Ben Jonson's antimasques : a history of growth and decline

Introduction: the antimasque - a history of growth and decline - Jonson and Barther; readers as understaners - Jonsonian masque in the 20th century - some speculative conclusions on the growth of the antimasque; free from servile flattery; panegyric and the formation of the antimasque; Jonsonian panegyric - a textual criticism of "To Sir Robert Wroth"; desire and difference - "The Masque of Blackness" and The Masque of Beauty"; Arthur and Augustus - masque and the historical myth; present occasions and removed mysteries - the topicality of the antimasque; Jonson's consuming satire and the carnivalesque antimasque; heavenly love and the collapse of the court masque; post-script; Jonson's heirs - Shirley and Milton.