There is something intrinsically cathartic, intrinsically exciting in the genre of "travel literature" that emerged in the late 17th and early 18th centuries . The lands seen were never accurately represented; instead, the author would embellish local details and cultures to take the reader into uncharted territory. This allowed the audience to read the material with confidence: their own moral guidelines would be imbued into the story to place themselves on the cultural spectrum and would therefore make the lands challenging, but not too foreign. Literary scholar Dianna Tillotson asserts that there is something essentially human about the genre, saying, "Ultimately, [readers] might also search for [their] own origins and try to tie [their] culture and customs to a sense of the place" (Tillotson). Therefore, it makes sense that the author's cultural bias translates so vividly into a text that seeks to be different. As seen in “The Masque of Blackness,” “Oroonoko, The Royal Slave,” and “Gulliver's Travels,” local cultures are both examined with wonder and condemned for their cultural differences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay It is clear that Ben Johnson's "The Masque of Blackness" would be performed for a white audience, even though its primary subjects are black. The Jacobean-era masque was based on the idea that women from other cultures came to the English court to be "cleansed" of their darkness by King James (McDermont). Written at the request of Queen Anne, who starred in the play in blackface, the clear disparity between the two cultures in the masque shows a classic depiction of the "others" as they were often seen in travel literature: exotic, but still subject to the same ideals and the very morality of Europe. The description is never overtly racist or negative; rather, it's almost condescendingly complementary from the opening bars. In describing the daughters of Niger, Jonson writes: “From the fixed color of their curling hair/(That is the highest grace of fairest ladies)/No care, no age can change, or show/Since death itself… /It can never alter their truest color” (1329, 45-50). Here, Jonson describes his daughters as exotic and beautiful beings because the color of their skin does not fade or become pale, even in death. However, the opening song, in the previous lines, seems to almost completely contradict any kind of false positivity that this sentiment holds. It reads: "With all the beautiful race [of Niger] / Who yet are black in the face / Yet they are bright / And full of life and light / to demonstrate that best beauty / which is not color, but characteristic... " (1328 6-13). Here Jonson is saying that daughters are beautiful despite their skin color, not because of it. The juxtaposition of placing “but black in the face / Yet they are bright” not only implies this idea, but ultimately implies a white supremacy or some sort of ideal because their ultimate beauty is still depicted as luminous. The second half of the quote reinforces this notion. Once again the daughters are beautiful in certain physical attributes, despite their blackness. Their skin tone cannot be seen as a positive aspect of beauty; instead, skin tone is that part of the physical characteristics that should be overlooked (“not the color, but the feature…”). As the mask progresses, their skin tone is the only thing that stands in the way of their overall beauty, and in making this, the conflict of the mask. Jonson writes: “…the Ethiopians…were now black with black despair…and believing that [ipoets] cried... [and] hitherto it has overflowed its shore" (1330 63-71). The British influence and their introduction of Petrarchan poetry into Ethiopian culture, although tragic for the daughters of the Niger, is still ultimately seen as a very positive thing. Daughters are recognized as having beautiful physical attributes, and even though previously – while Jonson specifically stated that their skin tone did not hinder their beauty – light skin ends up being the social ideal. Jonson's work ultimately serves as an excellent reference point for conventions in travel literature. Sure the audience enjoys exploring foreign lands, and in some cases the author can be laudatory towards the natural cultures of the region, but ultimately, other cultures are still held to the same ideals and standards as the European one. This model supports a harmful "us versus them" mentality Before talking about Oroonoko itself, Aphra Behn conforms to classic travel literature constructs by going into great detail about the colony and the lands from which the former prince came. Listing species after species, from exotic birds to exotic wildlife, the first few paragraphs serve as a springboard that transports the reader to a fascinating, unscientific, yet highly adventurous land. The inhabitants of this settlement are seen to already embody many of the European ideals: modesty, classic romantic relationships and Christian virtuousness. "[T]hese people represented to me," says the narrator, "an absolute idea of ​​the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin," an obvious reference to both the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve - which, considering the description of the surroundings and its inhabitants in general, is not surprising (2184). The description of some clothing exchanged by the natives as resembling "Adam and Eve [wore a similar style of clothing] with fig leaves," once again returns to the biblical allusion (2184). Furthermore, when discussing their affinity for nudity, the narrator says, “Not an indecent action or look is seen; and be continually accustomed to seeing ourselves so unadorned, so like our ancestors before the fall” (2184). This statement goes beyond the reference to Adam and Eve itself – at the end of this statement is a larger human statement, that these strangers, for all their different ways and customs, are still sons and daughters of the same Christian father . It is the perfect example of the "travelogue" genre because it highlights the exotic nature of the world and portrays the natives in a somewhat positive light, but at the same time applies the same standards and ideals to another culture as one's own. This pattern is also evident in the narrator's portrayal of Oroonoko himself. The narrator says that the prince has "so much humanity...refined notions of true honor...absolute generosity...true greatness and soul...[and] was capable of the highest passions" (2186). Clearly, Oroonoko is portrayed as the pinnacle of human ideals, a man who embodies many of the principles that many Europeans strive for. The following line, however, is quite significant: “…we may attribute [part of it] to the care of a Frenchman…the royal guardian of this young black…and to perceiving him ready to teach him morals, language, and science" ( 2186). Oroonoko's success, then, was effectively profligate. He is not responsible for his exceptional moral character or his substantial intelligence: a French tutor "perceived him ready", meaning that Oroonoko was not even the one who began his studies. He embodies European ideals because they were taught to him, not because of some sort of natural learning ability or natural goodness. It took a kind and exceptional European citizen to turn Oroonoko into a> .