2012 Meagan R. Schenkelberg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED HEADLONG HE RUNS INTO CIRCE’S SNARES: REPRESENTATION AND THE RESTORATION ROYAL MISTRESS by MEAGAN RYAN SCHENKELBERG A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Professor Alastair Bellany and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October, 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Headlong he runs into Circe’s snares: Representation and the Restoration Royal Mistress By MEAGAN RYAN SCHENKELBERG Dissertation Director: Professor Alastair Bellany Headlong he runs into Circe’s snares: Representation and the Restoration Royal Mistress is an interdisciplinary study of the Restoration royal mistress. During the Restoration and for generations thereafter, the mistresses of Charles II (reigned 1660- 1685) came to symbolize the court both for its apologizers and its critics. In becoming such symbols, the figures of these women were made to play a role within the many social, religious, and political concerns during this tumultuous period. In focusing upon representation, this dissertation does not look to recover the actual actions (political or otherwise) of royal mistresses such as Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland, Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, or Nell Gwyn – arguably the three most important and well-known of Charles’s many mistresses – but rather to see how the figures of these women were used to ‘think through’ contemporary issues. Bringing in various sources including poetry, libels, novels, histories, and medical books, this project examines how women were made to play central roles within political comment and rhetoric. In appropriating the faces and voices of women, the authors of these works demonstrate not only their opinions on English society and politics, but also the important underpinning ii gendered assumptions which informed their uses of royal mistresses within their works, allowing this study to bring together political history, women’s and gender history, history of medicine, and the history of the body. This dissertation is structured thematically, and the hermeneutic nature of its analysis is not meant to be a definitive account of the meaning of its sources, but instead to investigate common themes among clusters of sources including the Ottoman ‘Turk’ and harem politics, diseased and reproductive female bodies, and the uses of the memory of royal mistresses into the early Hanoverian period. Such themes allow for the insertion of women onto the early modern English political stage. iii Acknowledgements Although I usually have a difficult time with the opening words of any writing project, big or small, these acknowledgements are special in that I simply do not know how to thank all of the people who have helped make this dissertation possible. So, I shall jump in and hope that I cover even a small number of the debts that I owe. Thanks first goes to my committee, particularly my advisor Alastair Bellany. He pushed me, gently but resolutely, towards completion and always made me feel that reaching the finish line was possible. I knew each time I saw one of his comment bubbles on a chapter draft that I would have to grit my teeth and push myself harder, but that the chapter would be much better for it. I also thank him for allowing me to write this project in my own quirky style, and helping me to understand my own thought process better. Many thanks also go to my other committee members Jennifer Jones, Phyllis Mack, and Rachel Weil for their many insightful comments, questions, and suggestions on my work. I also must thank the History Department at Rutgers University for a wonderful graduate school experience. It has not been easy, but the road has been much smoother thanks to the great community of faculty, staff, and grad students that I have been privileged to study and work with. Many faculty members, including some I never studied with, made the process that much better with their encouragement, while the staff answered my many questions over the years. Special thanks go to Dawn Ruskai for her endless patience and knowledge. My debt to my fellow graduate students is immense, and rather than list a few names I thank all of you that I have shared classes, work, drinks, and laughs with over the years. I especially want to thank Vanessa Holden, Melanie Kiechle, and Allison Miller for kindly allowing me to occasionally use their NJ iv couches since my move back to Philly, letting me escape the shadow of a dreaded night in Van Dyck 013. My work would not have been possible without the financial and scholarly support of various institutions. The Folger Institute accepted and funded me for the year- long dissertation seminar Researching the Archives, and the Mellon Foundation provided funding for summer archival research in England. I was fortunate enough to receive valuable feedback from conference presentations, including versions of two chapters, at the MACBS and NACBS. My first chapter benefitted from the advice of my Researching the Archives group at the Folger Library, headed by Professors Derek Hirst and Steven Zwicker, and the seminar also provided me with invaluable access to the Folger Library itself. I must also thank the helpful staff at the British Library, Wellcome Library, and West Sussex Record Office. My archival work benefitted enormously from the generosity of those who gave me a place to stay while I researched in London, and so special thanks go to Mike Taylor and Jan Atkins for letting me invade their home in Leytonstone (and introducing me to the joys of Brick Lane), and Behram Kasad for letting me borrow his flat in Victoria. My research – and pocketbook – would be much the poorer without your help. Dissertations are often lonely exercises, but my wonderful support system over the years has been the backbone of getting the work done. I thank all the many teachers and professors, from St. Pius X to Kennedy High School to Mount Mercy University to Villanova University, who have inspired and encouraged me over the years. I am also fortunate enough to have a fabulous collection of friends, both near and far, who have helped to push me towards finishing, commiserated with me when I was frustrated, and v made me laugh everyday. My life would have been much less bright over the years without people like Ron Adkins, Alex Bethke, Brianna Koziol, Kelly Kunz, Kim Mason, Jana Rediger, Samantha and Sean Teaford (who also let me borrow their guest room when they lived in Metuchen many a time), and Mary and Jamie van Boven in it. The Fournier and Vyvyan families have also provided a lot of support and laughs over the last few years, and thanks to Bess, Jim, and Josh Fournier for including me in their family fun. I must especially thank Dan Fournier for continuously telling me to finish, but also not allowing me to take things too seriously. Through the frustrations and the triumphs, he has been there cheering me on, and he makes me smile everyday. Thank you. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to my family, both in the States and in England. Thank you to everyone for all their encouragement and I am looking forward to that celebratory drink when I get to England next! My brothers Eric, Paul, and Todd have always rooted for their little sister, but my biggest thanks go to my parents, Alison and Barry, for always being my biggest fans. This is for you Mum and Dad, and that little girl all those years ago who said that she was going to wear the ‘floppy professor hat’ one day. Well, I’m happy to say that that day has finally arrived! vi Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv List of Illustrations and Abbreviations viii Introduction 1 Prologue: The Bawdy House Riots of 1668 23 Chapter 1: English Grand Signiors and Sultanas: ‘Harem Politics’ 34 and the Restoration Court Chapter 2: Venus Unmasked: The French Disease 95 and Restoration Court Mistresses Chapter 3: Nell Gwyn and the Duchess of Portsmouth’s Pamphlet War: 151 Politics, Blood, Maternity and Two Wanton Ladies of Pleasure Chapter 4: A Divorcee, A Gamestress, and a Virtuous Courtesan: 223 Eighteenth-Century Uses for the Restoration Court Mistress Epilogue: The Courtesan and the Empress 305 Appendix 311 Bibliography 312 vii List of Illustrations Figure 1: Nell Gw[i]nn 2 the Hungary [har]lot 1756 (1756), 756.10.16.01. Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. Page 310. Abbreviations CSR Court Satires of the Restoration, ed. John Harold Wilson (Columbus: Ohio state University Press, 1976) ECS English Clandestine Satire, 1660-1704 Popular Culture, Entertainment and Information in the Early Modern Period (Microfilm Collection) Avon Unnamed Poetry Collection, Avon, Badminton House – Muniments Collection Fm E 3/12, Vol. 2 [Reel 1] BL Add Unnamed Poetry Collection [marked with Samuel Dangers, 1664] British Library Additional MS 34362 [Reel 1] Kungl Collection of English Poetry principally Political Satyrs from the last years of Charles II, Stockholm, Kungl.Biblioteket MS Vu. 69 (Gyldenstolpe MS) [Reel 20] EEBO Early English Books Online ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online version OED Oxford English Dictionary, online version POAS Poems on Affairs of State: Augustan Satirical Verse, 1660- 1714 Vol 1 Volume 1: 1660-1678, ed. George deF. Lord (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963) Vol 2 Volume 2: 1678-1681, ed. Elias F. Mengel, Jr. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) Vol 3 Volume 3: 1682-1685, ed. Howard H. Schless (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968) Rochester, Love The Works of John Wilmot Earl of Rochester, ed.