Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue
Encyclopedia
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
, January 6, 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.
, in the public life of the Stuart
Court. Upon the death of his older brother Prince Henry
in 1612, Charles had become the heir to the throne of his father, James I
; but his youth and relatively poor health (he'd suffered from rickets as a child) kept Charles from assuming the kind of public prominence that Henry had earlier enjoyed. Dancing a role in Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue marked a sort of "coming out" for Charles, just as Henry's appearance in the Jonson/Jones masque Oberon, the Faery Prince
(1611
) had been significant in his career. Orazio Busino, the chaplain to the Venetian ambassador to London and a member of the audience, described Charles as "an agile youth, handsome and very graceful."
faces a conflict between the competing demands of duty and pleasure; under the guidance of Mercury
, a mean between the two is found in the person of Deadalus. The appearance of Comus
, the Bacchus
-like god of festivity and mockery, at the start of the masque may have later inspired John Milton
to make the figure a central focus of his own masque Comus
in 1634
. Jones's set for the masque featured a large mountain meant to represent Mount Atlas; the mountain's peak was shaped like a human head that moved its eyes and changed expression. The anti-masque featured a dozen followers of Comus, men dressed in barrels, and a dozen boys costumed as frogs. A second anti-masque featured a dance of pygmies
.
Busino's eyewitness account of the masque's initial performance helps to explain its failure. Busino wrote that toward the end of the masque the performers' energies flagged:
The Marquis of Buckingham mentioned by Busino was George Villiers
, who was the successor of John Ramsay
and Robert Carr
as the King's "favorite minion." In one interpretation, the masque may have failed with James because it was too obviously critical of the King's personal vices — "his excessive fondness for Buckingham, upon whom he lavished titles, wealth and sexual favours; his frequent inebriation; and his squandering of court revenues on over-lavish banqueting and drink."
, who had missed the first performance due to illness, commanded a second, which occurred on Shrove Tuesday
, February 17. Jonson did a major rewrite on his text, adding a new anti-masque as its start called For the Honor of Wales, full of broad dialect humour. This revision was apparently not enough to please the naysayers among the courtly audience. Busino, for his part, disapproved of the bare-breasted costumes of some of the female masquers. But the anti-masque, which Jonson had invented in The Masque of Queens
in 1609
, became more prominent in Jonson's subsequent works in the genre, often opening the masque as in For the Honor of Wales. Other writers of masques were influenced in the same direction, as in The Triumph of Beauty
by James Shirley
(published 1646
).
).
Jonson's text for the masque was first published in the second folio of his collected works
in 1641
. That text ends with the claim that the masque "pleased the King so well, as he would see it again" — one of the more outrageous fabrications in English literature. (Jonson had died in 1637, and can't be blamed for it.) The text also exists in a transcript by the professional scribe Ralph Crane
, which was prepared for Sir Dudley Carleton
.
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
, written by Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
and designed by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
. It was first performed on Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night (holiday)
Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.It is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the...
, January 6, 1618
1618 in literature
The year 1618 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Sir Francis Bacon is appointed Lord Chancellor by King James I of England.*Ben Jonson sets out to walk to Scotland....
, 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.
Prince Charles
The masque marked the début of the young Prince Charles, the future King Charles ICharles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, in the public life of the Stuart
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
Court. Upon the death of his older brother Prince Henry
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...
in 1612, Charles had become the heir to the throne of his father, James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
; but his youth and relatively poor health (he'd suffered from rickets as a child) kept Charles from assuming the kind of public prominence that Henry had earlier enjoyed. Dancing a role in Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue marked a sort of "coming out" for Charles, just as Henry's appearance in the Jonson/Jones masque Oberon, the Faery Prince
Oberon, the Faery Prince
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...
(1611
1611 in literature
The year 1611 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - Oberon, the Faery Prince, a masque written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace....
) had been significant in his career. Orazio Busino, the chaplain to the Venetian ambassador to London and a member of the audience, described Charles as "an agile youth, handsome and very graceful."
The show
Jonson's text for the masque was dominated by the usual figures of classical mythology — in this case, HerculesHercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
faces a conflict between the competing demands of duty and pleasure; under the guidance of Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, a mean between the two is found in the person of Deadalus. The appearance of Comus
Comus
In Greek mythology, Comus or Komos is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Bacchus. Comus represents anarchy and chaos. His mythology occurs in the later times of antiquity. During his festivals in Ancient Greece, men and women exchanged...
, the Bacchus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
-like god of festivity and mockery, at the start of the masque may have later inspired John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
to make the figure a central focus of his own masque Comus
Comus (John Milton)
Comus is a masque in honour of chastity, written by John Milton. It was first presented on Michaelmas, 1634, before John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater at Ludlow Castle in celebration of the Earl's new post as Lord President of Wales.Known colloquially as Comus, the mask's actual full title is A...
in 1634
1634 in literature
The year 1634 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - The King's Men perform Cymbeline at the court of King Charles I of England.*January 22 - The King's Men perform Davenant's The Wits at the Blackfriars Theatre....
. Jones's set for the masque featured a large mountain meant to represent Mount Atlas; the mountain's peak was shaped like a human head that moved its eyes and changed expression. The anti-masque featured a dozen followers of Comus, men dressed in barrels, and a dozen boys costumed as frogs. A second anti-masque featured a dance of pygmies
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
.
Busino's eyewitness account of the masque's initial performance helps to explain its failure. Busino wrote that toward the end of the masque the performers' energies flagged:
- Finally they danced the Spanish dance once more with their ladies and because they were tired began to lag; and the King, who is by nature choleric, grew impatient and shouted loudly, "Why don't they dance? What did you make me come here for? Devil take all of you, dance!" At once the Marquis of Buckingham, his majesty's favorite minion, sprang forward, and danced a number of high and very tiny capers with such grace and lightness that he made everyone love him, and also managed to calm the rage of his angry lord.
The Marquis of Buckingham mentioned by Busino was George Villiers
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
, who was the successor of John Ramsay
John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness
John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness was an important Scottish aristocrat of the Jacobean era, best known in history as the first favourite of James I when he became king of England as well as Scotland in 1603....
and Robert Carr
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, , was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England.-Background:Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst, Scotland by his second wife, Janet, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch...
as the King's "favorite minion." In one interpretation, the masque may have failed with James because it was too obviously critical of the King's personal vices — "his excessive fondness for Buckingham, upon whom he lavished titles, wealth and sexual favours; his frequent inebriation; and his squandering of court revenues on over-lavish banqueting and drink."
Revision
The difficulties of the masque's creators were compounded by the fact that James's queen and Charles's mother, Anne of DenmarkAnne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
, who had missed the first performance due to illness, commanded a second, which occurred on Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
, February 17. Jonson did a major rewrite on his text, adding a new anti-masque as its start called For the Honor of Wales, full of broad dialect humour. This revision was apparently not enough to please the naysayers among the courtly audience. Busino, for his part, disapproved of the bare-breasted costumes of some of the female masquers. But the anti-masque, which Jonson had invented in The Masque of Queens
The Masque of Queens
The Masque of Queens, Celebrated From the House of Fame is one of the earlier works in the series of masques that Ben Jonson composed for the House of Stuart in the early 17th century...
in 1609
1609 in literature
The year 1609 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - the Children of the Blackfriars perform Middleton's A Trick to Catch the Old One at Court....
, became more prominent in Jonson's subsequent works in the genre, often opening the masque as in For the Honor of Wales. Other writers of masques were influenced in the same direction, as in The Triumph of Beauty
The Triumph of Beauty
The Triumph of Beauty is a Caroline era masque, written by James Shirley and first published in 1646. The masque shows a strong influence of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream....
by James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...
(published 1646
1646 in literature
The year 1646 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*March 24 - The King's Men petition Parliament for three and a half years' back pay; this is despite the London theatres officially remaining closed through the middle 1640s...
).
Aftermath
The career of neither Jonson nor Jones was severely impacted by the failure of Pleasure Reconciled. Jonson continued as the Court's primary author of masques for more than a decade, and Jones designed the masques for an even longer period. When the Whitehall Banqueting House burned down in January 1619, Jones replaced it with a building that is widely considered his masterpiece in architecture (see: Banqueting House, WhitehallBanqueting House, Whitehall
The Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, is the grandest and best known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting house, and the only remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall...
).
Jonson's text for the masque was first published in the second folio of his collected works
Ben Jonson folios
The folio collections of Ben Jonson's works published in the seventeenth century were crucial developments in the publication of English literature and English Renaissance drama. The first folio collection, issued in 1616, treated stage plays as serious works of literature instead of popular...
in 1641
1641 in literature
The year 1641 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Pierre Corneille marries Marie de Lampérière.*Sir William Davenant is convicted of high treason.*Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon becomes an advisor to King Charles I of England....
. That text ends with the claim that the masque "pleased the King so well, as he would see it again" — one of the more outrageous fabrications in English literature. (Jonson had died in 1637, and can't be blamed for it.) The text also exists in a transcript by the professional scribe Ralph Crane
Ralph Crane
Ralph Crane was a professional scrivener or scribe in early seventeenth-century London. His close connection with some of the First Folio texts of the plays of William Shakespeare has led to his being called "Shakespeare's first editor."-Life:What little is known of Crane's life comes from his own...
, which was prepared for Sir Dudley Carleton
Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester
Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester was an English art collector, diplomat and Secretary of State.-Early life:He was the second son of Antony Carleton of Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire, and of Jocosa, daughter of John Goodwin of Winchendon, Buckinghamshire...
.
Sources
- Bradley, Jesse Franklin, and Joseph Quincy AdamsJoseph Quincy AdamsJoseph Quincy Adams, Jr. was a prominent Shakespeare scholar and the first director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C....
. The Jonson Allusion Book: A Collection of Allusions to Ben Jonson from 1597 to 1700. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1922. - Cummings, Robert Mackill. Seventeenth-Century Poetry: An Annotated Anthology. London, Blackwell, 2000.
- Leapman, Michael. Inigo: The Troubled Life of Inigo Jones, Architect of the English Renaissance. London, Headline Book Publishing, 2003.
- Mueller, Janel M., and David Loewenstein, eds. The Cambridge History of Early Modern English Literature. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Orgel, Stephen. Ben Jonson: The Complete Masques. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1969.
- Smith, Mark Michael. Hearing History: A Reader. Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 2004.