated through many of the major and consistent themes in Irving’s literature.

1.4 Reflections on the Moslem Domination in Spain

In Orientalism, Said suggests that Orientalist literature arose because Islam was seen as the major opponent to Christianity and therefore, to demonize Islam and Muslims, Orientalist literature became increasingly popular.85 In the chapter titled “Reflections on the Moslem

Domination in Spain,” Irving amplified this fear of Muslims by saying “Nay, had they not been check on the plains of Tours, all France, all Europe, might have been overrun with the same facility as the empires of the east, and the crescent might at this day have glittered on the fanes of

Paris and London.”86 Muslims are seen as some foreign beings that do not belong in Europe and who would have destroyed it had they conquered it. The fear demonstrated by this quote further sets up this narrative of Christianity in conflict with Islam and the othering of Islam and Muslims for the later chapters.

85 Said, Edward, Orientalism.

86 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 71. 33

1.5 The Adventure of the Mason

Irving’s portrayal of Christians in this tale is consistent with the overall trend in his work, of setting up Christianity to be superior to anything that is faced with. In particular, as will become evident in his later works, he directly contrasts Islam and Christianity through constructing the portrayals of Muslim and Christian characters. Christian characters are often portrayed as honest and hardworking whereas the Moorish or Muslim characters are usually portrayed as cunning and mysterious. This is evident in the chapter titled “The Adventure of the

Mason,” where the mason is portrayed as a poor, hard-working, pious Christian.87 On the other hand, most of the Moorish or Muslim characters discussed in the subsequent tales have negative traits associated with them.

The protagonist in this tale is the honest mason, who is described as being a good

Christian who observes all the “saints days and holydays.” In fact, a priest notices his religiosity and hires him for employment, with a hefty salary. As part of this work assignment, the mason is blindfolded and brought to an unknown location and asked to bury a treasure on behalf of the priest. He completes this task and the mason’s family survives on the pay for it until he is again approached for work. When the mason arrives at the unfamiliar location for his new assignment, he observes a sense of familiarity with it. He then investigates his current employer and asks him about the previous owner of this large, abandoned house. As the priest suspected, the employer replies that it was a selfish priest, who left no amount of treasure for the church. The mason realized for his first work assignment, he had helped bury this priest’s treasure. Upon this realization, he urged his new employer to grant him permission to live in the house where the

87 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 120-126. 34 treasure is hidden, while the mason is restoring it. The employer agreed and the mason mysteriously slowly began accumulating large sums of wealth while living in the house.88

Irving is indirect and never forthrightly states that the mason was stealing from the hidden treasure of the priest. In addition, Irving depicts the mason after he had accumulated his wealth through illicit means as being morally “good” by illustrating how he provided for his family, gained the respect of community members, and donated to the Church. The amalgamation of Irving using indirect language to describe the immoral behavior of the mason and the depiction of the mason as morally “good” after his immoral behavior illustrates that

Irving intentionally portrays Christian characters as morally superior to other characters, despite their actions. Although there are no Moorish or Muslim characters in this tale that can be utilized in investigating Irving’s treatment of characters from various religious backgrounds, Irving’s treatment of Moorish or Muslim characters in other tales makes it thoroughly clear that he is intentionally reinforcing the hierarchy between Christianity and Islam that exists in previous

Orientalist literature.

As there is a lack of Masonic symbols present in this legend (other than the occupation of the main character being a mason) as there are in the others, it seems that the mason served another purpose. Given the characterization of the mason in this chapter, it is likely that instead of referring to Freemasonry, the occupation of a mason was chosen to portray the character as coming from humble means and being hardworking, in a very traditionally masculine way.

88 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 120-126. 35

1.6 Legend of the Arabian Astrologer

In the chapter titled “The Legend of the Arabian Astrologer,” Irving sets about describing the monarch Aben Hafuz as a pacifist who is facing a lot of turmoil in his kingdom, due to attacks from outsiders and rebellion from within.89 As in this legend, Irving consistently characterizes (in detail) Moorish kings as reigning over unstable kingdoms and challenges their abilities. This treatment is never given to any Christian kings, whose authority is total and ability unrivaled.

In this tale, a Muslim astrologer one day visits Aben Hafuz and agrees to build him a talisman to detect danger from invading Christian armies.90 When the astrologer is first introduced, he is introduced as having been a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and having spent much of his time in Egypt. His connection to Egypt is further solidified by Irving’s description of the astrologer as “exerting the necromantic arts he had learnt in Egypt, he summoned to his assistance the spirits and demons of the Nile...On the breast of the corpse was a book...given by God to Adam after his fall...The tower was built of stones brought from Egypt, and taken, it is said, from one of the Pyramids.”91 This language, particularly strongly invokes

Masonic symbols such as the Pyramids of Egypt, stone masonry, and Adam, indicating that

Irving is attempting to design an association between the Muslim, Moorish astrologer (who is aiding the violent Muslim king in attacking his Christian enemies) and the Masonic symbols.

89 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 169.

90 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 170-173.

91 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 173-174. 36

Muslims and Moors are repeatedly antagonized in Irving’s work. In this case, the Muslim astrologer and Muslim king are working together in being cruel to their subjects and the

Christians. Thus, it seems possible that Irving is using these Masonic symbols to write to an anti-

Masonic audience, who already perceives Muslims and Moors as others. His forging of a connection between these symbols and a group that is already othered (Muslims) further alienates Muslims and Masons from the mainstream.

At the same time, there seems to be some fantastical element in Irving’s depiction of the astrologer, who is shown to have greater sacred knowledge. In addition, the Muslim astrologer has a moral compass that is superior to that of the Muslim king, which is demonstrated through the astrologer attempting to intervene in the King’s cruel acts on several occasions. Furthermore, as will be discussed, the astrologer triumphs at the end of this plot. The amalgamation of the astrologer’s sacred knowledge, morality, and ultimate triumph, the connection between the astrologer and the Masonic symbols may have been designed to appeal to a Masonic audience.

Nevertheless, it is more probable that Irving was writing to an anti-Masonic audience.

Although it is indisputable that the astrologer possesses sacred knowledge and his moral compass is an improvement from the Muslim King’s, he is still a Muslim who forcefully attains the Christian Princess. This is not exactly perceived as morally correct. He keeps her locked with him until she is released in a later tale. With this context in mind, his “triumph” (that will be further discussed) is not a permanent triumph. Ultimately, the strongest evidence for Irving writing to an anti-Masonic evidence is his association of the Masonic symbols with a Muslim character in the first place. His treatment of Muslim characters is self-evident and therefore, any association with them is likely in a negative light. 37

After the astrologer built the talisman for him, Aben Hafuz immediately became incredibly violent, attacking his enemies. This depiction of Moorish or Muslim men, especially

Moorish kings, as violent is a trend across many of Irving’s tales. While serving as hand to the

King, the astrologer tries to pacify the King as much as possible. However, one day, the two get into an argument when the talisman points beyond the mountains but all the guards find when they arrive is a White, Christian, Princess. Both the astrologer and Aben Hafuz become infatuated with the physical beauty of the White, Christian Princess. Irving describes the Princess as “...a Christian damsel of surpassing beauty…Pearls of dazzling Whiteness were entwined with her raven tresses...yet combustible breast of Aben Hafuz, and set it in a flame. The swimming voluptuousness of her gait made his senses reel.”92

This representation is objectifying the Princess and misogynistic in nature since it only focuses on her physical beauty. Moreover, Irving chooses to describe her whiteness as one of the characteristics that contribute to her beauty, which is noteworthy in establishing a hierarchy of beauty. Since the Moors or Muslims are not White, they are inherently seen as less beautiful than their white, Christian counterparts.

In addition, when Irving describes the Princess’ beauty, he solely mentions how Aben

Hafuz is infatuated with her. There is no mention of that feeling being reciprocated by the

Princess. In fact, Irving goes on to describe Aben Hafuz’ affection for the Princess by stating,

“His only study, was how to render himself amiable in the eyes of the Gothic beauty.” Aben

Hafuz did everything in his power to impress the Princess and spent a large sum of his treasury doing so but despite his efforts, the beautiful white Princess would not agree to have a Moorish,

92 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 177-185. 38

Muslim suitor.93 Once more, Irving manufactures a hierarchy where Moorish or Muslim characters are discerned as less desirable to their white, Christian parts.

While Aben Hafuz is occupied trying to galvanize the Princess, there is a substantial rebellion in his kingdom and he therefore resorts to the astrologer for counseling.94 The astrologer agrees to assist Aben Hafuz and builds the Garden of Irem, which is mentioned in the

Quran, for Aben Hafuz.95 To further cite Masonic symbols to the astrologer, Irving once again includes references to Egypt and esoteric knowledge based in Egypt in the building of the

Garden of Irem by the astrologer. The astrologer says, “...when I had been in Egypt and made myself master of all kinds of magic spells, I determined to return and visit the Garden of

Irem...The genii...revealed to me the spells by which the whole garden had been...conjured into existence, and by which it was rendered invisible.”96

This association between the Quran (one of the main sources of Islamic sacred knowledge), the esoteric knowledge held by the astrologer, and Masonic reference to Egypt contributes to the theory that Irving is writing to an anti-Masonic audience. As a result of this association, he further others members of both groups.

Throughout this legend, the Princess generates numerous difficulties for Aben Hafuz by not showing interest in him yet, longing to be entertained and draining his treasury. Although she

93 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 185.

94 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 185.

95 “Sahih International,” Quran.com, accessed December 6, 2019. https://quran.com/89; Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 186-193.

96 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniard, 1a, 189-190. 39 is taking advantage of his fondness for her, her character is portrayed as clever and intelligent and not deceiving, because she is a white, Christian character.

Also, in this legend, astrology was frequently recounted as a valid form of esoteric knowledge in Islam. While Muslims follow a lunar calendar, basing decisions off astrology in the way that Muslims are depicted doing in this legend is considered blasphemous in Islam. The

Quran declares, “...and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows.”97 The

“divining arrows” are shooting stars. Yet, the Moorish, Muslim kings are repeatedly illustrated as using astrologers to make predictions and prophecies. Since this image is clearly not accurate by

Islamic standards, it raises the question of Irving’s motivation in including it.

The explanation for this purposeful choice lies in Irving’s intentional Orientalist othering of Muslims. He chooses to center astrology when describing practices of Muslim characters.

Using astrology to make predictions was not common practice amongst the Christian Kings

(with the exception of a singular case in his tales) and therefore, the declaration of this practice as a common Muslim practice othered the Muslims as other than Christians.

1.7 Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses

In the chapter titled “Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses,” there are similar patterns as in the previously discussed “Legend of the Astrologer” but there are also several fresh insights. To begin, Irving’s description of Muslim, Moorish kings is consistent. Another Moorish

King (named Mohamed) is facing turmoil in his kingdom: “Certain it is, either through

97 “Sahih International,” Quran.com, accessed December 6, 2019. https://quran.com/5/3-13 40 misfortune or mismanagement, he was continually in trouble. Thrice was he driven from his throne…”98

Then, Irving goes on to describe the matters of Mohamed’s heart and how he came upon a beautiful, white, Christian damsel. Irving describes Mohamed’s first encounter with the

Princess by stating, “As this Mohamed was one day riding forth...into the land of the

Christians...the monarch was struck with the appearance of a beautiful damsel richly attired...”99

Irving goes on to clarify that “The Spanish lady dried her tears and became the spouse of

Mohamed the left-handed.”100 The thought of marrying a Muslim, an infidel, repulsed her so much that she began crying and had to be consoled before agreeing to marriage, whereas King

Mohamed was eager to marry her. This inequality of desirability is consistent with the previous tale and implies the superiority of white, Christian beauty over non-white, Muslim beauty.

This is demonstrated with a new complexity with the daughters of the Christian beauty and Muslim King Mohamed. They are named Zayda, Zorayda, and Zorahayda, respectively decreasing in age. They are both Christian and Muslim by birth but since their Christian mother suddenly passed away, Mohamed alone cares for them. Therefore, they grew up practicing

Muslims. While they are under Mohamed’s care, he assigns them a Christian woman named

Cadiga as their caretaker.

Their Muslim identity is exploited by Irving to make another statement about the superiority of Christian beauty over Muslim beauty. Irving describes, “...a number of Moorish

98 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 199.

99 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 200-201.

100 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 202. 41 soldiers landed on the narrow beach, conducting several Christian prisoners…in the flower of youth, and of noble presence...The Princesses gazed with intense and breathless interest. Cooped up as they had been in this castle among female attendants, seeing nothing of the male sex but black slaves…”101 Even though they were constantly surrounded by male black slaves and male

Moorish soldiers, the Princesses never felt attracted to any of them. Because they grew up

Muslim, this is another representation of how Irving perceives Moors or Muslims desire to be with white, Christian people.

The racial aspect of this is further amplified with the repeated ridicule of the appearance of black slaves by the girls. One specific instance was when Cadiga (their caretaker) is trying to comfort the girls and suggests bringing in a well-renowned singer from Morocco to entertain them, to which Zorahayda (the youngest) responds: “I am terrified at the sight of these black slaves.”102

Again, there is the icon of the Muslim kings adopting astrology to make predictions about their childrens’ futures. For instance, when his wife had triplets, King Mohamed’s first action was to seek counsel from his astrologer: “As usual with all moslem monarchs, he summoned his astrologer on this happy event.”103

Like the stern and violent figure of Aben Hafuz in the “Legend of the Astrologer,” King

Mohamed was depicted as a harsh and irrational father to his triplets. This is playing on the trope that Muslim women are oppressed by Muslim men and the trope of Muslim men as violent and

101 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 206.

102 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 217.

103 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 202. 42 arbitrary. The girls were locked away in a palace far away from anywhere they could interact with the opposite sex, causing them to be angry at their father. When Cadiga (their caretaker) agrees that their father’s behavior is unreasonable, she declares“ He has indeed treated you most unreasonably. Keeping you shut up here to waste your bloom in a moping old tower, like roses left to wither in a flower jar.”104

In addition to this example, there is a more severe example of this when King Mohamed is transporting the Princesses from their remote palace to Grenada and he orders his carriage drivers to assassinate any man who is standing in the path so that his daughters would not have the opportunity to interact with any men.

In this legend, Cadiga is a double-dealing character whose actions reveal Irving’s framework of a struggle between Christianity and Islam. To begin, she is considered with high regard under King Mohamed’s eyes because she was the maiden of his late wife, the unnamed

Christian beauty. It is because of this that he trusts her with the upbringing of his daughters. At the same time, she boldly betrays King Mohamed’s trust by helping his daughters escape and leave the astrologers’ prophecy unfulfilled. Ultimately, she is responsible for conspiring with the

Guards in their escape and she is the one who delivers the news that the three Spanish Princes the daughters had been swooning over are interested in helping them escape. She says, “...treason has been proposed - and to me - the faithfulest of subjects - the trustiest of duennas...the Spanish cavaliers have dared to tamper with me; that I should persuade you to fly with them to Cordova,

104 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 226. 43 and become their wives.”105 She is delivering this news to the daughters, fully aware of their infatuation and longing for the three Spanish Princes.

In fact, she is the one who made it possible for there to be further interaction between the

Princes and Princesses, when she sent the prisoner Princes to sing under the tower that the girls were held captive in. Yet, she is lamenting about how the Princesses suspected that she would ever betray King Mohamed. If she had no intentions of betraying him, then she would not tell this news to the daughters and she would not give in to their persuasion so easily.

After a short discussion with the daughters, she says “...when I talked the matter over with Hussein Baba, he promised to take care of me if I would accompany you in your flight: but then, bethink you, my children; are you willing to renounce the faith of your father?”106 This indicates that before talking to them, she had already devised a plan with Hussein Baba, which she later goes on to discuss. Hussein Baba is a worker for their father and he is directly in charge of supervising the King’s prisoners (three of which were the Spanish Princes that helped the

Princesses escape). He is a Spaniard and a Christian by birth. Even though she had already made an escape plan for herself and the Princesses prior to discussing it with them, she still resisted the plan at first. This is because she wanted to manipulate the Princesses and for them to think that escaping is their own idea.

This is in part so that she could ask them the question which she ended with, to which the eldest daughter (characterized as curious and inquisitive) replies, “The Christian faith was the

105 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 224.

106 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 226. 44 original faith of our mother...I am ready to embrace it; and so I am sure are my sisters.”107 Cadiga agrees with this and goes on to reflect on how she herself has never stopped being a Christian and longs to go back to her land.

This longing for Christianity among the daughters, Cadiga, and even Hussein Baba creates this notion that once a person is committed to the Christian faith, their faith is so true that they are not likely to convert to any other religion, especially Islam. It was so easy for the daughters to agree to convert to Christianity, as it was their mother’s faith, even though Islam was their father’s and they grew up Muslim. Similarly, Cadiga and Hussein Baba had converted to Islam from Christianity and had been living peacefully as Muslims under King Mohamed but they both still regard themselves as Christians. This creates a hierarchy and depicts Christianity as a true faith, whereas Islam is the faith of the oppressors and false.

This hierarchy is replicated in the description of the daughters. For context, during the escape, not all of the daughters were able to leave the tower and the youngest daughter remained while the other two escaped. Throughout the legend, the youngest daughter was characterized as shy and meek, while the other two were characterized as beautiful and intelligent. When depicting the fate of the older daughters after they had escaped, Irving writes, “The beautiful

Princesses were forthwith received into the bosom of the church, and after being in all due form made regular Christians, were rendered happy lovers.”108 They are shown as happy lovers because they are the ones who left Islam and their Moorish, Muslim father for Christianity and their Princes whereas the youngest daughter who could not find the courage to escape is shown

107 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 226.

108 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 232. 45 to have weak character and be filled with regret. Irving writes, “It is thought, indeed, that she secretly repented having remained behind. Now and then she was seen leaning on the battlements of the tower and looking mournfully towards the mountains, in the direction of

Cordova…”109 Through this description of the daughters, the hierarchy between the attraction of

Islam and Christianity and between white Christians and non-white Muslims is reinforced.

In the “Legend of the Rose of the Alhambra,” Irving reintroduces the ghost of Zorahayda, who is the youngest daughter in the “Legend of the Three Princesses.” The Rose of the

Alhambra, who is a girl kept there as a captive by her aunt, stumbles upon her and engages her when Zorahayda says, “I was a convert in my heart, but I lacked courage equal to my faith, and lingered till too late.”110 Having died a Muslim was associated with being trapped and confined whereas to be set free, Zorahayda’s ghost would have to be baptized by a true Christian. This again reinforces Irving’s Christian Orientalist hierarchy of religions.

1.8 Legend of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel; Or, the Pilgrim of Love

In the chapter titled “Legend of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel: Or, the Pilgrim of Love,” Irving depicts the story of the Muslim Prince of Grenada. It begins with Prince Ahmed’s birth, which was occasion for the Muslim King to seek direction from astrologers. The astrologers predicted that Ahmed would be a “perfect Prince and a prosperous sovereign...If, however, he could be

109 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1a, 234.

110 Irving, Washington. A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards (Philadelphia: Carey and Lea, 1832), 1b, 291. 46 kept from the allurements of love until of mature age...”111 Irving’s association of this practice with Islam is again, Orientalist in nature.

As a result of the prophecy, Prince Ahmed was hidden away at a palace near the

Alhambra under the watchful eye of Eben Bonabben. Eben Bonnaben, who was reputed as a wise sage, “...had passed the greatest part of his life in Egypt, and making researches among the tombs and pyramids...”112 This connection between esoteric wisdom and the pyramids of Egypt reflects the use of masonic symbols. In this case, Eben Bonnaben is the stern guard who oppresses Prince Ahmed’s need to learn about love. Overall, his character is associated with being a disciplinary figure and his association with Masonic symbols adds a negative connotation to them. This again indicates that Irving may be writing to an anti-Masonic audience.

In one instance Eben Bonnaben attempts to demonstrate to Ahmed how to talk to birds, which he had learned during his time in Egypt. Irving says, “Fortunately Eben Bonabben had been instructed, when in Egypt, in the language of birds, by a Jewish Rabbin, who had received it in lineal transmission from Solomon the wise, who had been taught it by the Queen of

Sheba.”113 There is again a visible use of Masonic symbols. At the same time, there is an added layer of complexity in this case.

In this case, Irving calls on the following symbols of Judaism: “Jewish Rabbin,”

“Solomon the Wise,” and the “Queen of Sheba.” The association between Judaism and

111 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 199.

112 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 200.

113 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 203. 47

Freemasonry was popular during the early nineteenth century. In the early nineteenth century, as

Bogdan and Snoek state, “...anti-Masonry and anti-Semitism became inseparable. The main polemical discourse was about whether or not Freemasonry is actually run by the Jews, with the intent of destroying Christianity and assuming political power.” This association between anti-

Masonry and anti-Semitism furthered the anti-Semitic trope that Jews are all financially powerful and influential.114 Irving connects Judaism to Freemasonry, which was previously connected to

Islam in Irving’s writings. Therefore, this tactic further others all three groups.

At the same time, since there has been this connection between anti-Semitism and anti-

Masonry, it is possible that Irving is using these Jewish symbols to appeal to a sympathetic

Masonic audience, who may be less prone to be anti-Semitic, as a fellow othered group.

However, given that anti-Semitism was a social norm at the time and there were growing anti-Muslim sentiments, it is not a fair assumption that Freemasons would have been sympathetic to Jews or Muslims on the basis that they are also othered. This assumption is necessary to the theory that in this case, Irving is writing to a Masonic audience. Therefore, and for reasons discussed above, it is more likely that Irving is writing to an anti-Masonic audience.

Ahmed becomes increasingly curious and one day, a dove that he had earlier freed from captivity returns to him and recounts a beautiful Princess that it had seen. Ahmed becomes intrigued and writes a letter to this Princess, which the dove delivers and eventually returns with a picture (of the Princess) and a pearl necklace she gifted him. Upon hearing this information,

114 Henrik Bogdan and J.A.M. Snoek, Handbook of Freemasonry: Handbook of Freemasonry, (Brill: 2014), 1, 6. 48

Ahmed decides to escape his tower and enlists the help of an owl that lives near him. The owl advises Ahmed to visit a magician, whose raven originated from Egypt.115

When Ahmed finally finds the raven, the raven confesses that he does not know anything about the Princess but directs Ahmed and the owl to Cordoba, in search of a sage named

Abderehman. Upon arriving in Cordoba, Ahmed and the owl find Abderehman to be a parrot and when they ask him if he has seen the Princess, he recognizes her. Abderehman says, “She is the only daughter of the Christian King who reigns at Toledo, and is shut up from the world until her seventeenth birthday, on account of some prediction of those meddlesome fellows the astrologers.”116 In conjunction with the dove’s description of the Princess as incredibly beautiful,

Ahmed’s infatuation with her picture, and Abderehman’s confirmation that Ahmed’s Princess is a white, Christian Princess. This is consistent with Irving’s portrayal of beauty: white and

Christian.

Irving’s ideas of beauty ideals are also demonstrated when he describes the slaves that were attending Ahmed at his remote palace: “He had black slaves to attend upon him, --hideous mutes…”117 This reinforces the ideals of beauty that emphasized white supremacy.

Additionally, this is another legend where the Muslim, Moorish character goes to great measures in order to earn their status as the equal of a white, Christian. For context, when the parrot (who is now traveling with Ahmed and the owl) finds the Princess, she is filled with emotion. She was previously horrified because her father, the King, is hosting a championship

115 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 199-224.

116 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 225.

117 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 200. 49 where she is the winner’s prize but she knew that Ahmed would not be participating. When she sees the parrot, she urges Ahmed to participate and the owl tells him of armor in a secret cave that belonged to a Moor that only Muslims can wear.

The owl’s description of the armor forms a connection between the Moorish magician, generalized to Muslims, and the Arab identity of Ahmed’s horse: “...this armour belonged to a

Moorish magician...never to be used but by a Moslem...and beside it stood an Arabian steed.”118

This association between Muslims and Moors is prevalent throughout all of Irving’s legends but this one in particular, also included the term “Arabian.” This conflation of the three implies a racialization of Islam.

When Ahmed dons this armor that is made by a Muslim for Muslims to wear, he becomes very irrational and violent. For instance, his horse was driven out of control and attacked the

Christian Princess’ father.119 This portrayal of something that is Muslim-made making Ahmed violent is consistent with Irving’s narrative that Muslims and Muslim men, in particular, are violent.

After Ahmed escapes, he becomes very embarrassed for and regretful of his irrational behavior. The owl consoles him by relaying that when he was flying over the town, he heard about a magical box of sandalwood. The owl says the box was, “...inscribed with mystic characters known only to the learned few… coffer contained the silken carpet of the throne of

Solomon the wise; which doubtless had been brought to Toledo by the Jews who took refuge

118 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 232.

119 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 199-245. 50 there after the downfall of Jerusalem.”120 This use of Jewish symbols previously mentioned, such as “Solomon the Wise” and the correlation between esoteric knowledge is again indicative that

Irving is writing to an anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic audience. Specifically, the mention of some mysterious knowledge being brought to Toledo by the Jews is anti-Semitic in that it builds on existing tropes of Jews having secretive knowledge and plans to overthrow Christianity.

On the other hand, there is a purposeful imposition of the superiority of Christianity over

Islam and therefore, Christians over Muslims. This theme is evident when Ahmed disguises himself as a healer and plays a song to the same rhythm as the rhythm of the verses of the letter that he sent to the Princess. Because of this, she recognizes him and he uses a silk carpet to fly away with her. Then, the Princess’ father eventually finds her as the Sultana to Ahmed, who is the King. However, the Princess does not convert to Islam, even though all of the Princesses in the “Legend of the Three Princesses” who were raised Muslim converted to Christianity. The

Princess’ father was appeased to hear this news as Irving states, “The Christian King was easily pacified when he found that his daughter was suffered to continue in her faith; not that he was particularly pious; but religion is always a point of pride and etiquette with Princesses.”121

1.9 Legend of the Moor’s Legacy

The protagonist in the chapter titled “Legend of the Moor’s Legacy” is Pedro Gill, also known as Peregil. He is characterized as an honest, hard-working, and extremely pious Christian.

When Peregil saw a Muslim, Moorish man in the Alhambra, he followed the man’s request to be

120 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 239.

121 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 244. 51 taken to the city. He did this free of charge when the man had offered to pay because Peregil is the average good Christian character.

Irving says, “He accordingly helped the Moor on his donkey, and set off slowly for

Granada, the poor Moslem being so weak that it was necessary to hold him on the animal to keep him from falling to the Earth.”122 Here, he again conflates “Moors” and “Moslems.”

The Moor that Peregil is helping is so sick that he passes away at his house but before he dies, he gives Peregil a manuscript as a parting gift. Peregil does not understand the manuscript but takes it to a Moorish shop owner who comprehends it. The shopkeeper deciphers it and eventually, Peregil and the Moor find the gold. There is so much gold treasure that they were not able to move all of it at once. Before they can go back for the rest of the gold, unfortunately, their antics are exposed by investigators.

Then, the investigators are intrigued by the prospect of the remaining gold and ask the

Moor and Peregil to retrieve it. They agree, fearing that the consequences could be much worse otherwise. When the three investigators go into the lair of the tower to get the remaining gold, the selfish and cruel Moor traps the investigators under the lair with the gold. Then, the morally superior Peregil questions the Moor about his actions and claims them to be cruel. To this, the

Moor replies that “It is the will of Allah.”123 This is one of the only mentions of a Moor’s connection to his God, whereas it is constantly mentioned for the Christian characters. In this case, the Moor conducted what Peregil saw as a cruel act and was relating it back to his God.

This demonization of the Moor, with the mention of his God, also is an example of Irving’s

122 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 250.

123 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 250-255. 52 portrayal of Christianity being superior over Islam. Furthermore, when Irving associates God with the Moor’s cruel actions, he is associating Islam and God with cruelty.

This is especially true because although Peregil detested the Moor’s actions at the time, he still took his share of the spoils and used it. He moved to Portugal and lived the rest of life as an affluent man. While Peregil is portrayed as morally superior to the Moor, he still takes his share of the spoils and there is no mention of it tainting his morality whereas the Moor, his religion, and his God were all characterized as cruel for the same action. As Irving portrayed with the mason in the “Adventure of the Mason,” Irving has once more portrayed a Christian character who is absolved of guilt because he is Christian. Distinctively in this tale, the contrast to the Muslim character makes it clear that exemption from guilt for the same actions does not apply to Muslim characters.

1.10 Legend of the Two Discreet Statues

In the “Legend of the Two Discreet Statues,” there is once again a hardworking, cheerful, and pious Christian named Lope Sanchez. He has a daughter named Sanchica, who is the protagonist of this legend. One day, Sanchica is playing near an old Moorish fort and finds a talisman. She immediately brings it to her mother, who says to “Throw it away…it’s Moorish— depend upon it there’s mischief and witchcraft in it.”124 The characterization of the Moorish talisman as mischievous and related to witchcraft is consistent with the characterization of other

Moorish objects and characters. It is one-dimensional and inaccurate, leading itself into the category of Orientalist literature.

124 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 338. 53

After finding the talisman, Sanchica wanders into a cavern with it and accidentally releases Boabdil (the last Muslim sultan in Spain) and his army.125 Irving’s strange fascination with Boabdil is consistent with his fascination with other powerful individuals such as

Christopher Columbus, Prophet Mohammed, George Washington, etc., but his fascination with

Boabdil is also unique. While he was in Spain, he was intentionally visiting sites that were associated with Boabdil and he seemed to have a personal connection to him. Irving even believes that early historians who were recounting the reign of the Moors often misconstrued

Boabdil’s character and treated his character with “unfair treatment.” This sympathy towards the character of Boabdil is unique in that Irving has no qualms with portraying other Muslim characters in a negative light himself.

In the previous “Legend of the Governor and the Soldier,” the legend of Boabdil and his army hiding out under a cave while the ones murdered in battle were apparitions was discussed.

While wandering around a cavern, Sanchica accidentally releases that army. She runs and hides in a palace, where she stumbles upon an opening in the ground. In the opening, she finds the

Princess and the astrologer from the “Legend of the Arabian Astrologer.” When the Princess sees

Sanchica, she says, “Come hither, child, and fear not. I am a Christian like thyself, though bound here by enchantment. Touch my fetters with the talisman that hangs about thy neck, and for this night I shall be free.”126 Then, Sanchica breaks her out of the chains and the astrologer wakes but then the Princess plays her lyre and the Moorish astrologer goes back to sleep. This narrative of the Princess comforting Sanchica by saying that she is like her and together, they need to help

125 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 338-344.

126 Irving, Washington. Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards, 1b, 344. 54 her escape from the other furthers the narrative of the power of Christianity and Islam. Upon her first encounter with the Princess, Sanchica was able to help her on the basis of her also being a

Christian. This unity and solidarity is not depicted amongst the Muslim characters that Irving portrays. In fact, they are usually in conflict with each other. The depiction of unity in

Christianity but not in Islam, illustrates the power of Christianity over the power of Islam.

1.11 Conclusion

In Tales of the Alhambra, Washington Irving repeatedly alludes to language and tropes that illuminate the othering of Muslims, the inferiority of Islam and Muslims to Christianity and

Christians, and anti-Muslim sentiments in the Jacksonian era. Although Irving mainly refers to

Moors in this work, he often conflates the term with Muslims. This indicates that while he is referring to the Moors, he heavily associates them with Islam and therefore, when he is referring to Moors, he is being influenced by the images of Muslims he has consumed. On top of that, his conflation of the term leads to the audience consuming the language surrounding the Moors as images of Muslims.

Some of the repeated tactics that Washington uses include the constant association of

Muslim men with negative character traits and irrational behavior, the depiction of Moorish,

Muslim characters chasing white beauty, and the persistent assertion of Christianity’s superiority over Islam. In addition, Irving creates strategic and intentional connections between Muslims,

Masons, and Jews: all groups that were already othered and severely discriminated against in the

United States during the Jacksonian era. The mention of these very specific Masonic symbols in relation to Islamic and Jewish symbols cannot be unintentional. Based on contextual evidence 55 and Irving’s overall portrayal of Muslims in a definitely negative light, it is likely that any symbols associated with Muslims and Islam are portrayed negatively by association. It is therefore probable that Irving is writing to an anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic audience.

Using these strategies, Irving is able to construct an Other. Not only does he construct an other, but he also ensures (through repeated images) the inferiority of this group. Jacksonian

America was a time in American history where Americans were conflicted about national identity. Irving’s construction of Islam and Muslims, through fiction, provided a definition of what Americans are not. His American audience welcomed this portrayal to reduce their conflict of national identity. 56

CHAPTER 2

Edgar Allan Poe

2.1 Poe’s Biography and Orientalist Influence

In this chapter, I will analyze Edgar Allan Poe’s literary projects, including a review and several collections of poems and short stories. Through my analysis, I found abounding themes that were consistent in Poe’s writing and Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra. One example is the reinforcing of negative images of Muslims. Specifically, the trope of the angry and violent Muslim man is reproduced. There is also the excessive usage of Masonic symbols in both works. On the other hand, there were also several differences in Poe and Irving’s depiction of Muslims and Islam. For instance, Poe awards greater agency to Muslim women and exoticizes

Muslims more than Irving.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809 and died approximately 40 years later in

Baltimore in 1849. He was an author, poet, and well-renowned literary critic.127 However, the legacies of his most famous works such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Raven” led to him being associated with detective stories, mystery, fiction, and all that is other-wordly.128

Poe was born to English actress Elizabeth Poe and Baltimore-based actor David Poe,

Jr.129 Both his parents were professional actors in a Boston-based repertory company. He was the

127 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Raven-poem-by-Poe

128 “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” The Poe Museum, accessed January 25, 2020. https://www.poemuseum.org/the-murders-in-the-rue-morgue; Encyclopedia Britannica, “The Raven,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 25, 2020.https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven, all cited in, “Edgar Allan Poe.” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

129 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. 57 second of three children. His father abandoned his family a year after Poe’s birth.130 After the tragic passing of his mother when Poe was only about 2 years old, he was placed under the care of his godfather John Allan (a prosperous tobacco exporter)131 and his wife, who resided in

Richmond, Virginia.132 His other siblings were also sent to live with foster families.133 His godfather and godmother were childless and before Poe’s mother’s passing, his godmother grew very fond of him.134 Before Poe turned three years of age, he lost both of his birth parents.135

Throughout his lifetime, Poe had a complicated relationship with his guardian and godfather,

John Allan. One biographer, A.H. Quinn, attributes this animosity to Allan acknowledging that he wanted to pursue creative writing. He hypothesizes that there was tension between Poe and

Allan because both wanted to become authors but only Poe was actualizing his ambitions.136

He later travelled to Scotland and England in his childhood to receive a classical education, which he continued at the University of Virginia.137 At that point, the University of

Virginia had only been open for one year. It was the fruit of Thomas Jefferson’s labor against the

Conservative Church of England Presbyterian influence in the area, and insistence on building a

130 Hutchisson, James. Poe. (University Press of Mississippi, 2005), 15-20.

131 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1941), 51.

132 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020

133 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 15-20.

134 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. 51-65.

135 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/edgar-allan-poe

136 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. 109-116.

137 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020 58 non-sectarian university in Virginia.138 Jefferson’s vision was for the institution to foster “an environment where instructors and students would each pursue the art of learning in a mutual endeavor, a society of scholars whose only commitment was to truth.” He meticulously designed the institution to have few rules and gave students independence to personalize their courses to their learning interests. While this sounds utopian, the lack of laws led to anarchy and chaos at the university. It was riddled with gambling, drunkenness, and fistfights. There were several bizarre incidents that illustrate the severity of the violence. For example, a professor was observed “horsewhipping” his wife in public. In another instance, a student was involved in a physical fight with another student and bit his arm to leave a deep wound.139

Despite this atmosphere, Poe enjoyed his studies. He studied Spanish, French, and Italian and he was praised for his academic ability. He even entered the senior Latin and French classes and joined the Jefferson Debating Society. One of his classmates testified that Poe would only prepare for his recitation at the last minute and yet, he would receive the highest praise for it. In fact, Poe passed his ancient and modern languages exams with the highest honors.140

Unfortunately, after a short eleven months, he was suspended from the university and came home to Richmond, Virginia (where he had been raised by his godfather and godmother).141 This was due to the lack of financial support towards his university tuition from his godfather, John Allan, which compounded to a large debt under Poe’s name.142 It is unlikely

138 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. 97.

139 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 22-31.

140 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. 100.

141 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

142 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020. 59 that it was due to financial strain because Allan had inherited a large sum of monetary wealth from the recent passing of his uncle, William Galt. Some recent (2005) biographers, including

James Hutchisson, claim that Poe had accumulated gambling debts at the University of Virginia and Allan did not want to be complacent in this behavior. Hutchisson added that Allan was a parsimonious Christian who perceived gambling as vile and on top of that, Poe was likely borrowing from Jewish lenders to pay his debt, which would have further angered anti-semitic

Allan.143 Earlier biographers, such as A.H. Quinn, speculated that Poe’s involvement in gambling was a rumor and Allan was more bothered by Poe’s conduct towards him.144 With the exception of some early biographers, most agree that Allan was angered by Poe’s gambling addiction.

After a short stay working as a bookkeeper in Richmond, Poe quarreled with Allen and decided to relocate to Boston.145 There, he worked on his poetry and ultimately published a pamphlet of poems.146 This volume received negligible attention in the literary sphere.147

Due to financial struggles, Poe decided to join the army. He enlisted under the alias

“Edgar A. Perry” and was sent to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island.148 When his godmother subsequently passed away, John Allan purchased Poe’s ticket out of the army. Instead, Poe received an appointment into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.149 Before going to the

143 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 22-31.

144 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. 100.

145 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 22-31

146 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

147 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

148 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 22-31

149 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. 60

Academy, Poe published a new volume titled Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829.

Once he began attending the Academy, he was quickly expelled for his poor attendance.150 Poe was purposefully seeking to be dismissed from the Academy because Allan did not financially support Poe during his time at the Academy. At the same time, Allan was unwilling to sign the paperwork to release Poe from the Academy. This left Poe with no choice other than to intentionally attempt to be dismissed. He ultimately succeeded.151

Again, he emigrated from city to city before he began to write short stories for the first time.152 He gained some monetary prizes for his writing but he was not financially stable until his next career move. It was in 1835, when Poe became the editor of the Southern Literary

Messenger that he finally gained some financial security.153 He then married his young cousin and became a well known and established critical reviewer. Poe’s position at the Southern

Literary Messenger was the first of his many roles as an editor at well-renowned journals but he was once again suspended.154

150 “Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems (1829),” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, accessed January 25, 2020. https://www.eapoe.org/works/editions/atmp.htm, as cited in, “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

151 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

152 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

153 Poetry Foundation, “Edgar Allan Poe.”

154 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. 61

He then published a prose narrative titled, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym155 that famously blurred the lines between fiction and reality.156 Next, he published Tales of the

Grotesque and Arabesque,157 followed by “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,”158 which is believed to be the first detective story written.159 After publishing a few more major works, he became sub-editor of the New York Mirror, in which he published the poem that made him a household name: “The Raven.”160,161

After he published several other pieces and gained international fame, Poe’s wife passed away from tuberculosis in 1847.162 Following her death, he published a Transcendentalist work titled “Eureka,” which received mixed reviews.163 He was also engaged in a number of romantic affairs164 and he dedicated poems to each of them.165 One of these affairs included Sarah Helen

155 Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym [Pseud.] of Nantucket, North America: Comprising the Details of a Mutiny, Famine, and Shipwreck, during a Voyage to the South Seas; Resulting in various Extraordinary Adventures and Discoveries in the Eighty-Fourth Parallel of Southern Latitude. London: Wiley and Putnam, 1838.

156 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

157 “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, vol. I (1840), title page and table of contents,” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, accessed January 25, 2020. https://www.eapoe.org/works/editions/tgavolI.htm

158 The Poe Museum, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

159 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

160 Poetry Foundation, “The Raven.” Accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven

161 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

162 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

163 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

164 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

165 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. 62

Whitman, whom he proposed marriage to but was ultimately rejected.166 In his final years, he moved back to Richmond and became engaged to a widow named Elmira Royster until his final retreat to Baltimore.167 When he arrived there, he disappeared for five days.168 He was then found semi-conscious four days before his death and since he never regained his health from that state, he was never able to tell anyone the cause of his death.169According to one scholar, James

Hutchisson, Poe died from “congestion of brain” but the cause is unclear.170

He became even more well known after his passing. His legacy left him a major name in world literature and as the “architect of the modern short story.” His work has since been associated with the themes of crime, fiction, fantasy, terror, and sadness, receiving extremely mixed reviews from critics. For example, one of Poe’s friends R.W. Griswold wrote a scathing obituary for him in the New York Tribune. In the obituary, Griswold wrote that the disturbing psychological aspects seen in Poe’s work were inspired by Poe himself. Contrary to the vilification that Griswold may have intended through this obituary, many of Poe’s subsequent biographers were extremely sympathetic to defending him due to the defamation he faced in

Griswold’s obituary. There was no balanced account on Poe and his work until 1941, when A.H.

Quinn published Poe’s first biography.171 In this biography, Quinn starts by saying, “There is a mass of evidence, based upon contemporary personal knowledge of Poe or later scholarly

166 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 42-63.

167 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

168 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 42-63.

169 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

170 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 42-63.

171 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020. 63 research, which must be weighed carefully before it is accepted or rejected.”172 As indicated by

Quinn’s statement in the “Preface” of his work, he is attempting to be unbiased, unlike Poe’s previous biographers.

Not only was his character questioned by critics, but the contribution of his work to the field was also questioned. Some of the critics claiming that Poe’s work was not a serious contribution to literature included well-known authors such as Henry James, Aldous Huxley, and

T.S. Eliot. They collectively perceived Poe’s work as “juvenile, vulgar, and artistically debased.”

On the other hand, some of the highest esteemed writers such as Bernard Shaw and William

Carlos Williams defended Poe’s contributions to literature.173

Despite some harsh criticism, Poe’s work became internationally renowned. Several literary studies have demonstrated Poe’s influence on the global literary scene, especially in

Russia, Japan, Scandinavia, and Latin America.174 One study investigating the influence of

American literature on Japanese literature found that the two most influential American authors were Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe.175 Despite Poe eventually earning international esteem, he was most influential in France where his work was used as a guide to criticism, composition, imagery, and poetry.176 French Symbolist poets Charles Baudelaire and Stéphane

Mallarmé, who played a large role in defining modern literature, were also responsible for a large

172 Quinn, A. H. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1941) 1- 10.

173 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

174 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

175 Inoue, Ken. "The Influence of American Literature in Taishō and Prewar Shōwa Japan." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020. https://oxfordre.com/literature/view/10.1093/acrefore/ 9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-208.

176 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. 64 portion of Poe’s success.177 In the 1850s, Baudelaire produced extensive translations of and commentaries on Poe’s work.178

The connection between Poe and modern literature is evident through his influence on the writing of authors such as Ambrose Bierce and H.P. Lovecraft. Poe’s wild imagination also inspired the 20th century movement of Surrealism. One writer of the Surrealism Movement who was particularly influenced by Poe is Paul Valéry. Valéry was specifically attracted by the aspect of “supreme rationalism” in Poe’s work.179

Besides France, Poe was also influential in Europe overall. He was a major proponent of the widespread 19th century movement in European literature: “art for art’s sake.”180 This movement was found on the basic principle that “art is self-sufficient and need serve no moral or political purpose…[and] denied that art could or should be in any way useful.”181 Poe was a believer in this philosophy and therefore, it should be assumed that the symbols that he used may not always be purposeful or intentional.

He was an inspiration to many European writers but he was also influenced by them. It was believed that Poe admired literary figures like Shakespeare,182 who was known to be an

177 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

178 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

179 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

180 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020.

181 “Art for Art's Sake - Oxford Reference.” Art for art's sake - Oxford Reference, October 31, 2019. https:// www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095426605.

182 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed January 12, 2020. 65

Orientalist,183 especially in his works like Othello.184 Given that he received a classical education and notably admired Shakespeare, it is likely that Poe was influenced by previous Orientalist literature.

Much of the Orientalist literature at the time was driven by the antagonization of the

Orient as a result of the narrative of the Barbary War.185 When Thomas Jefferson became president, there were growing tensions between the U.S. and the Barbary states (“the Ottoman

Regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, along with independent Morocco”).186 Americans were becoming increasingly frustrated with the Barbary pirates. As a result, the U.S. went to war with the Barbary states twice: Tripoli from 1801-1805 and Algiers from 1815-1816. The tensions escalated to war twice but other times, the U.S. signed peace treaties in exchange for captives or free trade. Even after this war, the Barbary pirates were persistent and they continued their raids until the French conquered Algeria in 1830.187

One scholar, Thomas Montgomery, points out how Poe was seven years old at the time that the Barbary wars were ending. Montgomery argues that Poe uses “American representations of the Middle East that emerged from these conflicts for creative purposes.”188

183Haegap, Jeoung, “An Africanist-Orientalist discourse: the other in Shakespeare and Hellenistic tragedy,” LSU Doctoral Dissertations (2003). https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1532

184 Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Othello: The Moor of Venice. A Tragedy. by William Shakespeare. Dublin: printed for Peter Wilson, in Dame-Street, 1751.

185 Montgomery, Travis. “The Near East,” in Edgar Allan Poe in Context. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

186 “Monticello.” First Barbary War. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and- collections/first-barbary-war.

187 U.S. Department of State. Accessed March 6, 2020. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/barbary- wars.

188 Montgomery, Travis, “The Near East,” 53-63. 66

Some specific figures that Poe was influenced by include E.T.A. Hoffman and Ann

Radcliffe, for their Gothic aspects as well as many figures from the Romantic movement of the early 19th century. Specifically, some of his earlier work was influenced by English romantics such as Lord Byron, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley.189 Poe himself later declared that he was influenced by British romanticists Byron, Coleridge, and Moore.190 Poe was so influenced by British romantic poets that one of his collections had to, in fact, be revised as he was accused of “literary theft.”191

Poe was also influenced by Irving. In fact, he asked Irving to endorse one of his collections.192 Poe wrote to Irving, saying, “If I could be permitted to add even a word or two from yourself...my fortune would be made.”193 Not only is this a testament to Irving’s influence in American literature at the time, but it also reveals Irving’s influence on Poe and potentially, his writing.

Like the works of these other authors, the Orient manifests itself in Poe’s work through his continual use of the trope of exoticized Orientalist heroines described as houris and angels based in the Quran, along with the continual use of the Orient as the setting to his stories.194

189 “Edgar Allan Poe,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 12, 2020.

190 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the ‘Middle East’ in Aal-Aaraaf" (masters in English) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

191 Montgomery, Travis. “Turning East: Poe’s 1831 Poems and the Renewal of American Verse,” Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, 2011.

192 Neimeyer, Mark. "Poe and Popular Culture." In , 205-224. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

193 Cambridge University Press, "Poe and Popular Culture."

194 Yothers, Brian. “Desert of the Blest’: Poe’s Anti-Representational Invocations of the Near East.” Gothic Studies, 2010. 67

However, some scholars such as Malini Schueller, believe that Poe’s Orient “resists being othered and causes epistemological crisis for the adventuring hero from the new world.”195

2.2 Al Aaraaf

Poe’s “Al Aaraaf” (1829) was among some of the first poems he ever published.196 It received mixed reviews, but they were mostly negative. As cited by Sohaib Kamal Mahmood Al-

Kamal in his Master’s Thesis at the Missouri State University, one critic called it “unintelligible” while another said it “is a mere exercise in metrical manipulation, with no higher purpose than the beauty of sound.” Poe was even criticized at a public recitation of the poem at the Boston

Lyceum. Then, there were other critics who were more lenient, as they declared “that the poem, in spite of its many defects, is not without real merit will be apparent on a careful examination of it” and that the poem demonstrates “Poe's mature poetry.”197

As the prelude to the poem states, “Al Aaraaf, among the Arabians, a medium between

Heaven and Hell, is supposed to be located in the celebrated star discovered by Tycho Brahe, which burst forth in one night upon the eyes of the world, and disappeared suddenly.”198 Poe was describing Al Aaraaf, the Muslim equivalent of a Purgatory between Heaven and Hell, that has

195 Schueller, Malini. U.S. Orientalisms: Race, Nation, and Gender in Literature, 1790-1890. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998.

196 Hutchisson, James. Poe. 32-14.

197 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the ‘Middle East’ in Aal-Aaraaf,” 72.

198 “Al-Aaraaf,” Poets.org. Accessed May 2nd, 2020. https://poets.org/poem/al-aaraaf 68 its own chapter dedicated to it in the Quran.199 Considering Al-Aaraaf is a Quranic reference, Poe is conflating the Arabians with Muslims. Therefore, from this point forward, it should be assumed that he is talking about Muslims when he mentions an Arabian character. Also, the star that was discovered by Tycho Brahe has no relation to the stars referred to in the Quran. Poe’s mixing of these two very different sources to make one continuous story is creative but also blurs the line between the Orient and the Occident. It makes the Orient more accessible to the

Occident but also exoticizes the Occident, through its association with the exoticized Orient.

Most scholars of Poe agree that Poe’s knowledge of the Quran stems mainly from George

Sale’s 1734 translation of the Quran, as well as references to this translation in Thomas Moore’s

Lalla Rookh.200 One scholar, Travis Montgomery, commented that “Poe was no Arabic scholar, and he used works like Sale’s and Moore’s to interpret Muslim cultures.”201 In particular, it is speculated that Poe drew on chapter 7 of Sale’s translation, which included his commentary on

Al Aaraaf.202 In chapter 7, T. O. Mabbott, a curator of Poe’s works, states that Poe was specifically inspired by the lines: “And between the blessed and the damned there shall be a veil; and men shall stand on Al Arâf who shall know every one of them by their marks; and shall call

199 “Surah Al-Araf”h, Quran.com. Accessed May 2nd, 2020, https://quran.com/7

200 “From “Al Aaraaf” to the Universe of Stars: Poe, the Arabesque, and Cosmology” Author(s): Stephen Rachman Source: The Edgar Allan Poe Review , Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring 2014), pp. 1-19 Published by: Penn State University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/edgallpoerev.15.1.0001

201 Montgomery, Travis. “Turning East: Poe’s 1831 Poems and the Renewal of American Verse,” 52-62.

202 “From “Al Aaraaf” to the Universe of Stars: Poe, the Arabesque, and Cosmology” 1-19. 69 unto the inhabitants of paradise, saying, Peace be upon you: yet they shall not enter therein, although they earnestly desire it” ( 7:46).203

Poe began composing this poem during his short lived military appointment, which may have inspired him to write about this topic in particular.204 This is because, as Sale comments, one of the groups of people who are designated to Al Aaraaf are “those who have gone to war without their parents’ leave.”205

Besides the title, this poem is filled with Quranic imagery. In The Early American

Qur’an: Islamic Scripture and US Canon, Jeffrey Einboden writes that Al Aaraaf is

“superimposing a Quranic sura upon his American verses.”206 A sura is a chapter and many verses make up a sura. In other words, Einboden is saying that Poe is attaching his own meaning to but at the same time, appropriating symbols from the Quran (by adopting the chapter name and the astronomical elements of it). This again indicates how Poe is making Quranic imagery more accessible to an American audience. At the same time, he is de-islamizing this very sacred meaning and exploiting Islamic symbols for aesthetics.

In the body of this poem, Poe mainly manifests Islamic symbols through the character of

Nesace. To begin, Nesace is shown kneeling in front of God.207 This is referred to as sajda and is a major aspect of the five daily prayers, called namaz, that are performed by Muslims. Another

203 The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000.; Sale, George. Alcoran of Mohammed. (1734) 7:46.

204 “From “Al Aaraaf” to the Universe of Stars: Poe, the Arabesque, and Cosmology” 1-19.

205 Sale, George. Alcoran of Mohammed. (1734) 7:00.

206 Einboden, Jeffrey. The Early American Qur’an: Islamic Scripture and US Canon., as cited in From “Al Aaraaf” to the Universe of Stars: Poe, the Arabesque, and Cosmology” 1-19.

207 “Al-Aaraaf,” Poets.org. Accessed May 2nd, 2020. 70 example is the metaphor of the Prophet Muhammad in Nesace. Nesace sounds similar to the

Arabic word Nusuki that is mentioned in the Quran: “Say, Verily my prayers, and my worship

[Nusuki], and my life, and my death are dedicated unto God, the Lord of all creatures: he hath no companion. This have I been commanded: I am the first Moslem” (6:162).208 Not only does

Nesace sound similar to Nusuki, the verse demonstrates the theme of piousness and Nesace is depicted as devout, like the Prophet. In addition, the narrator is speaking to Prophet

Muhammad.209 As philologist William Cairns points out, “It is the domain of Nesace, a celestial maiden whose mission it is to bear the divine message of beauty from world to world throughout the universe.”210 Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad spread the divine message to his followers.

Although this metaphor is consistent throughout the poem, it is incredibly offensive and blasphemous to Muslims. This manifestation of another figure that is supposed to correlate with

Prophet Muhammad would be considered idolatry. It is very likely that Poe was aware of the severe implications of this actions, which indicates that he is again exploiting Islamic symbols to add aesthetics to his writing. Although this is not immediately harmful, it contributes to the normalization of the spread of false narratives surrounding Islam and Muslims and can be dangerous in the long term. In addition, it can be perceived as immediately harmful in the sense that he is exploiting and appropriating a culture that he has no intention of understanding or portraying accurately.

208 Sale, George. Alcoran of Mohammed. (1734) 6:162

209 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the ‘Middle East’ in Aal-Aaraaf,” 75-76.

210 Cairns, William B. "Some Notes on Poe's" Al Aaraaf"." Modern Philology 13.1 (1915): 35-44. 71

While Poe acknowledges the asceticism of Nesace, he also objectifies and sensualizes her by describing her physical body parts. He says, “her cheek was flushing, and her lips apart/ and zone that clung around her gentle waist...heaving her white breast to the balmy air/ Like guilty beauty, chasten’d, and more fair —.“211 This description is similar to the Quranic verse “and damsels with swelling breasts, of equal age with themselves, and a full cup.”212 While Poe’s attempt at mimicking this Quranic verse is clear, it is also blasphemous to objectify a figure that is supposed to be representing the respected Prophet in such a way. This is immediately harmful because it normalizes offensive speech against the Prophet and against Muslims. His description of a figure that is associated with Prophet Muhammad, and therefore Muslims, is sensualizing and misogynistic. However, Poe is also describing the beauty of a Muslim-adjacent woman and by doing so, he is rebelling against Irving’s hierarchy of beauty standards that places Muslims at the bottom.

2.3 Israfel

The poem “Israfel”213 by Edgar Allan Poe was first published in 1831 (two years after

“Al-Aaraaf” was published), with several later editions being released.214 Many critical sources, including the poem itself, claim that “Israfel” is named after an angel mentioned in the Quran.

However, there is only mention of a few angels by name in the Quran and Israfel is not one of

211 “Al-Aaraaf,” Poets.org. Accessed May 2nd, 2020.

212 Sale, George. Alcoran of Mohammed. (1734)

213 “Israfel,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 16, 2020. httpshttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48628/israfel

214 “Overview: Israfel,” Oxford Reference, accessed January 16, 2020. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100013441 72 them. Although his name is never mentioned, his role is. The Quran says, “And the Trumpet is blown; then whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth will (get) stunned, excepting whom Allah decides (to exempt). Thereafter it will be blown another time; then, only then will they be upright, looking on!,” according to a translation by Dr. Ghali.215

Although he is never mentioned by name in the Quran, Israfel is mentioned in the Hadith.

The hadith are another sacred source of information for Muslims, but they are not believed to be the direct word of God as the Quran is. Rather, the hadith are a collection curated by the companions of the Prophet (and their descendants, in some cases), that consist of sayings of the

Prophet to his companions. It is because of the hadith that it is common knowledge that verse is referring to the angel Israfel, who will be blowing the trumpet on the Day of Judgement.

Therefore, the claim that the name Israfel is from the Quran is inaccurate even though it is based in sacred knowledge.

On top of this false claim, Poe begins his poem titled “Israfel” with a quote that he claims is taken directly from the Quran. Poe says, “And the angel Israfel, whose heart-strings are a lute, and who has the sweetest voice of all God’s creatures. -Koran.”216 This verse does not exist in the

Quran.217 Changing the words of the Quran is a great sin but completely inventing new verses is considered severe blasphemy. The Quran is considered the word of God so any alteration to it is perceived as a malicious perversion. However, it is possible that due to his lack of exposure to

215 “Az-Zumar,” Quran.com, accessed January 16, 2020. https://quran.com/39/68?translations=95,85,21,101,22,19,18,17

216 “Israfel,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 16, 2020.

217 Wazzan, Adnan M. “Islamic Elements in Poe's Poems 'Al-Aaraaf' and 'Israfel'.” Islamic Studies 27, no. 3 (1988): 221–29. 73 actual Muslims, despite being well versed in literature that is supposedly representative of

Muslims, Poe was not aware of the blasphemous nature of his actions.

Nevertheless, it is clear that Poe had no interest in Israfel’s representation in the Quran.

Instead, he used the allusion to Israfel and the Quran to add an element of something that is exotic and foreign to his work. This rings particularly true because Israfel is an angel and therefore, much of the imagery used to describe him literally refers to things out of this world.

Other than the literal sense, Islam was considered a religion of foreigners and therefore, not

American. In this work, Poe referenced these Islamic symbols to build credibility. As a new writer to an American readers, he was using Islamic symbols to deliver work that would be perceived as fresh and creative, as these symbols were new to an American audience. On top of that, his intellect and credibility would be raised as he would be perceived as a man who is well- immersed in global cultures.

In the first stanza of the poem, Poe refers to the musical talent of the angel Israfel by saying, “None sing so wildly well As the angel Israfel.”218 This demonstrates Lord Byron’s (a known Orientalist) influence on Poe’s work. Byron, like Poe, is known to centralize characters that are perceived as creative geniuses. While Byron’s characters are not usually Orientals, with the exception of a few, there is a motif of characters who are artistically talented. This theme is reproduced with the character of Israfel. However, Israfel is an angel based in the Quran and therefore, related to the Orient in the binary of the Orient and the Occident. By displaying that a character related to the Orient could have artistic talent, Poe (probably unintentionally) adds a dimension and artistic agency to Oriental characters that is unprecedented in Irving’s work.

218 “Israfel,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 16, 2020. 74

Irving’s representations of Oriental characters included simple characters that followed a few repeated tropes that determined their role in any given tale. Even based on the first stanza of this poem, it is evident that Poe’s Muslim, Oriental characters have more layers than Irving’s.

Nevertheless, Poe’s choice of language to describe the Oriental character Israfel indicates a de-islamization of Israfel and by extension, the Orient. For instance, the hadith indicates that

Israfel plays a trumpet but Poe depicted him playing a “lyre.”219 As one scholar Sohaib Kamal

Mahmood Al-Kamal points out, this reduces the religious significance of Israfel in the Quran.

Instead, it shifts the image of Israfel into a figure that is of “mythological and poetic significance like Apollo, the god of music who plays the most tuneful and melodious notes on his lyre.”220

Poe purposefully uses this language, probably to provide the audience with a familiar reference to relate the character of Israfel to. However, in the process, he partially reverses the Islamic context of Israfel that he established earlier in the poem.

In addition to erasing the Islamic origins of the angel Israfel, Poe also comments on female Muslim beauty in this poem. One other major piece of evidence for this is his use of the word “Houri” in “Israfel.” Travis Montgomery, who is a scholar of Poe’s poems, clarifies that

“Houris” are “the lovely virgins of paradise” in Islam.221 In the Chapter of the Quran titled Al-

Waqi’ah, it is stated that men who are faithful to Allah will receive “...fair women with large,

[beautiful] eyes…” (56:22) in paradise.222 The term “fair” is not referring to their skin color, it is

219 “Israfel,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 16, 2020.

220 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the "Middle East" in Aal-Aaraaf,” 54.

221 Montgomery, Travis. “Turning East: Poe’s 1831 Poems and the Renewal of American Verse.”

222 Surah Al-Waqi’ah. Quran.com. Accessed May 2nd,2020. https://quran.com/56 75 calling them beautiful. A line of the poem reads, “Where Houri glances are Stay/Turn thine eyes afar.”223 When he refers to the eyes of Houris, he is referencing the common Islamic belief that

Houris are pure virgins but have dark and alluring eyes. This reference to Muslim female beauty is purposeful in several ways. In his own manner, Poe is proclaiming that Muslim female beauty exists. This is already so much more than Irving, who included virtually no Muslim female characters in his tales. Poe is not only including them, he is calling them beautiful.

This is then undermined by the fact that he uses a reference that is described as not existing on Earth, as they only exist in Paradise. To Americans at that time, Muslim women were already a distant, foreign object. There are a number of female beauty symbols mentioned in the

Quran and hadith that Poe could have used. Poe’s usage of a reference that includes Muslim women that only exist in Paradise makes this reference even more distant for his American audience. Therefore, it probably did not have as much of a positive impact on the skewed

(against Muslims) beauty standards that Irving loudly projects to his audience.

Through this contradiction and the contradiction of the de-islamizing Israfel earlier in the poem, it is evident that Poe is not intentionally trying to portray a positive image of Muslims. If he was, he might attempt to be more accurate or choose a more relatable symbol of Muslim female beauty. Instead, I believe that he is using Islamic symbols that are unfamiliar to an

American audience to establish his credibility as a writer.

Poe’s furthering the exoticizing of the Orient by alluding to Islamic symbols in his work is different from Irving’s treatment of Islamic symbols. Irving is much more rigid in repeated portrayals of the Oriental, Muslim characters as violent, irrational, and inferior in beauty to the

223 “Israfel,” Poetry Foundation, accessed January 16, 2020. 76 white, Christian, Occidental characters. Poe, on the other hand, uses Islam to elevate his writing.

At times, these symbols improve Muslim representation (compared to previous representations, such as Irving’s). However, they are still inaccurate and normalize the circulation of materials that describe inaccurate information about Islam and Muslims. Nevertheless, Irving’s Orientalist literature is of much greater harm to the image of Islam and Muslims than Poe’s. Still, both are harmful to the perception of Muslims in the United States and are a part of the Orientalism that is a precursor to Islamophobia.

In particular, Poe’s treatment of the Orient as a means to an end of exotic pleasure foreshadows the motifs in American Orientalist media and literature in the late nineteenth century. As scholar of Orientalism Holly Edwards details, the Orientalism of the late nineteenth century was focused on the exoticizing and othering of the Orient.224 As Said details, this is in part due to the influence of the French and British and their agenda of using Orientalist literature to justify their colonialist agendas.225 However, there is a precursor to this exoticization in the works of authors such as Poe.

To some degree, being a practitioner of music is a sin or at the very least, is frowned upon amongst Muslims today. This is because it is seen as a disturbance and distraction in a life of peace and service to God. However, when it comes to singing praises of God, the matter is a little more controversial. Various Islamic schools of thought have various opinions on this and there is even disagreement within the schools of thought. Today, there are many forms of “music” that is used to praise God in the Islamic world. At the most conservative end, there are poems chanted

224 Edwards, Holly. Noble Dreams, Wicked Pleasures: Orientalism in America, 1870-1930. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.

225 Said, Edward W. Orientalism. 77 with no instruments; in the most open interpretation, there are songs with many instruments.

However, there is consensus that music outside of this context is forbidden. Therefore, Poe’s continual assertion throughout this poem that Israfel was a gifted musician would be considered blasphemous for most Muslims. Once again, note that Poe is not accurately portraying the

Islamic context of an Oriental, Muslim character.

There is no mention of him singing praises to God in the poem. However, when Israfel’s musical talent is mentioned in the hadith, only the fact that his voice is beautiful and that he sings praises to God is mentioned.226 In addition, although Israfel is recognized as having a beautiful voice in the hadith, he is not one of the figures who is described to have the gift of rhythm or poetry. The Quran says, “And your Lord is most knowing of whoever is in the heavens and the earth. And We have made some of the prophets exceed others [in various ways], and to David We gave the book [of Psalms].”227 As described in this verse, it is David who is known to be musically talented, not Israfel.

Based on this information, it is clear that Poe has no interest in accurately portraying the

Muslim characters. Again, he is more invested in using the Islamic symbols to creatively elevate his work. In fact, in his Masters Thesis, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood Al-Kamal at Missouri State

University wrote, “For Poe, Islam and the Qur’an were apparently seen as a mere exotic world and a ripe world of fictitious stories and beliefs. His view of this world is an absolute artistic

226 “Encyclopedia of Islam: THREE,” BRILL, accessed January 17, 2020. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/*-COM_32620

227 “Verse (17:55) - English Translation,” Language Research Group at the University of Leeds, accessed January 20, 2020. http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=17&verse=55 78 view or source of inspiration.”228 While there is nothing intrinsically Orientalist about using

Islam as a source of inspiration, it is his de-islamization of Islamic symbols and inaccurate portrayal of Muslims that contributes to Orientalism.

As a young writer, he is more concerned with appealing to an audience. Therefore, it is also possible that he portrayed Israfel as a singing angel to provide the audience with characteristics of an angel that they can relate to angels in their own religious traditions. As a scholar of Poe, Dwayne Thorpe writes, the poem “Israfel” shows a “Christian source in a thoroughly non-Christian way.”229 Through undermining the Islamic background of his Muslim,

Oriental characters, Poe makes them much more accessible to a Christian audience. At the same time, he places special emphasis on these symbols being based in Islam so they are not seen as fully Christian. Through this technique, Poe creates a text that is creative and novel, yet accessible to the American Christian.

The notion that Poe has an Orientalist perspective is strengthened by evidence that

“Israfel” was inspired by Thomas Moore’s Lalla Rookh.230 According to the Edgar Allan Poe

Society of Baltimore, the inspiration for “Israfel” came specifically from a reference to the angel

Israfel in Lalla Rookh.231 In Lalla Rookh, Moore makes a reference to Israfel in a note: “‘The angel Israfil, who has the most melodious voice of all God’s creatures’ --Sale.”232 This misquotes

228 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the "Middle East" in Aal-Aaraaf."50.

229 Thorpe, Dwayne. “Poe’s” The CIty in the Sea”: Source and Interpretation.” American Literature, 1979.

230 Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852. Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance.

231 “Israfel,” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, accessed January 18, 2020. https://www.eapoe.org/works/mabbott/tom1p047.htm

232 Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852. Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance. 79

George Sale’s translation of the Quran (which Poe has regularly used as a source of information on Islam), since Sale never mentioned Israfil in his translation.233 Also, this note may appear familiar because it is identical to the one included at the beginning of “Israfel.” This further elucidates that Poe was inspired by Moore. Lalla Rookh is well known as an Orientalist text, featuring a negative and constructed depiction of the Orient. Moore’s Lalla Rookh revolves around a Princess, who is travelling from Delhi, India to Kashmir to meet her husband-to-be.

Unbeknownst to her, he is travelling with her and is disguised as a poet. On the way to Kashmir, he tells her tales that include depictions of harems, lousy attempts at revolutions against the

British by the Indians (modern-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), and Muslims as cruel colonizers that religious minorities (such as Zoroastrians) revolt against.234 The text is overall negative in its portrayal of Orientals, especially Muslims.

In addition, one of Poe’s biographers, Hervey Allen claimed that Poe’s “Israfel” was inspired by his Brother Henry’s voyages to the Mediterranean.235 It is not clear whether he was inspired by his brother’s voyages or Moore’s writing, or a combination of both.

2.4 Ligeia

In “Ligeia” (published in 1838) by Edgar Allan Poe, the title character is an Oriental, seemingly Muslim, woman who is described as beautiful. The narrator of the story begins by proclaiming that he forgot when, where, or how he met Ligeia. He also cannot seem to remember

233 Sale, George. Alcoran of Mohammed. (1734).

234 Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852. Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance.

235 Quinn, Arthur Hobson, 1875-1960. Edgar Allan Poe, a Critical Biography. 80 anything about her, except for her physical appearance. Poe describes her physical appearance with exoticizing language. For instance, Poe uses the words “strange” and “exquisite” to describe

Ligeia’s facial features.236 However, her beauty is not described as “the standard beauty,” which refers to American Eurocentric beauty standards.

As in “Israfel,” Poe makes a Quranic reference by using the term “houri” to describe

Ligeia. He declares, “her beauty…[was] the beauty of the fabulous Houri of the Turk.”237 In this verse, Poe is conflating the term “Turk” with “Muslims” (since Houri is a Quranic reference) as

Irving conflated the term “Moors” with “Muslims.” In making this allusion to the Quran, Poe is also establishing that Ligeia is probably Muslim. Once again, Poe is contrasting Irving’s erasure of Muslim women. Poe is in fact uplifting them by describing them as beautiful. Nonetheless, his description is still harmful in this case, since he is using exoticizing and misogynistic language that objectifies her. To note, this analysis is based on my close readings of Ligeia as a Muslim.

There are other readings that exist, where Poe alludes that Ligeia is Jewish. His clumping of symbols (Islamic and Jewish) that are not seen as American and mixing them in his poems further supports the notion that he is using these symbols as a means to an end to his aestheticism.

Poe reveals that Ligeia is Muslim but the narrator still marries her and is astounded by her knowledge of languages and sciences.238 The fact that he is shocked indicates that he had preconceived notions about the Orient and the lack of knowledge that its women have, at least

236 “An exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.” Ligeia. Accessed Feb. 20th, 2020, https://poestories.com/ read/ligeia

237 “An exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.” Ligeia. Accessed Feb. 20th, 2020.

238 “An exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.” Ligeia. Accessed Feb. 20th, 2020. 81 pertaining to science and language. At the same time, Poe’s depiction of a Muslim woman as beautiful and intelligent is groundbreaking (especially in comparison to blatantly Orientalist works like Irving’s). In fact, Malini Schueller, who has extensively studied Poe’s works, points out that Ligeia is a “challenge to the centrality of Western civilization” through her knowledge of science and language.239 While I agree that Ligeia’s character challenges the narrator’s and audiences’ assumptions about her based on her being a Muslim woman, I don’t think it is likely that Poe is intentionally portraying her in a positive light.

Instead, I believe that Poe is capitalizing on her exoticization. First, her physical experience was exoticized and then, her intellect. The narrator describes her knowledge as

“forbidden” wisdom.240 When the narrator claims that Ligeia is trying to teach him “forbidden” wisdom, he is characterizing Ligeia’s knowledge as mystical and magical, in the same way that

Irving portrayed many Muslim characters as astrologers and magicians. Irving’s wizards were also described as having some “forbidden” knowledge that was sinister in nature and not accessible to members of the Occident. Although Poe develops this harmful trope in a very exoticizing manner, his treatment of Ligeia provides her with agency in that she had the agency to acquire this knowledge about science, languages, and forbidden wisdom. In addition, she has the agency to attempt to teach that to the narrator. Seeing that Irving’s work contained no depictions of Muslim women, he clearly did not wish to award the same agency to them.

239 Schueller, Malini. U.S. Orientalisms: Race, Nation, and Gender in Literature, 1790-1890.

240 Poe, Edgar Allan. ligeia. 82

Seemingly, this agency does not last long. Ligeia eventually dies and the narrator settles down in England with “the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine.”241

The description of this woman is the antithesis of Poe’s description of Ligeia. As expected, the woman from the Occident fits the beauty standards that are seen as most prevalent in the West at the time. Her physical appearance is described in the same, misogynistic manner that Ligeia’s was described. The narrator and Rowena’s married life is full of troubles and after one night when the narrator is in a drugged state, he vaguely recalls adding a fluid to his wife’s wine. Soon after, she dies and is wrapped for her funeral.242 This implies that she died by being poisoned by the narrator. While she was dying, he tried to revive Rowena but she ultimately passed. However, the next morning, the narrator touches Rowena, her funeral wrap is unwrapped, and she emerges as Ligeia.243

This surprising turn of events indicates that Poe’s representation of beauty is the antithesis to Irving’s. Irving repeatedly depicted romances between a Muslim (mainly men) and a

Christian (mainly a woman), in which the Christians were painted as highly beautiful and desirable. In Poe’s telling of a romance between a Christian and a Muslim, the Christian man poisons his Christian wife in order to be with a Muslim woman, whose memory he is haunted by.

First and foremost, Poe completely revolts from the work of predecessors such as Irving by reversing the hierarchy of beauty that Irving established. In this case, the Christian man is yearning for the desirable Muslim woman, to the point where he murdered his wife. In addition,

241 “An exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.” Ligeia. Accessed Feb. 20th, 2020.

242 “An exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.” Ligeia. Accessed Feb. 20th, 2020.

243 “An exploration of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.” Ligeia. Accessed Feb. 20th, 2020. 83 this turn of events depicts the Christian man as disloyal and cunning. This is also a rebellion against Irving’s notion that Christian characters have permanent reign over the moral high ground, regardless of their actions. On the other hand, since the Muslim woman was earlier described as having forbidden abilities, it is possible that an American reader views her as a temptress and blames her for coercing the Christian man into murdering his wife. Either way the audience would perceive it, the Christian woman is the victim in this case. This misogynistic trope is consistent with Irving’s portrayal of Christian women, who tend to depend heavily on men (especially for protection). Although both Poe and Irving portray Christian women as inferior to their male counterparts, their interactions are portrayed differently. For instance,

Christian women in Irving’s work’s were usually hurt by Muslim characters (one example includes the astrologer who abducts the Christian Princess in “Tales of the Astrologer”) but in

Poe’s case, a Christian man killed his wife. Finally, the symbol of Rowena’s body unwrapping like a mummy is not coincidental and alludes to Poe’s interest in Egypt and sacred knowledge.

Poe is referring to Masonic symbols. His purpose is unclear and it is likely that he has no purpose and is simply seeking artistic inspiration, as a major figure in the “art for art’s sake” movement. 84

2.5 Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

In the title of his collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque244 and in his essay titled, “The Philosophy of Fortune,”245 Poe uses the term “arabesque.” The term “Arabesque” and “grotesque” are conventionally used to discuss styles of Islamic Art. In “The Philosophy of

Fortune,” he praises the “Arabesque” style as the highest standard of taste in furniture. It is not a coincidence that Poe used these terms. He is trying to elevate his collection and taste by connecting it to Islam through using the terms “Arabesque” and “grotesque” because Islam was seen as an exotic, Oriental, mysterious concept to most Americans at the time. In addition, a great majority of the thirty tales mentioned in his collection do at least reference the “Near East.”

In the process of benefitting from this exoticization of Muslims, Poe is othering them as Poe did.

Although Poe is not intentionally othering them, Irving seemed purposeful with repeated negative portrayals of Muslims.

Like Irving, Poe is contributing to an othering of Muslims that results in a more defined

American national identity. Jacob Berman, Assistant Professor in Comparative Literature at

Louisiana State University, finds that Poe’s use of the term “arabesque” is a response to

Americans questioning their national identity. Berman believes that this term is used to explore

Americans’ feelings “about their own foreignness in a country that they claimed as their home.”

Berman strengthened this claim by citing that Native Americans are often represented as

Arabians. In other words, Berman is stating that in order to feel secure about displacing Native

244 Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, vol. I (1840), title page and table of contents.”

245 “The Philosophy of Furniture,” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, accessed January 25, 2020. https://www.eapoe.org/works/essays/philfurn.htm 85

Americans, Americans conflated Native Americans and Arabians and portrayed them as the other.246 Another scholar, Matthew Pangborn, expands on this notion by voicing that Americans also felt insecure about their identity and moral standing as they were facing pressure from

French and British abolitionist movements. Americans feared the economic sanctions that much of Western Europe was threatening to impose. In order to justify slavery and improve their public image to Americans and to their allies, Orientals were being othered and antagonized.247

2.6 Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade

Poe published the short story titled “Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade” in

1845.248 It was meant to be a satirical sequel to “One Thousand and One Nights.”249 In the original telling of the story, the king marries a different girl every night and then orders her execution the next day.250 The trope of the angry Muslim man (especially those in power) is again evident and this is a continuity from Irving’s work. However, the gender power dynamics that Poe portrays provide greater power and agency to the female protagonist.

The female protagonist, Scheherezade, is a woman who decides that she wants to marry the King and attempt to convince him not to kill her and instead, remain married to her so that no

246 Berman, Jacob. "Domestic Terror and Poe's Arabesque Interior." ESC: English Studies in Canada 31, no. 1 (2005): 128-150. doi:10.1353/esc.2007.0000.

247 Pangborn, Matthew. “The Arabian Romance of America in Poe’s Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade.” Poe Studies, Volume 43, Number 1, 2010, pp. 35-57.

248 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ (Text-06), The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (1850), 1:131-149.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.; Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z: the Essential Reference to His Life and Work.

249 The Thousand and One Nights. London: Chatto and Windus, 1889.

250 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ (Text-06), The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (1850), 1:131-149.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. 86 other woman has to die.251 In this sense, Scheherazade is portrayed as a heroic figure. She is displaying high moral character, but in Irving’s work, Muslim characters were repeatedly portrayed as being morally inferior to their Christian counterparts. Not only is Scheherezade saving other women from the angry, irrational, and violent sultan, she is also taking her own life into her hands by deciding to marry the sultan. To summarize, Poe awards much greater agency to Scheherezade than Irving would to any Muslim characters (especially female).

After Scheherezade marries the sultan, she tells her husband a tale about Sinbad the

Sailor who travels the world on a ship, which he calls a monster.252 Poe describes Sindbad as being bewildered by any scientific or technological advancements.253 For instance, he is shocked to realize that he is traveling around a world that is round, and not flat.254 Sindbad the Sailor’s portrayal as someone who is unaware of basic advancements is not a coincidence. It is likely that

Poe is projecting the images of the Barbary pirates that he absorbed through mass media when he lived through the wars. By making Sindbad less aware of advancements, he is made more primitive and savage-like, which fits the trope of the Barbary pirates. This trope was useful (in

Said’s framework of Orientalism) to Americans because it justified war against the Barbary pirates.255

251 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ (Text-06), The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (1850), 1:131-149.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

252 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ (Text-06), The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (1850), 1:131-149.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

253 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ (Text-06), The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe (1850), 1:131-149.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

254 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

255 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. 87

In addition, Oriental characters, such as Sindbad, commenting on Western customs is a trend that is precedented in many previous representations of Oriental characters. For instance,

William Thackery’s “Sultan Stork, Being the One Thousand and Second Night” (published 3 years before Poe’s story) depicts a sultan that is disgusted by the British for eating frogs.256 This image of Oriental characters being perplexed by Occidental traditions further others the Oriental characters.

In addition to being confused with basic technological advancements, Sindbad is also perplexed by European and American beauty standards. For instance, he cannot understand why white women are wearing garments to add curves that resemble camels’ humps to their backs.257

This notion that Sindbad sees the shape of a woman's body as analogous to that of an animal such as the camel again portrays Sindbad as misogynistic and savage-like.

There is also another dimension to this because he is objectifying the bodies of white,

Christian women. As demonstrated in Irving’s work, Oriental, Muslim men are depicted to have an affinity towards believing that white, Christian women are beautiful. This case in Poe’s tale is different because he is more confused than embracing the white, Christian beauty standards.

Nevertheless, he proceeds to objectify the white, Christian women.

The sultan gets aggravated when he hears about this practice of women wearing such garments and as a result, orders the murder of Scheherezade.258 This repeats the trope of the

256 Thackery, William, “From Ainsworth’s Magazine. Sultan Stork. Being the One Thousand and Second Night. Translated from the Persian by Major G. O’G. Gahagan, H.E.I.C.S.,” Dollar Magazine: A Monthly Gazette of Current Literature, Music and Art 5 (May 1842): 136, 138.

257 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

258 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. 88 violent and irrational Muslim man. This repeated use of this incredibly harmful trope is consistent between Poe and Irving’s writing.

Scheherezade ends up being executed the next day but she is comforted by the notion that she never finished the story and the Sultan does not know what happens to Sindbad.259 This ending is off putting, especially for Poe’s readership. One critical commentator, Jerome

Denuccio, remarks on how strange it is that to appeal to his audience of mostly female readers,

Poe depicts the violent murder of a woman.260

2.7 Eureka

The self-proclaimed “prose poem” titled “Eureka”261 was Poe’s last popular work and his longest nonfiction work.262 Published in 1848, this work details how Poe views the universe and its origins.263 In fact, what Poe is describing is known as the first invocation of the Big Bang

Theory, in writing.264

At the time, this explanation of the universe was not received well. In fact, Poe’s long term friend Marie Louise Shew, who had cared for his wife in her last days, denounced the poem

259 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade’ Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

260 Jerome D. Denuccio assesses the tale’s “scarce critical commentary” in “Fact, Fiction, Fatality: Poe’s ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade,”’ Studies in Short Fiction 27 (1990): 365-70.

261 Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849. Eureka: A Prose Poem. Paris,1928.

262 Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z: the Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on file, 2001.

263 Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849. Eureka: A Prose Poem.

264 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the "Middle East" in Aal-Aaraaf." 89 since it offended her religious beliefs.265 Overall, the publication received negative views. One particularly harsh review was given by John Henry Hopkins Jr., who stated that the work was blasphemous and that, “conscience would compel him to denounce it.”266 While it was negatively received at the time of its publication, it was still published by a figure that is monumental to contemporary American literature. Therefore, the Orientalist content of this poem is still relevant to contributing to the othering of Muslims.

For instance, scholar Malini Schueller claims that Poe displayed Egyptology in his poem

“Eureka” which he dedicated to Jean-Francois Champollion and Alexander Von Humboldt.

These two figures were accomplished in the early work done to interpret Egyptian hieroglyphics.267 Poe says, “I have often thought, my friend, that it must have puzzled these dogmaticians...that the cryptographist attains the solution of the more complicated cyphers...Champollion guided mankind to those important and innumerable truths, which for so many centuries, have lain entombed amid the phonetical hieroglyphics of Egypt.”268 This fascination with Egypt and especially, the knowledge possessed by the ancient Egyptians is reminiscent of the references to Masonic symbols in Irving’s work.

However, Poe’s fascination with Egypt and the sacred knowledge of Egypt is distinct from Irving’s. As demonstrated, Poe is genuinely fascinated by Egypt and the possibility of

265 Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009.

266 Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance.

267 Schueller, Malini. U.S. Orientalisms: Race, Nation, and Gender in Literature, 1790-1890.

268 “Text: Edgar Allan Poe, ‘Eureka [Section 01]" (Text-6), Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848), Pp. 7-22.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Tales - Eureka: A Prose Poem [Section 01] (1848) (Text-6). Accessed February 13, 2020. https://www.eapoe.org/works/essays/eurekad1.htm. 90 sacred knowledge from Egypt. Like Islamic symbols, he may use Masonic symbols as a source of artistic inspiration. Poe’s intention with the use of these symbols is unclear (it is possible he has no intention) but with the vastly detailed symbols he included, the invocation of Masonic symbols seems deliberate. On the other hand, at times, Irving is intentional and purposeful in his use of Masonic symbols and their association with othered groups such as Muslims of Jews.

Poe’s compulsion towards Egypt is also displayed in his story Some Words With a

Mummy,269 in which he describes Egyptian civilization as a model of an Eastern civilization that could not be compared to Western civilization. In his work “Edgar Allan and the East,” William

Goldhurst makes the claim that this comparison favors Egypt as the superior organization.270

This further supports the theory that Poe is relying on these symbols as artistic inspiration and is fascinated with them, rather than promoting a political agenda.

2.8 Review of Stephen’s Arabia Petraea

In a review of John Lloyd Stephens’ “Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea and the

Holy Land,”271 Poe touches on, “the history of Egypt during the reign of the Pharaohs and the

Roman reign until the Ottoman reign, relating it to the Biblical prophecies that are concerned with Egypt.” Poe even quoted a verse from the Bible that illustrates the importance of Egypt in

Christianity. He also focuses on ancient Egypt and the biblical prophecies that he believes to be associated with ancient Egypt. In this essay, it is evident that Poe believes, “...the construction of

269 Poe, Edgar Allan., Carla Aira, and Jole Pignet. Some Words with a Mummy. Milano: Pearson, 2018.

270 Goldhurst, William. “Edgar Allan and the East.”

271 Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea and the Holy Land, n.d. 91 the Pyramids and the graces and other places of burial of those Pharoahs, and the monuments of the city Luxor and Carnac...all have connection with the Biblical prophesies about Egypt.”272

This specific interest in there being a connection between ancient Egypt and sacred knowledge is reminiscent of much of the symbols in Irving’s work.

In these two examples, Poe is referencing specific imagery that includes Masonic symbols of Egypt, secret sacred knowledge, construction of the pyramids, Biblical prophecies, and several more. Therefore, it seems likely that he is referencing these symbols intentionally

(like Irving). However, Poe’s treatment of these symbols is different. It is evident that Irving is most likely writing to an anti-Masonic audience, due to his repeated associations between

Masonic symbols and othered groups (which he also further othered in his works). Poe, on the other hand, does not designate a clear association between certain characters being negatively portrayed in conjunction with their association to Masonic symbols. It seems more likely that

Poe is invoking these symbols due to his true fascination with Egypt and possibly, the belief that these symbols will make his work more exotic and interesting to an American audience.

Conclusion

While there are many similarities between Poe’s and Irving’s constructions of the Orient, there are crucial distinctions. Irving’s repeated portrayals of Muslims (in particular, Muslim men) as irrational, violent, and inferior to white, Christian men was much more vigorous in instilling disdain or at least, mistrust of Muslims within the reader. Irving also comments on beauty

272 Al-Kamal, Sohaib Kamal Mahmood. "The Orientalism of Edgar Allan Poe: The Allure of the "Middle East" in Aal-Aaraaf,” 44. 92 standards repeatedly and fails to include any Muslims women in his tales of love with Muslim men, indicating that Muslim women are physically inferior to their Christian counterparts.

Poe repeats the trope of the angry and violent Muslim man. Also, Poe’s work does exoticize and other Muslims through his language choice. This seems unintentional and a byproduct of Poe’s use of Islamic symbols to sound creative and interesting to an American audience. Also, in the case of Poe, he is actually describing the Muslim women to be beautiful.

He also portrays Muslim women such as Ligeia and Scheherezade, who have a lot of agency and are intelligent, even if their intelligence is surrounding mystical sources. Poe also deviates from

Irving’s notion that Christians are morally superior to Muslims, through the illustration of a

Christian man killing his wife. Finally, Poe does not seem particularly purposeful in his invocation of Masonic symbols whereas Irving is probably writing to an anti-Masonic audience.

It is also necessary to note in some of his works, Poe does not acknowledge that the characters that I perceive are Muslim are Muslim. Although he makes Quranic references, he does not use them to directly describe his characters. Irving is similar in that aspect because he describes Muslim characters but he rarely uses that word or refer to any Islamic symbols to describe the characters. Their portrayals can appear to have nothing to do with Islam. However,

Poe and Irving both still make a lot of statements about Islam and Muslims. Irving describes characters that are Muslims as having a lower sense of religiosity and faithfulness to their religion than the characters that are Christians. Indirectly, he is creating a hierarchy between

Islam and Christianity where Christianity is always above Islam. Poe, on the other hand, its making the statement that Muslims are others and un-American by othering and using Islamic symbols for aesthetics. 93

There is also the notion that since the American public of this time does not much about

Islam, not mentioning Islam or Muslims explicitly makes these works even more Orientalist .Poe and Irving are not attempting to engage with the proper terminology because they don’t have to.

The audience is not even aware of the terminology. Their information regarding the Islamic references also does not have to be accurate (particularly in Poe’s case) because the American audiences’ knowledge of Islam is basically a clean slate. The readers are more interested in the representations of the Christian characters as superior to the characters who are seen as the others. 94

CONCLUSION

Washington Irving’s treatment of Islam and Muslims is similar to Edgar Allan Poe’s in that they are both othering Muslims and portraying Muslim men as angry and violent. However, there are also significant differences in their portrayals of Muslims. Washington Irving is invested in actively portraying Muslims/Moors (he conflates them) in a negative manner.

Specifically, they are not beautiful or desirable, constantly morally compromised, they will more easily abandon their religion and they can’t be trusted. On the other hand, he consistently depicts his Christian characters as being pious, committed to Christianity, beautiful, always morally superior to the Muslim characters, and intelligent. With these blatant association of positive and negative traits with Christians and Muslims (respectively), Irving is intentionally othering

Muslims as the inferior others.

Irving’s portrayal of Muslims as Moors is consistent with the Jacksonian era’s symbolic memory of the Barbary wars, which were fought during the Jefferson and Madison administrations. He is othering them and belittling them to justify the wars against the Barbary pirates of North Africa, just as the French and British used Orientalist literature to justify colonialism. In that case, the Orientals were often described as uncivilized infidels, who needed the white colonial to civilize them and educate them. In reality, they were exploited to the highest level. In this case, Irving portrays the Moors as violent, untrustworthy, cunning, and overall barbaric. Therefore, the United States’ attacks against these pirates as retaliation for their barbaric behavior and nature is justified. This is consistent with Irving not portraying any

Muslim women in his Tales of the Alhambra, as they would not be associated with piracy. 95

In contrast, Poe’s female Muslim characters Ligeia and Scheherazade were beautiful, intelligent, and had a strong sense of agency. He also challenged Irving’s portrayal of Christians always being superior to Muslims with the Christian husband poisoning his wife in “Ligeia.” In addition, Poe portrays a pious presumably Muslim character named Nesace in “Al Aaraaf.” This rebels against Irving’s depiction of exclusively Christian characters that are pious. Poe references the Quran and hadith in many of his works but unlike Orientalist authors such as Irving who have an agenda behind using these symbols, Poe seems to be using them for aesthetic purposes.

He is known for writing about fiction, space, and other things that are not known to the average

American. He uses Americans’ unfamiliarity with Islam and appropriates it as one of the tools to aestheticize his work. In the process, he is constantly conveying inaccurate information about

Islam to a vast American audience. Nevertheless, he is not directly antagonizing Muslims in the way that Washington is.

Poe gained inspiration from Islamic symbols and blended them in many ways with similar symbols in Christianity to which his audience could relate. As Travis Montgomery, author of “The Near East” states, “Poe is not so much as Orientalist as an orientationalist: he uses the motifs and elements of the Romantic Orient as a means to orient his own hybrid, medial relationship to his art and culture.” In a way, Poe’s adaptations of Islamic symbols to their adjacent Christianity-centered symbols is the most accurate and only portrayal that many

Americans had of the Quran and Muslims at the time. However, this appropriation is still harmful because it is inaccurate and it normalizes the spread of false information about Islam.273

273 Montgomery, Travis. “The Near East.” In Edgar Allan Poe in Context, 53–62 96

Poe also contributes to the othering of Muslims by associating Islamic symbols with fiction, space, and other foreign aspects of his brand.

Poe and Irving’s othering of Muslims fits the context of Jacksonian American. As discussed earlier, Berman believes that the term “Oriental” is used to give Americans a confidence boost when they feel insecure about being foreigners in their own country. This is what Harry Harootunian refers to as “cultural diplopia,” which is a “simultaneous perception of the national-internal and the Oriental-external.”274 By othering Muslims (and other groups), Poe and Irving are able to help define national identity in a time where there is little. This is because so many factors of social, political, and economic life were changing. Irving and Poe define who

Americans are by defining who they are not: Muslims on the exterior and even amongst

Americans, the Masons were othered and not considered included in this identity.

They are both also among the first generation of indigenous American writers. They have to establish their credibility and the most prominent references that they have are to British and

French literature, which is highly Orientalist in nature. Therefore, it is likely, that these authors were inspired by French and British Orientalism and adopting it to their works in order to gain credibility.

274 Harootunian, Harry, “Some Thoughts on Comparability and the Space-Time Problem,” boundary 2, 32, no. 2 (2005). 97

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