MERCHANT OF VENICE
MASQUE.
Will you prepare for this masque to-night?
II, 4, 23.
The mask, or later masque, was an entertainment which had been introduced into England as far back as the reign of Edward III. In 1348, Edward II kept Christmas at Guildford, and a mask was held there in his honour. When first seen in England, dancing was the only factor of the masque, most often in masquerade, somewhat after the fashion of our balmasques, with this difference: that stately dances nearly filled the programme, the Master of the Revels allowing only two or three round dances, such as galliards and corantos. A mask is introduced in Shakespeare’s play of “King Henry VIII,” the King and his companions, attired as shepherds, with masks covering their faces, enter the palace of Cardinal Wolsey, and take part in the Revels. Early in the sixteenth century, dialogue and scenery were introduced, and soon became a prominent feature of the masque, but very shortly developed into set speeches. This class of entertainment, under the guidance of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones, had become quite a literary and artistic undertaking. Thousands of pounds were lavished on these court revels, and even the King and Queen took part in them (King James the First and his consort, Anne of Denmark).
The masque at this period, 1620, was a combination in variable proportion of speech, dance and song. The Masquers were dressed in gorgeous costumes in accordance with the characters they represented. During James’s reign, the mask for the face was dispensed with, as it was regarded as quite an unnecessary disguise. At the outbreak of the Civil War, 1642, the masque abruptly ceased, and was never revived. Many masques are extant, and survive in manuscript and printed copies.
PAGEANT.
Your mind is tossing on the ocean,
There where your argosies of portly sail,
Like Signors and rich burghers on the flood,
Or as it were, the pageants of the sea.
An allusion to those enormous machines that were drawn about the streets in the ancient shows or pageants. These machines were in the shape of castle dragons, ships, giants, and were regarded as the most important part of the show.
DUMB-SHOW.
What say you, then, to Falconbridge, the young baron of England?
PORTIA.
He is a proper man’s picture, but, alas! who can converse with a dumb-show?
I, 2, 78.
MASQUE.
I will not say you will see a mask.
II, 5, 23.
No masque to-night.
II, 6, 64.
What! are these masques?
II, 5, 28.
PLAY. STAGE. PART.
ANT.
I hold the world, but as the world, Gratanio,
A stage where every man must play a part and mine a sad one.
GRA.
Let me play fool.
Gratanio wishes to play the Fool, or comic part, which was a regular character in the old morality interludes, whence came the phrase, to ‘play the fool.’