In England during the Renaissance, courtly entertainments and ceremonies were closely linked with the establishment and maintenance of royal sovereignty. A major theatrical genre, the masque, defined as “the appearance of a group of noble personages dressed in elaborate disguise to celebrate a particular occasion and to honor their monarch,” utilized spectacle as a symbolic representation and vindication of authority. In its function as a ceremonial arena for ritual exchange between monarch and courtier, the spectacle embodied in the masque became a fool of state. Of the many concepts involved in the demonstration of imperial power, one of the most significant historically was that of colonialism, revealed in such examples as The Irish Masque of the Court. Although usually considered as a dramatic genre, the masque reflects a conscious international policy of utilizing grandeur, magnificence, and the display of power as symbols of the desire to dominate and control.

Key words: Jacobean masque, Ben Jonson, nationalism, The Masque of Blackness, The Irish Masque of Court, Prince Henry’s Barriers

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