In spite of the work accomplished by such students of the court masque as Brotanek, Reyher, and Miss Welsford and such Jonsonian scholars as Castelain and Herford, I believe that Jonson's long concern with the courtly spectacle has not been fully understood. Jonson's pedantry or antiquarianism, the many excellent lyrical passages in his main masques, the “little comedies of manners” in his antimasques, and the “usual flattery” of the courtly entertainment have been the critics' points of emphasis. Very recently Mr. Gordon pointed out that in The Masque of Blacknesse and The Masque of Beautie Jonson attempted to elucidate solid Renaissance doctrine, but only Mr. Gilbert, as far as I know, has questioned the correctness of interpreting as flattery some of the passages praising James in Jonson's courtly spectacles. Usually Jonson's “weighty antiquarianism” and “unabashed flattery” have been either censured or indulgently condoned in these “strictly occasional” works wherein the greatest persons in the realm exhibited themselves and their riches in the intricate dances that formed the center of the Masque and the sumptuous tournament that formed the center of the Barriers.