Elizabethan Masquerade History

The audience is able to decipher which characters are performing at any given time, because of their distinguishing features or masks. They can also highlight important aspects of the play or hide the parts of lesser importance. For example, in The Phantom of the Opera, the segments including the Phantom as a main character appear somewhat more important than the parts without, because he is hidden by the mask, which draws more attention to him. Another way that Webber uses masks is for the Masquerade Ball or bal masqué, wherein, everyone wears a mask. In these types of balls, it is considered inhumane to show up without a costume or a mask. Specifically, costumes are worn to make the people wearing them unidentifiable, in an attempt for others to focus on personality, and less on physical appearance. Masquerades are also put on for entertainment in carnivals and celebrations, as well as in theatre and opera. People enjoy going to them because it is a chance to have fun, and put an emphasis on personality and mystery. In the chorus of the ‘Masquerade’ opera in The Phantom of the Opera

Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.

Lets get right to it, a mask is a device for deception or hide ones identity. Some mask can also be use for protection. Like a welder, a war mask protect his or her face from the heat and fire. For Lucy, its was use to conceal her identity. When wearing the costume, Lucy could be one of the kids because everyone is dress up. then mean she was a normal average kid on Halloween. More importantly, it meant she wasn't getting mock or insulted by others. It made her bold and happy for having the chance to interact with others.

The masks act as a way for the guests to block their guilt from being exposed after leaving people beyond the four walls to fend for themselves. “It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence” (Poe, Par.4). The invitees put on masks to symbolically obscure themselves from the fate of the “Red Death”. Poe is stating that the people are falling into the same arrogant way of thinking as Prospero by trying to escape disease. The party-goers are also hiding from themselves and each other because they selfishly tried to make themselves immune to the disease while leaving the outside world to fend for their lives. The masks being worn also helps give the sense of confidence while being “hidden”, especially Prospero. “ ‘Who dares’-- he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him-- ‘Who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him-that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from the battlements!’ (Poe, par.11). As soon as Prospero’s eyes landed on the mummer, there was a surge of confidence that shot up within his body in a split second. The mask upon Prospero’s face caused him to act in a boastful and cocky way to try and defeat the mummer, despite

In The Masque of the Red Death, Prince Prospero tries to cover the fact that people are dying beyond his walls by throwing an everlasting party. His egocentric and uncharitable traits are shown in this quote: “And the whole seizure, progress, and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour. But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious… He summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court…” (Poe 3) Situational irony is applied in this quote. As people are suffering outside his walls, the main character is throwing a social function trying to mask the lethal contagion spreading all over the country. To further support the theme, “And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He has come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their

Masks have held countless uses and meanings throughout history. Masks have been used in plays, like those of Shakespeare, traditional dances, social gatherings, even as a form of casual or corporal punishment. Although masks have several different uses in different cultural situations, the meaning of the masks is generally the same. Masks are used to conceal an appearance and assume the identity of another. Metaphorically, masks can be used to hide feelings, to protect oneself, and to block out the outside world. Many of these examples are shown in Art Speigelman 's Maus.

“I feel like the word ‘DIVERGENT’ is branded on my forehead, and if he looks at me long enough, he’ll be able to read it” (164). When Tris gets attacked by some of her fellow initiates, Four gives her advice to stay safe. “‘You think I have to pretend to be vulnerable?’ I ask, raising an eyebrow. ‘Yes, I do’“(285). Lord of the Flies shows that people hide behind masks to liberate themselves of shame. Jack is an excellent example for a character who uses masks to cover his true self. When Jack makes himself a mask made out of mud, he becomes a different person. “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger” (31). “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (33). When the boys kill the pig, they are all somewhat horrified that they did it, but Jack makes a joke out of it and puts on a mask. “He giggled and flecked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks” (195). Social media allows people to also use masks.

Masks were sometimes created for the purpose of being used in a ceremonies by a priest. The mask would be a certain deity and the priest would be dressed in costume to play out that character. By portraying the deity the priest would be

In “Mask of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe uses setting and symbolism to deliver the theme that no one escapes death. The story follows the naïve and pompous Prince Prospero, and his feeble attempt to escape dying from the Black Plague. As the plague spread through his kingdom, the prince called one thousand of his closest friends to reside within the safety of the castle in order to seclude themselves from the horror and death going on outside. During the last months of their seclusion, the prince decided to hold a masquerade ball in order to amuse his many guests living within the confines of the rather odd castle. The dance takes place in a variety of unusual apartments within the castle, spaced apart so the guests would only see one room at a time. The apartments flowed east to west, each decorated in a different color and theme while following a pattern of blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and finally ending in black. During the ball, guests enjoyed a dreamlike atmosphere as they danced through the many colored apartments, each of them avoiding the final black room. This final dark patterned room contained a large ebony clock which chimed eerily every hour, causing the party goers to pause their merriment for a few moments of uneasy silence. As midnight drew near, a new guest arrived, sporting a costume more ghastly and morose than any other. The mask he wore resembled that of a plague victim, and his clothes resembled a funeral shroud. Prospero became angry

I still have several things that need to be done before I will be prepared. The starting thing I need to do is tell my dressmaker what I want my dress to look like. My dress will be a beautiful purple color with jewel made by my jeweler covering my chest. The sleeves of my dress will cover my shoulders, and the bottom half of my dress will be ruffled. As for my mask I will be making it myself. My mask will the the same color as my dress, the top of my mask and the top of my eyes will be outlined with jewels, the whole mask will be covered in fine purple sparkles, and the bottom of my mask will be outlined in black feather. After all the preparations for myself are taken care of I will start doing the tasks the prince has asked me to do. The first thing I will do is make a menu for the ball and have the Chefs prepare all the food that is on the menu for the prince and I to test and see if it's any good. The last task will be helping the prince decided what color to decorate the main room with, I choose purple. The day of the masque ball was finally here. Excitement filled my body with warmness as I tried on my mask and dress to see how they would look. After taking my bath I called my maids up to help me with my dress, hair, and makeup. Since the ball didn't start until seven and it was only five thirty, I decided to leave the curling rods in that the maids had put in my hair until it was almost time to

The people who lived during the Elizabethan Era were not allowed to wear whatever they like or desired. Their Fashion choices had to be followed by a strict law! The English people chose to establish social classes by the colors they wore and this had an affect on costumes used in theatre. Queen Elizabeth I followed the sumptuary laws, which was only certain classes were consent to wear specific fabric and colors. Therefore in plays the actors could only wear certain colors for their costumes that displayed what role and class their character was in. The clothes worn during this era was a result of Queen Elizabeth’s sumptuary laws, which had an affect on costumes used in plays, and each color a person wore had a significant meaning.

I was recently invited to Romeo’s masquerade ball held in a very prestigious hall. I have decided to wear an elegant red dress that is fitted. The dress itself is hands down the best part of my costume. The dress has intricate detailing that goes throughout the full length of the dress. The mask is bloody red and has tiny black dot designs all over it. The mask has one delicate feather poking out of the top of the mask. In addition, I am wearing a red jewel encrusted gold ring, black heels, a pair of red jewel encrusted gold earrings, and finally, a snake-shaped bangle. To top it off I am going to wear my hair in a small bun. I am for sure going to look the best. It is important in my culture when a masquerade costume to never take off your

In Shakespeare's plays Twelfth Night and As You Like It both of the lead female characters dress as men. Both plays are comedies and the change in gender is used as a joke, but I think it goes much deeper. A woman can become a man, but only if it is not permanent. The affect of the change cannot be too great because she must change back to female once everything is settled. They are strong female characters, but must become men to protect themselves and ultimately solve the problem of the play. In the book Desire and Anxiety: The Circulation of Sexuality in Shakespearian Drama Valerie Traub calls the characters, "the crossed-dressed heroine who elicits and enjoys

The performance uncovers the petty exploitation of culture that high society uses, all for the sake of “art.” Masques were even described as “celebrations that sanctioned behavior outside the usual boundaries of decorum.” The nobility felt comfortable performing such a play because that is what the masque called for. The use of this “sanctioned” behavior further showed what the upper class thought of those who were unlike them; they must expect unusual and

     Masks were created to be placed over the face, on the top of the head, or even over the head. Most masks represent spirits of ancestors (Fetzer 106). Some villages make masks with full costumes and use them with music to dance in ritual performances. They used masks for social control,