How did Planche reflect the imperialism of his world?
He was very typical of the English of his time. On one hand, he expressed what seem to have been very sincere concerns for the pressures being put on native cultures around the world, such as those of Native Americans, for whom he displays some sympathy in his plays. On the other hand, he depicts the growth of British influence in Asia and Africa as the growth of civilization and enlightenment, and has no real qualms about the disruption of the local cultures at the time. He was likely to notice the good the British (and the Yanks, to a point) did, and play down the damage. To do him credit, he does not seem to have stooped as low as some jingoistic patriots of the time, for whom the British had a right to go to war with China to force the Chinese government to allow the opium trade among its citizens, or to accept that the US had a right to conquer Mexican lands. He simply wrote a lot more about the items he found edifying, like Britain supporting the Turks against Russian aggression
