Compare and Contrast the Ideas of Beauty in ”The Masque of Blackness” and “The Jew of Malta”
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Compare and Contrast the Ideas of Beauty in ”The Masque of Blackness” and “The Jew of Malta”
The two texts chosen are “The Masque of Blackness" and "The Jew of Malta." Both texts include the representation of beauty in different ways based upon their themes. "The Masque of Blackness” directly highlights the topic of beauty while the same topic is depicted hidden within the context of play in the other text i.e., "The Jew of Malta." The display of beauty in completely different ways shows how the same topic can be seen from different aspects by separate authors. The beauty that is being discussed is the physical and outer beauty of an entity. It is the beauty that is visible to the other people from the outside
“The Masque of Blackness” mainly revolves around the skin color of women. The masque is based around the concept that the king is the sun, and it is due to his power, magic, and strength that the color of African goddesses can change from a dark tone to a lighter tone. It is the wish of these goddesses, and they feel sad about having such a dark tone of the skin. As the masque was acted to please the king, thus his role was made comparable to that of the sun. The sun is responsible for bringing the main change into the appearance of the goddess. This masque was unusual in the concept as it involved the actors wearing black color makeup instead of masks to change their appearance. Usually, at the end of the play, the actors would unmask, but it was not possible with makeup on. The king's wife mainly held the play to show gender equality because ladies performed in this play, which was unheard of back then. But the main focus transferred from gender equality to the skin color, and there was controversy regarding the queen taking part in the play with the black makeup because it would taint her beauty. The masque shows that Niger, who is the son of a god, has black skin colored daughters, and they want to find a place where the sun shines bright and may change the color of the skin to a lighter paler tone. This depiction also resulted in a display of racism where the black color would be considered inferior to the white. The king is the one who would be responsible in his role as the sun to provide the necessary changes to the goddesses and change their appearance. This is one of the reasons that this text is not taught to the students because of the controversy that is present around the topic ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ksERqBGG","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Ben Jonson. The Masque of Blackness. 1605.}, n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Ben Jonson. The Masque of Blackness. 1605., n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":19,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/VGSLU6L3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/VGSLU6L3"],"itemData":{"id":19,"type":"webpage","title":"Ben Jonson. The Masque of Blackness. 1605.","URL":"http://www.luminarium.org/editions/maskblack.htm","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2020",1,7]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Ben Jonson. The Masque of Blackness. 1605., n.d.).
“The Jew of Malta” focusses on a Jewish merchant Barabas who is outraged when the governor asks him to give a part of his wealth for the Turks. He refuses and is punished by the governor as a result of which he plans to take revenge on the governor by using different means. Barabas uses his daughter and her beauty to get the attention of the governor’s son and get him killed by dueling his daughter’s real lover. In his anger, he even kills his daughter when he finds out that she knows about his plans. The play portrays the concept of beauty in multiple ways. First of all, the merchant would pick his slaves with care, selecting the ones that have a strong physical build. Also, the merchant would compare his daughter Abigail's beauty to the gold he has, thereby showing how much her beauty means. Also, the governor's son would call Abigail a diamond, thereby further portraying the concept of her amazing beauty. Barabas made the beauty of his daughter his prime weapon when conspiring against the governor. The author gave much importance to the concept of beauty by making it an important component of the text ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"hvggvpOT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"({\\i{}Full text of \\uc0\\u8220{}The Jew of Malta,\\uc0\\u8221{}} n.d.)","plainCitation":"(Full text of “The Jew of Malta,” n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":20,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/VCB3SDE3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/VCB3SDE3"],"itemData":{"id":20,"type":"webpage","title":"Full text of \"The Jew of Malta\"","URL":"https://www.archive.org/stream/thejewofmalta00901gut/jmlta10.txt","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2020",1,7]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Full text of “The Jew of Malta,” n.d.).
The two texts are similar in the sense that the element of beauty is one of the topics of discussion in both of them, but the way the beauty s portrayed in completely different and makes a great topic of discussion. The Masque of Blackness highlights how the color white is considered a sign of beauty, and achieving it is one of the major goals of the ladies of that era ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"IDVlzxSf","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Aasand, 1992)","plainCitation":"(Aasand, 1992)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":22,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/45MIXYSJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/45MIXYSJ"],"itemData":{"id":22,"type":"article-journal","title":"\"'To Blanch an Ethiop, and Revive a Corse'\": Queen Anne and The Masque of Blackness","container-title":"Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900","page":"271","volume":"32","issue":"2","source":"DOI.org (Crossref)","DOI":"10.2307/450736","ISSN":"00393657","title-short":"'To Blanch an Ethiop, and Revive a Corse'","journalAbbreviation":"Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900","author":[{"family":"Aasand","given":"Hardin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1992"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Aasand, 1992). While on the other hand in the Jew of Malta., the beauty mainly revolves around Abigail and the part where the slaves are purchased. Those slaves are given priority whose physical build is better than the other competitors ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"fIPvESE3","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Learning, 2016)","plainCitation":"(Learning, 2016)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":23,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/ZGJWBJP4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/ZGJWBJP4"],"itemData":{"id":23,"type":"book","title":"A Study Guide for Christopher Marlowe's \"The Jew of Malta\"","publisher":"Gale, Cengage Learning","number-of-pages":"32","source":"Google Books","abstract":"A Study Guide for Christopher Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.","ISBN":"978-1-4103-5011-4","note":"Google-Books-ID: gNj2DAAAQBAJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Learning","given":"Gale","suffix":"Cengage"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Learning, 2016). This idea shows that beauty and physical appearance is the main sign of superiority. The two texts resemble each other in showing that the main criteria which show superiority is actually the overall physical beauty of something or someone. The same concept is highlighted in two different ways — one through skin color and in the second through the general beauty. Back in the days of inception of these texts, there would be actual discrimination between the people belonging to different caste, color, or race. This holds true even today but not at the same level. Some areas where there is still old and traditional thinking present might say that there is inferiority or superiority among people based on these criteria. But mostly the perception has completely changed, but back in the days, it was highlighted as can be seen in the texts. Nowadays, there is little discrimination based on overall beauty.
Another more important thing to keep in mind is that in both the plays involve people of high stature to depict the concept of beauty. In The Masque of blackness, the goddesses are the ones that are displaying the idea of superiority related to beauty. It is their wish to have a change of skin tone because it would result in them looking more beautiful. While on the other hand, in the Jew of Malta, a rich Jewish merchant Barabas in the one who is displaying the same concept of beauty through his selection of slaves and the praise that he bestows upon his very own daughter. This shows that the value of beauty was more among those with high ranks and the more privileged ones. This fits in directly with the concept that in the old day's people who would have a higher rank or higher value would be more interested in the concept of beauty while to lower rank, people would be deprived of certain privileges if they had lesser beauty.
When speaking about the contrast in the ways that beauty is portrayed, it can be seen that both the texts engage in different ways. The Jew of Malta depicts beauty, but it is not limited to the color of the skin. Abigail might have had a different skin tone, but she would still have the overall appeal. Also, the selection of the slaves was based upon their physical stature and not on the overall appearance. In contrast to this, the Masque of Blackness highlights the importance of skin color when it comes to the criteria of beauty. The goddesses wanted to change the skin tone, which shows the value it had in their minds.
Another clearly distinct aspect between the texts is that in the Jew of Malta, the beauty is always comparable to money and other things of value. When addressing his daughter Abigail, Barabas would compare her beauty to the gold that he has. Also, when selecting the slaves, the money would be involved in the decision-making process, and a higher price might be put for the slaves with the better build. The governor's son, who falls in love with Abigail, also compares her beauty to that of a diamond. On the other hand, in the masque of blackness, there is no such mention of a price that the color of flesh or beauty might have. It was just the personal preference of the goddess to have their skin tone of a lighter color. Since it is the goddess that wants to have her beauty enhanced, it is clear that it would have no link to the value of beauty in terms of money, gold, etc. Comparing of beauty to a price was not an uncommon occurring in the old days. People would make their decisions based on their liking towards a particular thing or a particular person. And that linking was mainly centered around their concept of beauty and good looks.
The two texts have some similarities when it comes to the way the beauty is portrayed, and at the same time, there are some differences as well among the two. But one thing that remains constant is that extra value is given to the overall beauty and physical appearance of a person whatever the character of that person might be in general. Both the texts had different concepts of beauty and how it showed be brought in front of the people. One showed superiority through skin color, while the other depicted it through the overall appearance.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Aasand, H. (1992). “‘To Blanch an Ethiop, and Revive a Corse’”: Queen Anne and The Masque of Blackness. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 32(2), 271. https://doi.org/10.2307/450736
Ben Jonson. The Masque of Blackness. 1605. (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2020, from http://www.luminarium.org/editions/maskblack.htm
Full text of “The Jew of Malta.” (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2020, from https://www.archive.org/stream/thejewofmalta00901gut/jmlta10.txt
Learning, G., Cengage. (2016). A Study Guide for Christopher Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta.” Gale, Cengage Learning.
