英國文藝復興時代的宮廷飲宴與娛樂

Courtly Revels and Entertainment in the English Renaissance

利用史料和文學作品交替建構，本文預期讀者對英國文藝復興文化狀況持正面的看法，其反應可以揉合文藝復興當代的價值觀以及現代人的想像空間為之。在這個透視下，這個年代的宮廷式飲宴和娛樂不只和慶典掛鉤，也是社交場合的活動；禮數；儀式；美感的安頓；階級秩序的宣示；權勢富貴的炫耀；脫離宗教禁制的思維；邁向世俗化的團體社會意識，此外，為了在這種場合中應對得體，參與盛會的人要具備基本的涵養和見聞，此亦和這個時期的人文主義息息相關，在某種程度上，飲宴和娛樂已成了政治的工具，伊利沙白女王尤其拿捏得宜，利用這些慶節，自娛娛人並塑造了它們成為朝政凝聚力的延伸，達致跨越階級的歡樂界面。

By means of historical texts and literary texts, this article expects its readers to hold a positive view of the English Renaissance. Furthermore, the reader's response to the control mechanism may blend Renaissance cultural values with those of modern imagination. With this perspective, the courtly reveals and entertainment thus propounded are merely linked with festivals, they also form activities of social functions, etiquette, ceremony, aesthetics, hierarchy, power and wealth. They are activities freed from religious prohibition, leading to secularized communal social consciousness. To fare well in such occasions, the participants need to have certain charismatic qualities which are largely the appeal of Renaissance humanism. To some extent, reveals and entertainment have become instruments of politics. Queen Elisabeth I, in particular, manipulates them well. She applies them in feasts to entertain herself and to entertain her subjects, rendering the occasions as an extension of court politics and an interface of merriment that cuts across different social classes.