The Masks within Walsingham

In chapter XLIX, Walsingham attends a masquerade party accompanied by Amelia. Walsingham originally agrees to attend the party only because he believes he will discover information about Isabella. Amelia attends the party "in the simple habit of a Welsh peasant girl" which Isabella too often wore (270). Although Amelia's costume -- which originally strongly resembles Isabella -- fails to change Walsingham's opinion of her, it introduces the concept of the importance of costumes at the masquerade. The costumes of various other party goers demonstrate both an interest in Classical history and religious tensions within Robinson's time.

When Walsingham hears Isabella's voice he rushes through a crowd of masks and only notices a few particular costumes in his rush towards his love. Most of the costumes his notices are those of personified Greek goddesses or even ideas. Walsingham notices Venus and Diana along with Zephyrus who is "the west wind personified" and the muse Thalia. Robinson is demonstrating the historical interest in the Classics within her age. These women's costumes bring about the question of education. These upper class women must have been educated about Greek and Roman ideas if they were costuming them at parties. Were these women taught about Diana, who was both a strong and violent goddess of the hunt? Since these qualities of Diana were most likely not appreciated by sensible Christian women perhaps it was her virginity they respected.

The costumes Walsingham notices during his rush to Isabella also include "a blue-eyed nun" (273). This character is described to be -- most importantly Caucasian -- within the footnotes. While most nuns would have been dark eyed Italians, the English woman dressed as a nun has blue eyes which marks her separately from true nuns. If a nun habit could be worn as a costume by the Protestant English, Catholics must not have been truly respected. Catholicism is seen as a costume to the Protestants that one can simply wear to a party. The blue-eyed nun at the masquerade demonstrates the flippancy English Protestants had towards Catholics. The religious tension builds with Robinson's embedded poem on page 274. The poem alludes to Pope's "Rape of the Lock" which states that a particular cross would be kissed by both Jews and Infidels. The use of the word Infidels and the assumption that a cross could be so lovely that it would be adored by Jews demonstrates both Pope's and Walsingham's disinterest in religions outside of Protestantism.