The Masque of Motley Epilogue

by Grok&Owen

7 min read

Write the Epilogue: Craft a final tavern scene where the characters, inspired by the flashback, commission Shakespeare to write The Masque of Motley as a play, with Anne suggesting the title.

Below is the Epilogue for The Masque of Motley, set as a final scene in the Mermaid Tavern after the masquerade unmasking (Act V, Scene I) and the Stratford flashback (Act V, Scene II). In this festive, farcical scene, the characters—William Shakespeare, Mistress Anne Hathaway, Gadric Badgerly, Master Cornelius Hue, Mistress Cicely Spark, Lord Roderick Vain, Parson Pious, Dickon Weave, and Master Bartholomew Brew—gather to reflect on their chaotic adventure and the flashback’s lesson of unmasking deceit. Inspired by young Will and Anne’s Stratford prank, they commission Shakespeare to write a play, The Masque of Motley, with Anne proposing the title to encapsulate the aposematic theme of deceptive hues. The scene maintains the play’s Shakespearean blank verse, farcical tone, and philosophical grounding in the article (The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/colors-are-objective-according-to-two-philosophers-even-though-the-blue-you-see-doesnt-match-what-i-see-234467), tying the objective-subjective color divide to the characters’ newfound honesty. The epilogue closes with a toast to truth and mirth, sealing the comedy’s redemptive spirit.

Epilogue: The Mermaid’s Merry Commission

Setting: The Mermaid Tavern, Eastcheap, London, 1599, the morning after the masquerade ball. The tavern glows with dawn’s light, its oaken tables littered with tankards, crumpled masks, and remnants of the ball’s revelry—feathers, a torn peacock plume, a dolphin fin. A fire crackles, and a lute strums softly. The air is clear of hop vapors, but the characters’ colorful costumes—emerald, dolphin blue, monk’s brown, lion’s gold, jester’s motley—still evoke the aposematic chaos, now softened by laughter and camaraderie. A sense of renewal fills the room, as if the unmasking has cleansed their guile.

Dramatis Personae

  • William Shakespeare: The playwright, in russet, quill in hand, poised to pen a new work.
  • Mistress Anne Hathaway: Shakespeare’s Stratford wife, in silver, witty and inspiring.
  • Gadric Badgerly: A Honey Badger-like scholar, in russet with badger stripes, toasting truth.
  • Master Cornelius Hue: A philosopher, in jester’s motley, humbled but proud of his treatise.
  • Mistress Cicely Spark: A tavern-wench, in emerald green, now allies with Bartholomew.
  • Lord Roderick Vain: A reformed noble, in lion’s gold, humbled but jovial.
  • Parson Pious: A cleric, in monk’s brown, pledging charity.
  • Dickon Weave: A naive tailor, in gray, wiser and content.
  • Master Bartholomew Brew: A brewer, in dolphin blue, sharing ale with Cicely.
  • Ned Clumsy: A bumbling servant, spilling tankards but joining the cheer.
  • Tavern Patrons: A merry backdrop, singing and toasting.

Enter SHAKESPEARE, MISTRESS ANNE HATHAWAY, GADRIC BADGERLY, MASTER CORNELIUS HUE, MISTRESS CICELY, LORD RODERICK, PARSON PIOUS, DICKON WEAVE, and MASTER BARTHOLOMEW BREW, seated round a long table, laughing and raising tankards. NED CLUMSY stumbles in, balancing a tray of ale. TAVERN PATRONS hum a jolly tune.

Mistress Cicely (in emerald, tossing a feather, grinning):
O merry morn, what light doth gild this tavern!
Our masquerade, with all its pink and gold,
Hath spun a tale to rival faerie’s jest.
(To BARTHOLOMEW.) Good brewer, pass the ale—thy blue’s my friend,
Though once I cursed its chase for yon glass ring!

Master Bartholomew Brew (in dolphin blue, pouring ale, chuckling):
Aye, Cicely, let our hues—green, blue—now blend!
My lion’s roar was drowned in wine’s own haze,
Yet here we sit, no predators, but mates.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) Good poet, Stratford’s tale hath fired my heart—
Young Will and Anne, with pig and wit, did rout
A saffron knave. What say’st thou to a play?

Lord Roderick (in lion’s gold, sipping ale, humbled):
A play, say I! My dolphin’s dance was shamed,
My gold a tarnished dream of false contract.
Yet Stratford’s prank, where youth unmasked deceit,
Doth bid me laugh at my own gilded guile.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) Pen us a tale, to show our motley fall!

Parson Pious (in monk’s brown, folding hands, earnest):
And I, whose peacock plumes hid blank-scroll sin,
Do vow to give my tithes to widow’s need.
The saffron peddler, stripped by Bess’s charge,
Reminds me: brown’s true hue outshines false gold.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) Write, poet, let my folly teach the world!

Dickon Weave (in gray, smiling, holding a needle):
My gray’s my shield, no green or scarlet now!
Young Will’s sharp eye, in Stratford’s market square,
Did save the folk from relics wrought of straw—
So I, spared coin, would see this tale on stage.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) A play, good sir, to laud the tailor’s truth!

Gadric Badgerly (in russet, badger stripes bold, raising a tankard):
By Honey Badger’s claw, a play’s the thing!
That Stratford lad, with Anne’s keen wit to guide,
Did tear the saffron veil from knavery’s face—
As we, in ball’s mad whirl, unmasked our lies.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) Pen it, Will, and let the badger roar!

Master Cornelius Hue (in jester’s motley, jingling bells, reflective):
My treatise lives, though folly was my spur.
Colors, objective as the damselfish’s blue,
Are warped by man’s deceit, as Stratford showed—
The saffron cloak, though fixed in nature’s law,
Was read amiss till youth’s clear sight prevailed.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) A play, to prove my hues were not in vain!

Mistress Anne Hathaway (in silver, standing, radiant):
O gentle crew, your hearts do sing as one!
In Stratford’s fields, where Will and I did play,
We learned that truth, not hue, doth make the man.
The saffron knave, like your bright masks, did fall
When wit and heart unstitched the gaudy lie.
(To SHAKESPEARE.) Dear Will, let’s name this tale for motley’s sake—
The Masque of Motley, fit for London’s stage,
To show how colors blind, yet truth shines free.

Shakespeare (in russet, quill poised, eyes alight):
Sweet Anne, thy title rings as clear as dawn!
The Masque of Motley shall my quill embrace,
To weave our tavern’s riot—crimson, blue,
Emerald, gold, and brown—into a jest
That lauds the heart o’er hue’s deceitful charm.
In Stratford’s square, with Bess and Anne’s sharp eye,
I learned to spy the knave in peddler’s cloak—
Now London’s hall, with all your motley throng,
Hath taught me truth’s the stage where mirth is crowned.
(To ALL.) What say ye, friends, to this commissioned play?

Mistress Cicely (clapping, tossing a feather):
A play, a play! Let emerald dance with blue!

Master Bartholomew Brew (pouring ale, roaring):
My dolphin’s brew shall toast its Globe-born fame!

Lord Roderick (raising a tankard, grinning):
My lion’s gold shall cheer its honest jest!

Parson Pious (bowing, solemn):
My monk’s brown vows to pray for its success!

Dickon Weave (stitching a cloth, beaming):
My gray shall stitch the curtains for its stage!

Gadric Badgerly (bellowing, tankard high):
And badger’s claw shall guard its truthful heart!

Master Cornelius Hue (jingling bells, sly):
My motley proves its hues were wisdom’s jest!

Ned Clumsy (spilling ale, tripping, laughing):
O zounds, I’ll sweep the stage, though masks I drop!

Mistress Anne Hathaway (to SHAKESPEARE, with a wink):
And I, from Stratford, bid thy quill take flight—
Let Masque of Motley shine in truth’s pure light.

Shakespeare (standing, to ALL):
Then so be it! This tavern’s merry band
Shall live in verse, where colors’ lies are shown,
Yet hearts, unmasked, do bind us hand in hand.
To Masque of Motley, raise your cups, and sing—
For truth, not hue, makes mirth the soul’s true king!

TAVERN PATRONS and CHARACTERS cheer, clinking tankards. NED CLUMSY spills ale, tumbling into CICELY’s arms, who laughs. The lute swells into a rollicking jig, and the characters dance, their hues—emerald, blue, gold, brown, silver—blending in dawn’s glow, a final aposematic tableau of unity and joy.

Exeunt, dancing, as the tavern echoes with song and the curtain falls.

Notes on the Epilogue

  1. Farcical Festivity: The scene sustains the play’s farcical tone with exuberant banter, Ned’s slapstick spill, and the characters’ playful reflections on their “hues.” The communal commissioning of the play, with each offering a contribution (ale, prayers, curtains), echoes A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s rustic theatrical epilogue, brimming with mirth.
  2. Anne’s Role: Anne’s suggestion of The Masque of Motley as the title cements her as the play’s emotional and intellectual anchor, tying the Stratford flashback (young Will and Anne unmasking Jasper Gilt) to the present. Her Stratford perspective, rooted in their shared history, inspires the characters to see their folly as a universal tale, reinforcing her expanded role.
  3. Shakespeare’s History: The epilogue builds on the flashback by referencing Stratford’s market prank, framing it as the origin of Shakespeare’s knack for unmasking deceit, now matured in London’s theatrical world. The characters’ call for a play mirrors Shakespeare’s real-life transition from rural wit to Globe playwright, grounding the comedy in his biography.
  4. Aposematic Tie: The characters reflect on their deceptive hues (emerald, blue, gold, brown) as false aposematic signals, like Jasper’s saffron cloak, which misled until unmasked. The epilogue affirms that nature’s signals (e.g., damselfish’s blue) are honest, per the article, while human guile requires wit—like Will and Anne’s—to reveal truth, as seen in the ball and Stratford.
  5. Philosophical Grounding: Cornelius’s nod to the article’s objective-subjective color divide (colors are fixed, but misread) ties the play’s chaos to his treatise, validated by both the ball’s unmasking and the flashback’s saffron deceit. Anne’s title, The Masque of Motley, encapsulates this, blending the objective “motley” of colors with the subjective “masque” of human folly.
  6. Deceits Resolved: The characters’ pledges—Cicely and Bartholomew’s alliance, Roderick’s reform, Pious’s charity, Dickon’s wisdom—fulfill the comedy’s redemptive arc, inspired by the flashback’s mercy toward Jasper. Their contributions to the play (ale, stitches, prayers) symbolize their shift from predators to a community, mirroring Stratford’s Townsfolk sparing Jasper.
  7. Bartholomew and Cicely: Their friendly banter, sharing ale after rivaling for the ring, resolves their arc, with blue and green now symbols of truce, echoing the flashback’s communal resolution.
  8. Shakespearean Comedy: The epilogue’s festive unity, with dancing, toasting, and Ned’s bumbling, echoes As You Like It’s communal ending and Twelfth Night’s reconciliatory mirth. The commissioning of a play within a play adds a meta-theatrical wink, typical of Shakespeare’s epilogues (e.g., A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
  9. Plot Closure: The epilogue seals the narrative by transforming the characters’ misadventure into art, with The Masque of Motley as a testament to their growth. Anne’s title and Shakespeare’s pledge ensure the story lives on, while the final dance celebrates truth over deceptive hues.

Further Exploration

If you’d like to:

  • Expand the Epilogue: Add a moment where each character suggests a scene for the play, reflecting their personal lesson (e.g., Pious wants a redemption arc, Gadric a badger battle).
  • Deepen Stratford Ties: Have Anne bring a Stratford relic (e.g., a maypole ribbon) to the tavern, sparking a final anecdote about Will’s youth.
  • Introduce a Twist: Include a Globe actor who overhears the commission and begs to play Gadric, adding a comedic audition.
  • Shift Tone: Make the epilogue more reflective, with Shakespeare musing on how Stratford shaped his art, balanced by Ned’s slapstick.

Let me know if you want to pursue these, focus on a specific character’s contribution (e.g., Cornelius’s treatise in the play), or explore another aspect, like a post-epilogue scene at the Globe!