Masques of Difference

"Masques of Difference presents an annotated edition of four seventeenth-century entertainments written by Ben Jonson for the court of James I. These masques - gorgeous, expensive events that combined music, dance, acting, costume, painting, and the latest theatrical special effects - reflect both the confidence and the anxieties of the English aristocracy at a time when notions of monarchy, empire, and national identity were being radically redefined. All four masques reflect the royal court's self-representation as moral, orderly, and just, in contrast to stylized images of chaotically (and exotically) 'othered' groups - Africans, the Irish, witches, and the homoeroticised figure of the Gypsy." "The introduction offers an interdisciplinary discussion of social/political contexts for an art form that dominated the imaginations of the powerful patrons of English culture, with additional focus on Jonson's own literary careerism. The new annotations offer detailed explications of the imagery and symbolism of the texts, the physical setting and performance of the masques, and behind-the-scenes events and alliances of which their privileged audiences would have been aware." "This editi