Citation

Carpenter S. Renaiss. Stud. 2007; 21(5): 625-636.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1477-4658.2007.00456.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The informal performance traditions and theatre games of the sixteenth century had the capacity not only to shape social encounters but also to influence contemporary responses to, and interpretation of, those encounters. Analysis of one domestic masking visit in Edinburgh shows how it functioned as both enactment and interpretation of social and political relations in Scotland in the early months following Mary Queen of Scots return from France in 1561. Topical tensions involving social status, gender, political, religious and national affiliation all find tacit expression through the structure and cultural implications of the masking game. (pp. 625–636)