The Stuart court masque and political culture

Description:

"Court masques were multi-media entertainments, with song, dance, theater, and changeable scenery, staged annually at the English court to celebrate the Stuart dynasty. They have typically been regarded as frivolous and expensive entertainments. This book dispels this notion, emphasizing instead that they were embedded in the politics of the moment, and spoke in complex ways to the different audiences who viewed them. Covering the whole period from Queen Anne s first masque at Winchester in 1603 to Salmacida Spolia in 1640, Butler looks in depth at the political functions of state festivity. The book contextualizes masque performances in intricate detail, and analyzes how they shaped, managed, and influenced the public face of the Stuart kingship. Butler presents the masques as a vehicle through which we can read the early Stuart court s political aspirations and the changing functions of royal culture in a period of often radical instability."--Pub. desc.

subjects: Court and courtiers,  English Masques,  English drama,  History,  History and criticism,  Political aspects of Theater,  Politics and government,  Politics and literature,  Theater,  English drama, history and criticism, 17th century,  Theater, political aspects,  Masques,  Great britain, court and courtiers,  Great britain, politics and government, 1603-1714,  Political aspects,  English drama--history and criticism,  English drama--17th century--history and criticism,  Theater--political aspects--history,  Theater--political aspects--great britain--history--17th century,  Masques, english--history and criticism,  Politics and literature--history,  Politics and literature--great britain--history--17th century,  Court and courtiers--history,  Pr678.m3 b88 2008,  792.60941/09032

Places: Great Britain

Times: 1603-1649,  17th century