Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress

The “Habit of a Turkish Princess” (173) that Roxana obtains alongside her Turkish slave on her travels through Italy is a symbol of her exotic appeal and her departure from British Christian values, which prescribe female modesty. The habit is opulent and multifaceted, with 

the Robe […] a fine Persian, or India Damask; the Ground white, and the Flowers blue and gold […] the Train held five Yards; the Dress under it, was a Vest of the same, embroider’d with Gold, and set with some Pearl in the Work, and some Turquois Stones; to the Vest, was a Girdle five or six Inches wide […] and on both Ends where it join’d, or hook’d, was set with Diamonds for eight Inches either way; only they were not true Diamonds; but no-body knew that but myself (174).

The habit also has an elaborate “Turban” embellished with a jewel. The description of this habit, profuse in expensive materials, is almost too vast for the reader to process. The habit thus becomes a cipher for what Western readers came to associate with the passionate, excessive Orient— the opposite of their rational, moderate selves. Roxana’s addition of the fake diamonds is a further embellishment that deceives spectators into believing that the expensive garment is even more luxurious. Whereas Roxana intends for the costume to be part of a spectacle in a show of Masks; it is so conspicuous in its exoticism and provocation that it eclipses any notion of her virtue.

Indeed, the disguise becomes so infamous that it follows her onto the ship to Holland, just when she thought that her sojourn with the Quaker and her marriage to the Dutchman had pushed it into obscurity. However, when the daughter, who worked as a cook-maid in Roxana’s London abode, turns up on the ship, she “came to describe the Turkish Dress” (284) and is able to draw a parallel between its wearer and seemingly respectable Roxana, who appears in “a kind of Dishabille […] showing the Body in its true Shape, and perhaps, a little too plainly” (283). Like the Turkish Dress, Roxana’s flimsy robe reveals her body and her predilection towards displaying it. While Roxana wishes to disassociate herself from the infamous caricature of an exotic courtesan, by wearing dishabille, she continually aspires to the agile sensuality of a Turkish woman rather than the corseted straightjacket of a virtuous European wife. She therefore wishes to retain the advantages of her travels and experiments with different styles of clothing whilst eliminating her bad reputation.