''The Triumph of Beauty'' is a Caroline era

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masque ...

, written by

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so m ...

and first published in 1646. The masque shows a strong influence of

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

.'' The plot of the masque draws upon one of the most famous tales of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, the

Judgement of Paris Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle ...

; Shirley derives some material from the ''Dialogues'' of

Lucian Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore ...

. (Shirley had previously used the same subject matter in the masque in Act V of his 1640 play ''

The Constant Maid ''The Constant Maid, or Love Will Find Out the Way'' is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley and first published in 1640. The play is associated with the Irish phase of Shirley's dramatic career (1637–40), and was l ...

.'') The cast includes all the principals of the story, with the divinities occurring in their Roman versions:

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, and

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

all appear, along with

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

Hymen The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia, and is similar in structure to the vagina. In children, a common appearance of the h ...

, the

Graces In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thali ...

, the Hours, and a personified Delight. (The three Hours,

Eunomia In Greek mythology, Eunomia ( grc, Εὐνομία) was a minor goddess of law and legislation (her name can be translated as "good order", "governance according to good laws"), as well as the spring-time goddess of green pastures (''eû'' means ...

Dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

and Eirene, also appear in Shirley's ''

The Triumph of Peace ''The Triumph of Peace'' was a Caroline era masque, "invented and written" by James Shirley, performed on 3 February 1634 and published the same year. The production was designed by Inigo Jones. Inspiration The masque was lavishly sponsored b ...

''.) The figures of the anti-masque are seven shepherds, Bottle, Crab, Clout, Toadstool, Shrub, Scrip, and Hobbinoll; as a group they resemble the comic Athenians in Shakespeare's ''Dream,'' with Bottle as Shirley's version of Bottom. The scene is set at Mount Ida, in keeping with the traditional story; the masque ends with Venus's victory in the contest of beauty, and makes no mention of the ensuing events (that is, the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

). The text of the masque was first published in the

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

volume of Shirley's ''Poems'' that was issued in 1646 by the bookseller

Humphrey Moseley Humphrey Moseley (died 31 January 1661) was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century. Life Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers C ...

. The masque was also, apparently, sometimes bound and sold as a separate volume. After the London theatres closed in 1642 at the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, Shirley made his living as a schoolteacher, and created his final dramatic works for student performance. His late works ''

Honoria and Mammon ''Honoria and Mammon'' is a Caroline era stage play by James Shirley, first published in 1659 though not produced until 2013. It is a revision and expansion of Shirley's earlier morality play '' A Contention for Honor and Riches'' (c. 1630, print ...

,'' ''

The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses ''The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles'' is a Caroline era stage play, an interlude written by James Shirley and first published in 1659. As its title indicates, the subject of the play is a staple of the classical litera ...

,'' and ''

Cupid and Death ''Cupid and Death'' is a mid-seventeenth-century masque, written by the Caroline era dramatist James Shirley, and performed on 26 March 1653 before the Portuguese ambassador to Great Britain. The work and its performance provide a point of contr ...

'' fall into this category. The 1646 title page of ''The Triumph of Beauty'' states that the masque "was personated by some young Gentlemen, for whom it was intended, at a private Recreation." Judging by its publication date, ''The Triumph of Beauty'' may have been the earliest of these pedagogic dramas. The music for the masque was composed by

William Lawes William Lawes (April 160224 September 1645) was an English composer and musician. Life and career Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602. He was the son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathedral, ...

, who also composed the music for Shirley's ''

.''Logan and Smith, p. 161; Walls, pp. 334-5.

Notes

Sources

* Forsythe, Robert Stanley. ''The Relations of Shirley's Plays to the Elizabethan Drama.'' New York, Columbia University Press, 1914. * Greg, W. W. ''A List of Masques, Pageants, &c., Supplementary to A List of English Plays.'' London, Bibliographical Society/Blades, East and Blades, 1902. * Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. ''The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama.'' Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978. * Walls, Peter. ''Music in the English Court Masque, 1604–1640.'' Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Triumph of Beauty, The English Renaissance plays 1646 plays Masques Plays by James Shirley