William D'Avenant, Salmacida Spolia

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
Salmacida Spolia

was the last masque written by Sir William D'Avenant (1606-68), and the last one to be seen in England. It was performed in January 1640 when both King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria appeared in it, in front of Henrietta Maria's mother, Marie d'Medici, and it was probably shown again in February. This was not a celebratory masque like D'Avenant's earlier

Britannia Triumphans

. The title is an allusion to a Greek legend about a group of barbarians civilised by drinking the waters of Salmacis and thus becoming peaceable, and the theme suggests that Charles could have the same affect on the dissensions in the country. The discord is represented by a stormy opening scene, “as if darkness, confusion and deformity had possest the world”, and an anti-masque of three…

901 words

Citation: Lewcock, Dawn. "Salmacida Spolia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 April 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21268, accessed 19 March 2024.]

21268 Salmacida Spolia 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.