ABSTRACT
Cavendish certainly played a powerful role in the women's lives, and The Concealed Fancies is both dedicated to him and ends with a speech which calls for his approval of their play:
No records exist of an actual performance of the play, and, although it was so clearly written with William Cavendish in mind, a staging before his new bride Margaret Lucas would have proved indelicate and problematic. On the other hand, dramatic performances in private houses did continue throughout the Interregnum, and the play was obviously intended for presentation, not merely a reading aloud of parts.11 A cast of nine would have been sufficient, even though this would demand a fair amount of doubling for six of the performers. Indeed, if an original cast-list could be drawn up those most involved would presumably have been Elizabeth, Jane, Frances, their two brothers, and Egerton. The scene directions also suggest that the authors had considered the use of stage machinery; for example, in Act V scene ii Courtley and Presumption descend from the sky disguised as gods. This form of entry is reminiscent of the masques performed at court, where elaborate devices were evolved in order to impress and astonish the audience, and the courtiers dressed up as various idealized figures.12 The Cavendish family would certainly have been present at some of these shows, allowing Jane and Elizabeth to incorporate aspects of them in their
own play.13 It is significant, however, that The Concealed Fancies, as a Civil War play, undercuts any sense of courtly idealism, since the audience is well aware that the two 'gods' are Courtley and Presumption, and that their disguises have been devised in order to trick Luceny and Tattiney, rather than to symbolize their noble natures. The play exists, therefore, at a point of transition. It was written within the intimate environment of a noble family, which still paid lip service to a devalued court ideology, but at the same time, the play cannot help but represent the authors' sense of loss, as well as their sharp disillusionment.
