Ben Jonson’s Masques and Italian Culture

Abstract

Ben Jonson’s masques rely to an extent on Italian court entertainments. He did not advertise this connection, in fact he kept it rather dark, but it has gradually come to light.¹ Rather than rehearse his borrowings, I want to discuss the general context in which they were made. This is not plain to see because, although Jonson practised a doctrine of imitation, he imitated the classics. He affirms this in his first published masque text, and almost in the same breath is very rude about modern Italian culture. He seems to insist that the kind of masque he is going to write defines its character partly by exclusion, by keeping Italian influence at bay.