The Masque of Blackness is the mask of the early Jacobean era, first performed at Stuart Court at the Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace on Twelfth Night, January 6, 1605. It was written by Ben Jonson the request of Anne of Denmark, the consort of King James I, who wishes mascara to be disguised as Africans. Anne is one of the performers in the show along with her maids, all of whom appear with black makeup.
The plot of the drama follows the women who arrive at the English Court speaking among themselves about how blacks used to be beautiful, " that in black, the perfect beauty grows. " Reflecting the historical context of the masque, the women went on to discuss how blacks are now considered least attractive, " now black, with black despair " supports pale skin [ed] "meaning white or bright. They also agree that while blacks are exotic, bright-skinned people are the best. During the Jacobean era, dark skin was associated with corruption, whilst white or brighter skin was associated with purity. While the Ethiopians (then a common term for black Africans) are seen as impatient and windy because of the hot and dry weather in their home country, the light-skinned English is seen as more in control because of their cold and wet climate. As a result of this trend, The Masque of Beauty is written as a sequel to The Masque of Blackness to give greater insult to darker skin tones.
The Masque of Beauty, originally intended for the next holiday season, was evicted by Hymenaei, the mask for Earl of Essex and Frances Howard's wedding. Beauty finally done in 1608.
Video The Masque of Blackness
Design
Set, costume, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones; Blackness is the first of many masques for Stuart Court where Jonson and Jones will collaborate. The music for Blackness was composed by Alfonso Ferrabosco.
Jones designed the raised stage and moved for the show, forty feet square and four feet from the floor; this is used for many of the next masques. The stage contains inner space for machines that produce stage effects and technicians who operate them. The King often sleeps on benches, resembling the sun. Blackness introduces the effect that Jones will repeat with variations throughout his career as a stage designer: it opens with a fascinating sea view, simulated by a flowing and steaming cloth.
The open storm sea is inhabited by six blue-merman-like tritons. The gods of Oceanus ("blue") and Niger (black) enter, riding a giant sea horse. Twelve Niger daughters, played by the Queen and her ladies wait, enter into the company of a dozen nymphs of Oceanus as torchbearers; the ladies dressed in silver and blue tones contrasted with the blackness of makeup, with pearls and feathers in their hair, while torchbearers, in green twin clothes with golden bloated sleeves, had their faces, hands and hair dyed blue. The women ride large shells, which seem to float and move with the waves, and are accompanied by six large sea monsters carrying more torchbearers. (With Blackness like many of the next Masques designed by Jones, one aspect of the show most commented on by witnesses is the enchanting intensity of light... which inevitably says something about the normal conditions of life in the ages Jacobean.)
Maps The Masque of Blackness
Plot summary
The text begins with Niger talking to his father, Oceanus. Oceanus asks him why he left his usual eastern route and flows westward, into the Atlantic. Niger told him that he came to ask for help. Niger's daughters get annoyed because they consider themselves to be the most beautiful goddess in the world, but they find that pale is more attractive and no longer feel beautiful. The moon goddess, Aethiopia, tells her daughters to find a country that ends with "tannia" and they will be beautiful once again.
Desperate princes try to find the country and even go to Mauritania (Northern Africa), Lusitania (Portugal), and Aquitania (France). They pray once again to Aethiopia and he tells them that the country is Britannia. He tells them that the king is like the sun and he will be able to whiten the black. Aethiopia states that once a month for next year, princesses must bathe in the dew of the sea and at the same time next year, they will appear before the king again, and the light will make them beautiful and white.
Cast
The main cast of the mask:
Response
The Masque was controversial in its day, partly for the use of body paint production rather than a mask to simulate dark skin. An observer, Sir Dudley Carleton, expressed a view that was colored by the prevailing social bias of an era that saw Britain's important role in Atlantic slave trade:
... instead of Vizzards, Their Face and Arms reach to Elbow, painted black, which is quite disguise, because they are hard to know... and you can not imagine a worse scene....
Controversy also stems from the dominant role of female actresses who play roles that are traditionally considered men.
Masque is expensive, costing £ 3000, and causing concern among some observers of English due to the perceived inadequacy of the show.
The Masque of Blackness and The Masque of Beauty were published together in quarto in 1608, by the bookseller Thomas Thorpe; they were reprinted in Jonson's first collection of folios in 1616.
Note
References
- Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage 1574-1642. The third edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Jonson, Ben. The Masque of Blackness. 1608. In Ben Jonson: Complete Masques. Ed. Stephen Orgel. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969. p. 61-74.
- Leapman, Michael. Inigo: Troubled Life Inigo Jones, British Renaissance Architect. London, Publishing Book Title, 2003.
External links
- Masque of Blackness.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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