Tethys Festival

The Thetis Festival, written by the English poet and playwright Samuel Daniel in 1610, was a court masque commissioned by Queen Anne, wife of King James I of England as part of the celebrations for the investiture of their son Prince Henry as Prince of Wales, which took place between 31 May and 6 June 1610. The masque was performed at Whitehall Palace on the fifth of June 1610. It reflected the grandeur and cultural sophistication of the Jacobean court.

Masques were a popular form of entertainment among the English aristocracy, blending poetry, music, dance, and elaborate stage design which was devised, in this occasion, by Inigo Jones. Daniel’s Thetis Festival drew from classical mythology, centering on the sea-goddess Thetis, mother of Achilles, interpreted by the Queen herself, who was surrounded by nymphs and tritons, interpreted by the ladies and lords of the court. The nymphs are also connected to rivers in this magnificent triumph of their queen.

Samuel Daniel, known for his refined language and lyrical style, infused the masque with allegorical meaning, celebrating his patrons as well as the ideals of harmony, beauty, and order. The lavish costumes, set designs, and music, made the event an extravagant spectacle, marking a high point in Jacobean courtly culture.

Bentley, Gerald Eades 1967. A Book of Masques: In Honour of Allardyce Nicoll¸ Cambridge, CUP.

Butler, Martin. 2008. "The Masque of Power: The Stuart Court and Politics." Renaissance Drama 10: 1-25.

Butler, Martin. 2008. The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dunn-Hensley, Susan. 2011. "Virgin Queens and Femme Fatales: The Politics of Female Masquing." Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal 6: 69-91.

Dunn-Hensley, Susan. 2017. Anna of Denmark and Henrietta Maria: Virgins, Witches, and Catholic Queens. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Johnson, Sarah E. 2013. "The Female Body as Soul in Queen Anna's Masques." SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 53, no. 2: 357-377.

McCabe, Richard A. 2016. 'Ungainefull Arte': Poetry, Patronage, and Print in the Early Modern Era, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Nichols, John, 1828. The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First: His Royal Consort, Family, and Court, Collected from Original Manuscripts, Scarce Pamphlets, Corporation Records, Parochial Registers, Ec. Ec.; Comprising Forty Masques and Entertainments, Ten Civic Pageants, Numerous Original Letters and Annotated Lists of the Peers, Baronets, and Knights who Received Those Honours During the Reign of King James. Illustrated with Notes, Historical, Topographical, Biographical, and Bibliographical, Volume 2, London.

Orgel, Stephen. 1975. The Illusion of Power: Political Theater in the English Renaissance. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Parry, Graham. 1993. "The Court Masque and Its Political Context." Theatre and Government under the Early Stuarts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Parry, Graham. 1993. The Politics of the Jacobean Masque. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scott, Walter, 1809. A Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts, on the Most Interesting and Etntertaining Subjects, London.

Strong, Roy. 1986. Henry Prince of Wales and England's Lost Renaissance. London: Thames & Hudson.

Strong, Roy. 2006. "Tethys' Festival and the Sea Imagery in Stuart Masques." The Antiquaries Journal 86: 235-258.

This edition of the masque Thetys Festival by Samuel Daniel is part of the volume titled The order and solemnitie of the creation of the High and mightie Prince Henrie, eldest sonne to our sacred soueraigne, Prince of VVales, Duke of Cornewall, Earle of Chester, &c. as it was celebrated in the Parliament House, on Munday the fourth of Iunne last past. Together with the ceremonies of the Knights of the Bath, and other matters of speciall regard, incident to the same. Whereunto is annexed the royall maske, presented by the Queene and her ladies, on Wednesday at night following. (USTC No. 3004160), in quarto, which consists of 46 pages. It is held at the British Library (Shelfmark: C.33.e.7.(12)). Thetis Festival appears at page 27 of the volume.

The frontispiece reads: 

TETHYS’ FESTIVAL: OR THE QUEEN’S WAKE

Celebrated at Whitehall, the fifth day of June 1610.

Devised by Samuel Daniel, one of the grooms of her Majesty’s most honourable Privy Chamber.

London.

Printed for John Budge.

1610.

Signatures in this edition go from A3 to F3. The volume starts with signature A3, followed by one unnumbered page and then by signature B, B2, B3 and unnumbered page. Thethys Festival starts with “The Preface to the Reader” with signature E, followed by signatures E2, E3, and an unnumbered page.

Character names and songs are in italics.