“Those rebellious Hollanders”: The Changeling’s Double Dutch

Abstract

The Changeling (1622) fits neatly into a familiar anti-Spanish narrative, one so well established in criticism as to obscure the wider international picture. Early in the play a reference to England’s erstwhile ally against Spain is mentioned in passing, and no more is made of the Dutch naval victory over the Spanish in 1607. But this may have resonated in ways that complicated the play’s anti-Spanish sentiment. The enduring resonance of the contemporaneous Amboyna Massacre of 1623 suggests a more complicated reception of The Changeling than critics have allowed for. Even in 1622, when the play was most likely first performed, tensions with the Dutch were on the rise, and the apparent nostalgia for the Protestant alliance which the Treaty of London of 1604 had brought to an end was complicated by the emergence of an empire that would outstrip Spain’s and gradually replace it as England’s chief rival.