The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 9.0491  Thursday, 21 May 1998.

From:           David Carnegie <
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Date:           Thursday, 21 May 1998 11:47:28 +1200 (NZST)
Subject:        Contarino the Dane

Danish costume is a crucial element in Webster's *The Devil's Law-Case*
as, perhaps, it may be in *Hamlet*.  Can anyone help?  In *DLC* the
noble Contarino disguises himself as a Dane, is recognized as such
without ever saying he is a Dane, and finally reveals his true identity
at the end of the play by, presumably, throwing off his Danish
disguise.  (The references in the Lucas edition of Webster are 4.2.6 SD,
4.2.636-37, 5.4.5-6, and 5.5.24.)  Neither Bernice Kliman (who is
editing the new variorum *Hamlet*) nor I has been able to find any solid
information about either actual Danish costume in the early 17th
century, or about Elizabethan or Jacobean stage conventions of such
costume.  We would be grateful for any advice.

David Carnegie
Victoria University of Wellington, NZ