Turning Catholic: Peele's The Battle of Alcazar and Captain Thomas Stukeley

The English-born Captain Thomas Stukeley is the ostensible hero of George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar, yet the play emphasizes the ambiguity of Stukeley's identity as an English hero since he acts on behalf of Catholic interests. While the trope of 'turning' is usually associated with English fears of their countrymen 'turning Turk', Peele's construction of Stukeley's Catholic allegiances evokes this trope. Peele's play thereby investigates the extent to which opposing national and religious identities can coexist. It produces a more conflicted portrait of Stukeley than our traditional understanding of the captain's mythic legacy has previously acknowledged.