Danielle Spratt

This panel depicts the eighteenth and nineteenth century British literature and the case of “the other.”  These archives reflect the imperial Britain and cautions against the effects of colonial exhibitions.  The East, Ireland, and pirates are all outsiders to the British Empire, marking them targets for subjugation. Said’s Orientalism is retrospective; it reflects on the everlasting impression that has been made by the liberties taken in literary fiction. Gay’s satire Polly depicts the limits of justice, in which the perceived African pirate Macheath is put to death, while the white plantation owning merchant Ducat lives happily ever after. Its message can be framed by Macheath’s words: “If justice had piercing eyes / Like ourselves to look within / She'd find power and wealth a disguise / That shelter the worst of our kin.” Edgeworth’s Tales and Novels, Vol. 1 addresses the moral questions that accompany systems of imbalanced power, be they gender based, socially driven, or politically motivated.