Masque, Nationality, and Image Baiting the show with a Dutch Dance

Two works by Pierre Anthony Motteux, Europe’s Revels on the Peace (1697) and the masque “The Four Seasons; or, Love in Every Age” from The Island Princess; or, The Generous Portugeuse (1699), contain satirical dances depicting Dutch characters. This article examines these dances in their political and theatrical contexts, and proposes that the “Dutch” dancing style that Motteux offered to his London viewers was not based on actual national dances, but was created to sum up the current English view of the Dutch character.