Comus (John Milton)
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Comus (A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634) is a masque in honour of chastity, written by John Milton and first presented on Michaelmas, 1634, before John Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater at Ludlow Castle in celebration of the Earl's new post as President of Wales. Known colloquially as Comus, the mask's actual full title is A Mask presented at Ludlow Castle 1634: on Michelmas night, before the right honorable John, Earl of Bridgewater, Viscount Brackley, Lord President of Wales, and one of His Majesty's most honorable privy council.
The plot concerns two brothers and their sister lost in the wood. The sister becomes fatigued, and the brothers wander off in search of sustenance. The sister is besieged by Comus, the god of mockery, brought to his magical palace, and is rescued from his seductions by The Attendant Spirit, who is conjured by the sister's steadfast virtue.
The music, in a baroque style, was composed by Henry Lawes, who also played the part of The Attendant Spirit. Generically, masques were not dramas; they could be viewed as pre-figuring the recitative of opera.
Masques were a favourite court celebration during the reign of Charles I and often included courtiers, nobles and sometimes even the royals themselves in the performance: Bridgewater's own children were the principal actors in this masque.
An air of controversy surrounds this masque, as the Earl of Castlehaven, Bridgewater's brother-in-law, was the subject of a sordid sodomy and rape scandal. Some critics have conjectured that the masque, with its focus on chastity, was designed to "cleanse" the Egerton family. The notable articles in this strain of criticism include:
- Brested, Barbara. "Comus and the Castlehaven Scandal" Milton Studies 3 (1971), 201-224.
- Creaser, John. "Milton's Comus: The Irrelevance of the Castlehaven Scandal." Milton Quarterly 4 (1987): 25-34.
- Hunter, William B. Milton's Comus: Family Piece. New York: Whitson Publishing, Troy, NY: 1983.
- Marcus, Leah. "The Milieu of Milton's Comus: Judicial Reform at Ludlow and the Problem of Sexual Assault." Criticism 25 (1983): 293-327.
- Weitz (Miller), Nancy. "Chastity, Rape, and Ideology in the Castlehaven Testimonies and Milton's Ludlow Mask." Milton Studies 32 (1995): 153-68.
