Thomas Coryat Fynes Harriot Analysis

The three travel writers, Thomas Coryat, Fynes Moryson, and Thomas Harriot use their experiences to inform others about the different cultures and societies they experience. The language and descriptions used often portray the abroad experiences as different, relying on the otherness of the people encountered. Each author describes scenes and people, often with negative language, which suggests a sense of superiority and that the home is always better
Thomas Coryat addresses the reader with warnings about the Venetian women. They dress extravagantly and are willing to talk to the point that Coryat writes that the reader should “enter not into termes of private conversation with her” (57). He portrays the women’s otherness by describing how ornately they dress and all the makeup that they wear, painting them as vain, wanton individuals who will do one more harm than good. Instead of socializing with these women, Coryat suggests that one refrain from doing so as much as possible, so that they might not “wantonly converse” and in turn owe the women payments (57). Coryat paints the women as vain and scheming, not to …show more content…
The horror is not limited only to the worst of criminals, Moryson notes. In fact, “if any men give these executed men, meat, or helpe to prolong their miserable life, he shall dye the same death” (171). After reading the gruesome details of the executions, the reader may feel sympathy for the one being punished due to the horrors described, but Moryson forces the reader to remember that the Ottoman Empire is barbaric and that any perceived kindness would be met with similar treatment. The accounts of the punishments are perhaps the strongest method Moryson employs to depict the otherness of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans are seen as horrific and uncivilized because the English would not punish criminals in such appalling