On the Masque and Music in The Tempest

In this paper, I examined how the Stuart court masque was adopted and subtly criticized in The Tempest by W. Shakespeare. The Stuart court masque was the tool for the king to show his absolute power. They spent preposterous money on the masque as luxury meant magnanimity of the king. The masque was composed of two parts: grotesque anti-masque and the main masque. The former was always expelled or transcended by the latter, then large scale dances of courtiers were followed, which meant two transformations were achieved in order to glorify the king. In The Tempest, the stock ideas and settings of the masque can be seen, such as rocks, caves, an isolated island, tempest, fairies, Greek goddesses, the characters of anti-masque and main masque, and the image of reconciliation. They not only symbolize the traditional values but also undermine them and lead the audience to the deeper poetic truth. For example, an isolated island symbolizes consciousness which rises above the unconscious sea, a dream in sleep, a life surrounded by sleep, and the masque itself is manipulated by Prospero's magic, which implies that the court masque is also only a transient dream. Two masques performed in the play, a banquet masque and a masque celebrating the marriage are suddenly interrupted by real plots which awaken the audience from dream-like shows. The island also reflects the various realities of each character's mind. The music is used effectively to show this poetic truth. The historical places referred in the play, Naples and Milan suggest that the island has some relationship with the Hapsburgs. The play's events resonate with political issues in Europe, especially Europe's religious conflicts. Shakespeare subtly but definitely criticized James' policy and hoped for prince Henry who had inherited the genuine Elizabethan traditional idea of John Dee who had learned magic in Rudolf II's court of Austrian Hapsburgs.9KJ00004192571departmental bulletin pape