The History of Masques

The masques of 16th- and early 17th-century Europe laid the groundwork of most, if not all, modern stage plays we know today. They were only put on for the wealthy upper class. They were extravagant and over-the-top. One notable thing about masques is that they were commonly performed by the wealthy people who would be watching them. It was so common for the upper class to partake in masques that the queen of France acted in a few. The queen's actions are the main reason that women were allowed to act at all.

Masques are also the ancestor of the musical. Masques did not have any singing, but they commonly had professional musicians playing background music and ballerinas as dancers. The upper class that joined the masques also partook in dancing, such as when the English queen Anne of Denmark frequently danced with her ladies in masques.