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“The golden tree”: The court masques of Queen Anna of Denmark

Middaugh, Karen Lee
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061385436

Abstract Details

1994, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, English.
Using the theory and methodology of French anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu, this dissertation analyzes the six court masques sponsored by Queen Anna of Denmark between 1604 and 1611. The masques are examined as political rituals through which the Queen attempted to define her actual and symbolic position at the Jacobean Court. Through the use of historical records, the Court is presented, not as a homogeneous group controlled by the autocratic power of the King, but as a highly fragmented and decentered field through which power constantly circulated in an exchange similar to that of the economic marketplace. In this heterogeneous environment, the court masque becomes a more understandable expression of Jacobean society's need for stability and class cohesion. The first chapter examines the historical behavior of queens consort, showing that the behaviors of Queen Anna parallel those of her class while responding to the specific conditions of her historical milieu. The chapter then argues for the court masque as an appropriate ritual expression of the Queen's needs. Each of the following four chapters examines one of the Queen's masques within its historical context. In each chapter, the discussion outlines the development of the Queen's personal symbolism as mediator and representative of the Jacobean state. The final cha pter shows how the Queen's own iconography became dependent upon and related to that of her son, the heir apparent Prince Henry, as he approached maturity. The conclusion then sets forth possible explanations for the Queen's abandonment of the masquing stage after her son's premature death at the age of eighteen
Thomas Bishop (Advisor)
259 p.
Literature, English
Queen Anna of Denmark; court masques

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Middaugh, K. L. (1994). “The golden tree”: The court masques of Queen Anna of Denmark [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061385436

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Middaugh, Karen. “The golden tree”: The court masques of Queen Anna of Denmark. 1994. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061385436.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Middaugh, Karen. "“The golden tree”: The court masques of Queen Anna of Denmark." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1994. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061385436

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1061385436
869
© 1994, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.