The plot of the masque follows the ladies arriving at the royal court to be "cleansed" of their blackness by King James; a stage direction that was impossible to fulfill on stage. They had been instructed by a riddle to seek the land "Britannia". The theme of the masque was a commentary on the Jacobean debate on the Union and the disparate identities of the people of Britain.[2] The Masque of Beauty was written as a sequel to The Masque of Blackness, and originally intended for the following holiday season. It was displaced by Hymenaei, the masque for the wedding of the Earl of Essex and Frances Howard. Beauty was finally performed in 1608.[3]
The idea of disguising as African performers may have been suggested to Anne of Denmark by reports of a masque at the coronation of her brother Christian IV of Denmark in 1596. Courtiers, and possibly the king himself, took part in a dance as Roman heroes and Moors.[4] "Moor" was a European term for African people and imagined exotic people at this time.[5]
