A Foreign Contract
This article published alongside The Moonstone in All the Year Round relies heavily on the racialization and foreigner stereotypes of the 19th century. Its narrative of a British capitalist accumulating profits from a straightforward and honest man, “who had such trust in his creed that two and two make four” (250) is duped out of his fortune by foreigners in work and in contract, so he becomes broke and ruined. The article explicitly advises refusing work or deals with foreign or “native” people, stating, “The best possible advice that can be given to anyone who contemplates the acceptance of a foreign contract is to renounce the idea at once, and have nothing whatever to do with it.” (252) At baseline, it is a very racially charged article, pushing British Imperialism and mistrust of foreigners and the lower class. The imperialist ideology in the piece aligns with the British nationalism in The Moonstone, with themes of distrust of foreigners, dehumanization of other races and classism. Reading this article alongside The Moonstone would thus heighten this ideology, therefore shifting one’s view of the events of the novel in a derogatory way.
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Edited by John Sutherland, Oxford University Press, 2008