Antimasquer

The dauncers, masquers, antimasquers, and musicians did befor hand practice in the place where they were to present the masque, and the sceanes were artfully prepared (by Inigo Jones) att the lower end of the banquetting house, and all things were in readyness.

Next came a still more popular part—the antimasquers or comic and satirical part.

But Sabrina is no antimasquer. Instead, she introduces this alternative mode of signification into the masque proper, where she becomes moreover a necessary ally in the reunification of the aristocratic family.

This downward metamorphosis serves to justify the low place of the antimasquers in the social scheme and to underscore how limited their social contribution must be.