Secondary Sources
Masque is often a subgenre of drama that is often overlooked or forgotten about. My research of secondary sources allowed me to learn about a prominent and unique art form in 16th and 17th century Europe.
Masque performances, although popular throughout Europe were primarily featured in England. Masque's were typically performed for royal families, and they almost always reflected their extravagant way of life. Masque's were heavily characterized through elaborate stage design and costumes, as well as singing, dancing and acting. The poetry of the plays was equally as important as the performance and visual aspect. Masque plays in England in the 16th century reflected a sense of pride in the royal families as well as a strong sense of patriotism.
My research focused primarily on features and characteristics of Masque as a genre, as well as how it evolved over time. There was an abundance of information on how Masque's used dancing and singing, staging a celebration, as well as information on specific stage designers and visual aspects of the Masque plays.
However, one of the biggest problems I faced was finding sources that were specific to Masque as a genre largely because the period in which Masque's were popular is relatively short in compared to other subgenres.
Many of the sources I found focused on scenes in plays by William Shakespeare of Christopher Marlowe that reflected Masque-type performances, but weren't Masque's themselves.
Although Masque's were not frequently staged in the 18th century, aspects of Masque's influenced playwrights for centuries. In the late 19th century through the early 20th century English theater drew musical influence from Masque's, in addition to "Masque scenes" being frequently included in plays and operas set in Elizabethan England. Although the popularity of the Masque was short lived, the influences of music, dance, and elaborate stage designing and costumes can still be seen today.
In researching secondary sources for Masque it was necessary to focus less on typical plot lines or famous works and focus more on how Masque reflected the attitudes of 16th and 17th century Europe, and how the influence can still be seen today.
-Maggie Debrovner
I think that the lack of published research on solely Masques shows just how broad the genre is and how it can be blended into others, such as the tragedies, etc. of William Shakespeare like you mentioned. I think it would be interesting to explore the Masque genre in the context of other genres as to show its influence over time because it often proceeded a lot of dramas with similar aspects to it. The genres here seem to overlap quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting regarding the lack of sources on Masques. Do you think the Masque is a broad genre that's ambiguity allows it to be classification for a wider variety of expression, or more of the inverse, in that Masque is an early development in say the evolution of the musical or opera?
ReplyDeleteFirst, your post was really interesting to read because I'd never heard of the masque sub genre before so I'm happy I was able to learn something new. Second, your post leaves me wondering about the differences between performed Masques and written/read Masques. You mentioned that the visual and oral aspects of the Masque were vital to the performance as a whole and I'm curious to know that if simply reading a Masque allows the reader to thoroughly understand and appreciate the piece of work. Do Masques need to be performed in order to communicate their message effectively to audiences? Are they only live plays or can they be pieces of literature as well? What are the disparities between the two?
ReplyDeleteFollow up post:
ReplyDeleteMany of the secondary sources I looked at during this research proved to be relatively unhelpful. Most of these articles looked at specific scenes in non-masque plays, or only focused on the performance aspect of Masque's. It wasn't until I started looking at sources that were found in chapters of larger books, instead of very specific books about Masque's, that I was able to find better information. For example, the chapter "Jacobian Banquets and Masques" in the book "Cultural Aesthetics, Renaissance Literature and the Practice of Social Ornament" gave me useful information about the role of the King's Court in both deciding what the Masque's were about, and how they were performed. It to a while to narrow down my research and find truly helpful sources, but once I did I had accumulated a good amount of information on the topic as well as information regarding primary sources.