Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion

Last updated

Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson, and designed by Inigo Jones. The masque is notable for the contradictory historical evidence connected with it and the confusion it caused among generations of scholars and critics.

Contents

Context

The masque was intended as the major entertainment of the 1623–24 Christmas holiday season, and was scheduled to be performed on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1624. During the Jacobean era, however, attendance at the performances of the Stuart Court masques was coveted and controversial – especially among the foreign diplomats of the Court, who competed fiercely among themselves for admittance to the masques and especially for seating near the King. [1] In the case of Neptune's Triumph, the dispute between the French and Spanish ambassadors was so intense that James I cancelled the performance.

There was more than ego or vague national pride involved: James's son and heir, the future Charles I, had returned from Spain and his fruitless quest for a marriage with the Spanish Infanta, the "Spanish match" that was a point of intense controversy in Britain at the time. His arrival back in England on 5 October 1623 is the "return of Albion" of the title. James himself had censored and approved the text of the masque; but since he had been the prime backer of the Spanish match, a masque that took a benign view of its failure was perhaps easy for the King to cancel.

Contents

The masque opens with a long conversation between a poet and a cook, who represent Jonson and Jones respectively. The cook and his cookery are Jonson's satire on Jones's artistry in masque design. The poet and cook discuss their plans to represent the homecoming of Albion and his father Neptune's joy at his return from Celtiberia. The character Hippius, would represent the Duke of Buckingham. [2]

After the anti-masque, Jones's set of the floating island of Delos is revealed, with Apollo and Mercury presenting the serious portion of the work, supported by the minor Greek sea gods Proteus, Portunus, and Saron, the gods of ports and navigation respectively. Songs and dances would have ensued, and an anti-masque of sailors.

It is possible that Jonson's unperformed masque may have influenced the most famous literary work connected with the Spanish Match, Middleton's A Game at Chess. [3] When Jonson's text was published, in quarto in 1624 and in the second folio collection of Jonson's works in 1641, the wording of the title pages gave the impression that the masque had in fact been performed. Generations of scholars took these statements at face value, and believed that the masque had been staged.

The fact that none of his contemporaries had actually seen the masque allowed Jonson to re-use material from the text in subsequent works. Some "lyrical passages" from Neptune's Triumph re-appeared in the next year's masque The Fortunate Isles and Their Union, while comedy material from the anti-masque that satirizes Inigo Jones is employed in The Staple of News (1626). [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Chambers, Vol. 3, pp. 375–91.
  2. ↑ Martin Butler, The Stuart Court: Masque and Political Culture (Cambridge, 2008), p. 202-271.
  3. ↑ Howard-Hill, p. 42.
  4. ↑ Leapman, pp. 216–17.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Middleton</span> English playwright and poet, 1580–1627

Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jacobean period, and among the few to gain equal success in comedy and tragedy. He was also a prolific writer of masques and pageants.

<i>The Masque of Blackness</i> Masque by Ben Jonson

The Masque of Blackness was an early Jacobean era masque, first performed at the Stuart Court in the Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1605. It was written by Ben Jonson at the request of Anne of Denmark, the queen consort of King James I, who wished the masquers to be disguised as Africans. Anne was one of the performers in the masque along with her court ladies, all of whom appeared in blackface makeup. In a ceremony earlier on the day, Prince Charles, Anne's second son was given the title of Duke of York.

The Staple of News is an early Caroline era play, a satire by Ben Jonson. The play was first performed in late 1625 by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre, and first published in 1631.

A Tale of a Tub is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Ben Jonson. The last of his plays to be staged during his lifetime, A Tale of a Tub was performed in 1633 and published in 1640 in the second folio of Jonson's works.

Love's Welcome at Bolsover is the final masque composed by Ben Jonson. It was performed on 30 July 1634, three years before the poet's death, and published in 1641.

Love's Triumph Through Callipolis was the first masque performed at the Stuart Court during the reign of King Charles I, and the first in which a reigning monarch appeared. The work was written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and music by Nicholas Lanier. This play Also played in Greece national theatre in 1979 together with the Johnsons masques Oberon, the faery prince and News from the new world discovered in the moon.

Chloridia: Rites to Chloris and Her Nymphs was the final masque that Ben Jonson wrote for the Stuart Court. It was performed at Shrovetide, 22 February 1631, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones.

Oberon, the Faery Prince was a masque written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and music by Alfonso Ferrabosco and Robert Johnson. Oberon saw the introduction to English Renaissance theatre of scenic techniques that became standard for dramatic productions through the coming centuries.

Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco. It was performed on 3 February 1611 at Whitehall Palace, and published in 1616.

Love Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson; it was performed on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1612, and first published in 1616. The Dictionary of National Biography says of the masque, "This vindication of love from wealth is a defense of the court revels against the strictures of the puritan city."

<i>The Hue and Cry After Cupid</i> Play

The Hue and Cry After Cupid, or A Hue and Cry After Cupid, also Lord Haddington's Masque or The Masque at Lord Haddington's Marriage, or even The Masque With the Nuptial Songs at the Lord Viscount Haddington's Marriage at Court, was a masque performed on Shrove Tuesday night, 9 February 1608, in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace. The work was written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco – the team of creators responsible for previous and subsequent masques for the Stuart Court.

The Golden Age Restored was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones; it was performed on 1 January and 6 January 1616, almost certainly at Whitehall Palace.

Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists at Court is a Jacobean-era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed at Whitehall Palace on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1615. King James I liked it so much that he ordered a repeat performance the following Sunday, 8 January.

The Fortunate Isles and Their Union is a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, and performed on 9 January 1625. It was the last masque acted before King James I of England, and therefore the final masque of the Jacobean era.

Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was first performed on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1618, in the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace. The work's failure on its initial performance, and its subsequent revision, marked a significant development in Jonson's evolving masque technique.

The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn was a Jacobean era masque, written by George Chapman, and with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed in the Great Hall of Whitehall Palace on 15 February 1613, as one item in the elaborate festivities surrounding the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I, to Frederick V, Elector Palatine in the Rhineland.

The Masque of Augurs was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed, most likely, on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1622.

Time Vindicated to Himself and to his Honours was a late Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and with costumes, sets, and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones. James's son and heir Prince Charles led the dances of the principal masquers, as he had in several previous masques at the Stuart Court.

<i>The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses</i> Play written by Samuel Daniel

The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses was an early Jacobean-era masque, written by Samuel Daniel and performed in the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace on the evening of Sunday, 8 January 1604. One of the earliest of the Stuart Court masques, staged when the new dynasty had been in power less than a year and was closely engaged in peace negotiations with Spain, The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses stood as a precedent and a pattern for the many masques that followed during the next four decades.

Luminalia or The Festival of Light was a late Caroline era masque or "operatic show", with an English libretto by Sir William Davenant, designs by Inigo Jones, and music by composer Nicholas Lanier. Performed by Queen Henrietta Maria and her ladies in waiting on Shrove Tuesday, 6 February 1638, it was one of the last and most spectacular of the masques staged at the Stuart Court.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.