Cupid and Death
Encyclopedia
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 contradiction to the standard view that the England of Oliver Cromwell
and the Interregnum
was uniformly hostile to stage drama.
, Shirley earned a living as a schoolteacher. As part of his new occupation, he wrote dramas — morality plays and masques — for his students to perform. The final works of his career, including Honoria and Mammon
and The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses
(both published in 1659), were works for student performers. Cupid and Death is another work in this category, though its resemblances with the great masques of the late Stuart
Court have been noted by critics — it "is much more like a Court Masque than any of Shirley's other school Masques." Perhaps this aspect of the work made it seem appropriate for the Portuguese ambassador, the Count of Peneguiaõ. Shirley's past Royalist connections with the Stuart Court, and even his Roman Catholicism, clearly (if surprisingly) did not stand as insuperable obstacles to a public staging of the work.
in 1653, by the booksellers John Crook and John Baker. It was reprinted in 1659
. The full musical score for the masque, by Matthew Locke
and Christopher Gibbons
, has survived, and was published together with Shirley's text in a modern edition in 1951.
and many subsequent versions. For his source, Shirley employed a 1651
translation of Aesop by John Ogilby
, with whom he'd worked at the Werburgh Street Theatre
in the later 1630s. Shirley wrote commendatory verses for Ogilby's volume.
s and Apes." (The poor Chamberlain is struck by Death with Cupid's arrow, and falls in love with an ape.) The god Mercury
eventually intervenes to set things right; Cupid is banished from the courts of princes to common people's cottages (a suitably sober moral for the Puritan
regime then in power). The slain lovers are shown rejoicing in Elysium
.
"Cupid and Death resembles Caroline masque in its use of staging, music, dance, singing and dialogue. Yet it differs in that the masquers take part in the action and they do not dance with the audience at the end...The balance between spoken prose dialogue, recitative and song carries the performance away from masque and towards opera
, a form Davenant
planned to introduce to the London stage as early as 1639."
Cupid and Death was performed at Rutland Boughton
's Glastonbury Festival in 1919, by the Consorte of Musicke (notably Anthony Rooley
and Emma Kirkby
) in 1985, and by the Halastó Kórus (directed by Göttinger Pál) in Budapest in 2008.
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 the Caroline era dramatist 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...
, and performed on 26 March 1653
1653 in literature
The year 1653 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death is performed on March 26.* Pierre Corneille retires from the theatre for six years.* John Evelyn buys Sayes Court, Deptford....
before the Portuguese ambassador to Great Britain. The work and its performance provide a point of contradiction to the standard view that the England of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
and the Interregnum
English Interregnum
The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...
was uniformly hostile to stage drama.
Background
After the closure of the theatres in 1642 at the start of the English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Shirley earned a living as a schoolteacher. As part of his new occupation, he wrote dramas — morality plays and masques — for his students to perform. The final works of his career, including Honoria and Mammon
Honoria and Mammon
Honoria and Mammon is a Caroline era stage play, written by James Shirley and published in 1659. It is a revision and expansion of Shirley's earlier morality play A Contention for Honor and Riches Honoria and Mammon is a Caroline era stage play, written by James Shirley and published in 1659. It is...
and The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses
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...
(both published in 1659), were works for student performers. Cupid and Death is another work in this category, though its resemblances with the great masques of the late 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 have been noted by critics — it "is much more like a Court Masque than any of Shirley's other school Masques." Perhaps this aspect of the work made it seem appropriate for the Portuguese ambassador, the Count of Peneguiaõ. Shirley's past Royalist connections with the Stuart Court, and even his Roman Catholicism, clearly (if surprisingly) did not stand as insuperable obstacles to a public staging of the work.
Publication
Cupid and Death was first published in quartoBook size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
in 1653, by the booksellers John Crook and John Baker. It was reprinted in 1659
1659 in literature
The year 1659 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Andrew Marvell becomes a member of Parliament.* Méric Casaubon edits John Dee's journal of angel magic.-New books:*Richard Baxter - The Holy Commonwealth...
. The full musical score for the masque, by Matthew Locke
Matthew Locke (composer)
Matthew Locke was an English Baroque composer and music theorist.-Biography:As a boy, Locke was trained in the choir of Exeter Cathedral, under Edward Gibbons, the brother of Orlando Gibbons...
and Christopher Gibbons
Christopher Gibbons
Christopher Gibbons was an English composer and organist. He was the second son, and first surviving child of the composer Orlando Gibbons.As a child, Gibbons sang in the Chapel Royal under the direction of Nathaniel Giles...
, has survived, and was published together with Shirley's text in a modern edition in 1951.
Source
The drama depends on a traditional tale, found in AesopAesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
and many subsequent versions. For his source, Shirley employed a 1651
1651 in literature
The year 1651 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*August 22 - Execution of Protestant preacher, Christopher Love, whose sermons were later published.-New books:...
translation of Aesop by John Ogilby
John Ogilby
John Ogilby was a Scottish translator, impresario and cartographer. Best known for publishing the first British road atlas, he was also a successful translator, noted for publishing his work in handsome illustrated editions.-Life:Ogilby was born in or near Killemeare in November 1600...
, with whom he'd worked at the Werburgh Street Theatre
Werburgh Street Theatre
The Werburgh Street Theatre, also the Saint Werbrugh Street Theatre or the New Theatre, was a seventeenth-century theatre in Dublin, Ireland...
in the later 1630s. Shirley wrote commendatory verses for Ogilby's volume.
Plot
In the tale and in Shirley's retelling, Death and Cupid accidentally exchange their arrows and cause chaos as a result. Cupid shoots potential lovers and inadvertently kills them. Death shoots at elderly people whose time of passing has come, and strikes them ardent instead; he shoots duellists about to fight, and they drop their swords to embrace and dance and sing. The "serious" portion of the masque features the kind of personifications standard in the masque form: Nature, Folly, Madness, and Despair. As usual in masques of Shirley's era, the work contains a comic anti-masque, with a tavern Host and a Chamberlain, and a dance of "SatyrSatyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s and Apes." (The poor Chamberlain is struck by Death with Cupid's arrow, and falls in love with an ape.) The god 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...
eventually intervenes to set things right; Cupid is banished from the courts of princes to common people's cottages (a suitably sober moral for the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
regime then in power). The slain lovers are shown rejoicing in Elysium
Elysium
Elysium is a conception of the afterlife that evolved over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects, and cults. Initially separate from Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes...
.
"Cupid and Death resembles Caroline masque in its use of staging, music, dance, singing and dialogue. Yet it differs in that the masquers take part in the action and they do not dance with the audience at the end...The balance between spoken prose dialogue, recitative and song carries the performance away from masque and towards opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, a form Davenant
William Davenant
Sir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
planned to introduce to the London stage as early as 1639."
Cupid and Death was performed at Rutland Boughton
Rutland Boughton
Rutland Boughton was an English composer who became well known in the early 20th century as a composer of opera and choral music....
's Glastonbury Festival in 1919, by the Consorte of Musicke (notably Anthony Rooley
Anthony Rooley
Anthony Rooley is a British lutenist. He founded in 1969 and directs the early music ensemble the Consort of Musicke, which continues to be one of the chief vehicles for his inspiration, among many other activities and interests...
and Emma Kirkby
Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...
) in 1985, and by the Halastó Kórus (directed by Göttinger Pál) in Budapest in 2008.
Sources
- Clare, Janet. Drama of the English Republic, 1649–60. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2006.
- Corns, Thomas N. A History of Seventeenth-Century English Literature. London, Blackwell, 2007.
- 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.
- Rose, Martial. Forever Juliet, Dereham, Norfolk, Larks Press, 2003.