User:Leehsch/sandbox

Cosmetics in Elizabethan/Jacobean England (1558-1625)

Introduction

Portrait of Elizabeth I, donning a pallor, red lips and cheeks, and high thin eyebrows. The Queen exemplified Elizabethan and Jacobean cosmetic usage.

By the 16th century, the use of cosmetics had increased rapidly in western Europe by mostly women, and on stage with actors and dramatists. “Crusaders, explorers, and travelers brought... knowledge of cosmetic practices as well as many herbs, dyes, and other substances that composed perfumes and cosmetics. By the fifteenth century, Western European women everywhere painted.” Cosmetics were utilized by both men and women in different ways, and the practices shown in cosmetics and in literature reflected societal values of the era.

*Note: What constitutes cosmetics is sometimes a blurry line, ranging from makeup to hair dyeing to hygiene practices. Generally, cosmetics are substances used to alter ones appearance. Reviewed in this article are makeup trends/practices and briefly hair dyeing, thus other information on bodily hygiene practices and care during this era are better found in another article.

Science and composition of cosmetics

Makeup during this period was made up of a combination of natural resources, chemicals, and pigments. Basic makeup included white face makeup/powder for blemishes/medical conditions, and a desired pallor, as well as rouge for cheeks and lips. The face of makeup was finished with a glaze of egg whites for a porcelain-shine. Powder for face makeup "consisted chiefly of white lead, occasionally mixed with sublimate of mercury and ground orris. Rouge was red ocher, vermillion, or cochineal; extracts of sandal or brazilwood were considered very new and smart." Lip rouge was made from ground alabaster and similar dyes and pigments, often alkanet, cochineal, or dye from the brazilwood tree. "A typical 'tooth whitener' contained powdered brick, cuttle bone, red and white coral, egg shells, alum, mastic, sandarac, pumice, and myrrh. Annoying pimples were to be covered for an hour with powdered sulfur and turpentine and then anointed with fresh butter.” Those who made their own homemade makeup (often middle and lower class women who could not afford the imported makeup) often used hazardous compounds: “mercury mixtures, white [poppy]”, etc.

But these compounds were often toxic to the wearer. For example the "‘ceruse’ or white lead that formed a base for rouge and the ‘Soliman’ or mercury sublimate used as a chalky foundation corroded skin, hair and teeth and eventually poisoned the wearer.” The cosmetic's use of white lead as a pigment caused lead poisoning, damaging the skin and causing hair loss. Usage over an extended period could cause death. It was well known that cosmetics were often poisonous to the user. Yet, the product was popular for centuries. There was an alternative of white makeup powders from "ground alabaster or starch mixed with perfume", but these products were not as popular because they did not match the effectiveness of ceruse.

Male writers often developed a scientific angle (for women) to applying makeup, “cosmetics are associated with drugs and medicines" and men would treat it as a medical practice in order to contain and control its usage in women. Very popular were books, almost recipe books, for women to make their own cosmetics at home, and allowed for men to control the use of cosmetics within the female population (See section: Men and Cosmetics).

Cosmetics in society: uses and impacts

Medical Uses

Commonly cosmetics would be used to hide medical conditions like syphilis scars, and pockmarks from smallpox. The thick white ceruse was perfect for hiding these blemishes and conditions, being blended into the entire face and neck. Unfortunately, the toxic and poisonous qualities of this makeup made conditions worse or caused lead and mercury poisoning. The only solution to this was covering the blemishes up with another layer of makeup, thus inducing a toxic cycle of cosmetics used for (and causing) medical problems. Additionally, cosmetics would cover the "branded marks delineating" prostitutes and their social status. By covering this up, cosmetics became association with sexual entrapment and deceit.

Men and Cosmetics

Men in Elizabethan England shared a few of the same cosmetic practices as women. Though they would not often use rouge, men wearing white face powder and makeup was wildly popular. The ideal of a white, pure pallor was shared by both men and women. Additionally, on the stage men would use makeup for acting (See section: Dramatists, actors, and cosmetics). It was also recorded that some men would dye their beards red/gold in honor of Queen Elizabeth I. Men also led most of the discourse and were control of cosmetics in society. As doctors, curators, and writers, they would create recipes and medical prescriptions of cosmetics. Like women, they would use makeup to hide skin conditions and face marks/scars (See section: Medical Uses).

By releasing certain papers, books, medical studies, etc., men could control how women used makeup and for what. Recorded were sixteenth-century physicians and alchemists creating certain makeup recipes for white smooth skin, getting rid of freckles, etc. This control over the discourse either took a positive or negative light with cosmetics (See section: Anti-cosmetic Ideology and Pro-cosmetic defense).

Women and cosmetics

Most cosmetic discourse and usage is attributed to women. Cosmetic books, manuals, dramatic works, and anti-cosmetic publications all pointed to women as the main users of make-up. Female makeup practices often aimed for a veil of chastity, innocence, and purity. Qualities like a pallor and blush-pink cheeks was often seen as a sign of innocence, modesty, or purity- or often false sexual chastity. Women used cosmetics to make themselves paler. Popularized with the help of a queen characterized by white/pale complexion, pale or alabaster pallor was seen as womanly innocent beauty. Women used cosmetics to achieve this look. The combination of paleness and pink cheeks was most commonly sported by women who “painted” their faces. Women would also often pluck their eyebrows to a thin line, and pluck their hairline to extend and elongate their foreheads. This created an image of delicate beauty at the time. For women, there existed a “contradictory [requirement] they must meet certain standards of beauty but must appear to do so naturally and effortlessly.” It was a precarious balance for women of the time.

Poor women could also make their own cosmetics at home rather than using imports like aristocratic ladies. They often could not afford the imported goods, and thus sufficed to their own replacements. “Face painting was apparently not only an aristocratic or courtly practice but also a ‘domesticated’ one.”

Occasionally women might wear kohl around the eyes to accentuate them, but generally western European women and in women England did not wear eye makeup, although it was common in the East.

Anti-cosmetic ideology

Many believed makeup on women was used to capture men, as an instrument of their temptation and sinfulness. Anti-cosmetic literature was very common. Most commonly in anti-cosmetic belief, a woman that paints her face is hiding her true self. It “associates women who paint with both physical and moral corruption.” It is changing their natural beauty. There was a belief that a woman is changing what God has gifted her, that "Women with makeup were [an] impure version of a woman, made of an adultured mixture [of paint]." Existing was a double standard in which women should be beautiful, maybe wear a little bit of makeup to enhance their natural beauty, but not cover what God had given them. If they wore too much makeup, women were deceitful and impure.

Within anti-cosmetic ideology, there is also an association of painting with feminine disease and almost a memento mori- that painting one’s face cannot hide the true onset of aging and then death. This theme of women’s painting and death also becomes a theme in drama and is often shown in literature.

Many men believed cosmetics were a source of “self-absorption or vanity [that would] inexorably [lead] to chaotic confusion.” They believed that concealing a woman’s blush with makeup hides her shame, remorse, and hides any proof of emotion at all. By writing recipe books and distributing advice on how to apply cosmetics, men controlled the usage of cosmetics on women. They believed it was something they needed to monitor and control, otherwise it would get out of hand and women would bend nature rather than enhancing it with their makeup.

Pro-cosmetic (defense)

Through the publishing of recipe and cosmetic advice books, men would convince women that without makeup they are “unfinished and unauthorized books, as counterfeit coins, unworthy of the social circulation…”, or “plaint earth and canvasses” on which art can embellish. This was mostly a measure of them selling their books to women. There was also the medical angle, that makeup could be used to cover skin conditions and face marks. This is a positive lens to makeup, that no one should show bodily problems such as syphilis scars, and makeup should be used to cover them. A lot of the pro-cosmetic ideology was also fueled by Queen Elizabeth I. The pure virgin queen of England became an iconic image that everyone strove to emulate. The use of cosmetics and makeup were often in honor of Queen Elizabeth, or striving to have the same looks as her. It was a good thing to make yourself look like the queen, and thus this line of reasoning supported the use of cosmetics.

In a delicate balance, women in Elizabethan and Jacobean England has to maintain their looks through cosmetics and makeup, but without pushing the boundary of altering ones natural appearance. Cosmetics were positive in that women could enhance natural beautiful qualities, but this pro becomes a con when women use cosmetics for deceit, sexual falsities, etc. (See section: Women and Cosmetics)

The pallor and pale complexion of Queen Elizabeth was epitomized her portraits, setting the stage for makeup practices of women in England.

Dramatists, actors, and cosmetics

Little is known about cosmetic usage on the stage in Renaissance England, but it claimed that both race and gender were depicted on the stage with cosmetics. Actors began to use makeup on stage in the 17th century, beginning by mimicking women’s cosmetic practices. Actors had “their faces ‘meal’d’ to represent ghosts… The word ‘meal’, used here to describe the faces of the actors, recalls the use of crumbs of barley bread and milk in some facial cosmetics; ‘meal’ is also a term contemporaries used to satirise the painted or powdered faces of women”. Painting an actors face was compared to the "mealing" of women's faces.

Dramatists would use makeup and cosmetics “both as tools to alter an actor's appearance and as a topos within the playtext” In this sense, the cosmetics are often removed from their female connotation and used merely as a tools or theme in drama. On the stage, actors were male, and thus men would wear a face of makeup for the play. This is one of the uses in which men would use cosmetics, as well as cosmetics to distinguish race (See section: Race and cosmetics).

The Queen and cosmetics

The use of cosmetics to create the painted face of Elizabeth I heavily influenced cosmetics in English drama and society. The cult of Gloriana, virgin queen of England became so popular and publicized, her image fueled cosmetic practices and trends as people created themselves in her image. It was ladies and queens- women of the court who set the trends for cosmetics in England. Elizabeth I was characterized by an extreme pallor and pale complexion. “She made up, and by the time she died was almost literally painting 'an inch thick'” After Elizabeth began dyeing her hair golden-red, many ladies (and some men) began to dye or bleach their hair to mimic her. The use of wigs was also very common, at one point, Elizabeth was rumored to have 80 wigs.

During the Jacobean era, the same or similar cosmetic trends persisted, with no large makeup milestones. Much of the cosmetic practices during this time were fueled by the Elizabethan era.

Race and cosmetics

Scholars argue that cosmetics were increasingly used to create racial difference in the minds of the English. Just as women used makeup to seem pale and white, blackface was used on the stage in acting in order to distinguish race. The contrast created by cosmetics ingrained racial difference into society and influenced the use of white makeup on women in real life. Blackface was used extremely often, brown or black makeup was used on professional actors to play characters that were "Turkish, Indian, and African". From the old record/account books of drapers at the time, one can see that people were hired for the "blacking of the faces". From the use of cosmetics on the stage and by women, cosmetics have had a large role in defining an unchanging and strict racial identity. The use of blackface was purposeful to contrast the whiteness of the English. Similarly, it is suggested that cosmetics were used beyond blackface to determine different races by bodily markings. On the stage, "Turks can be be recognized by their eye makeup; Chinese people, by their scarlet cheeks; "barbarous people" and West Indians, by their permanent ornamental cuts and markings."

Cosmetic references in Elizabethan/Jacobean literature

Introduction

Cosmetics have been referenced in passing in countless Elizabethan/Jacobean works. In studying these references to cosmetics, it is hard to distinguish between mere blushing and an actual cosmetic reference, or whether a painted face is truly painted or just flushed. So, there is a level of subjectivity to what is truly cosmetic. But, in most literature of this time, there exists a common anti-cosmetic theme. In the chosen works below, cosmetics have appeared as a prominent theme or recurring idea. There are far more works than these few that share this theme, but the selected ones are more recognizable and exemplary in the role of cosmetic (mostly anti-cosmetic) writing.

Hamlet

Interpreters believe Hamlet is criticizing Ophelia's sinful use of cosmetics, because she is altering the face that God has given her. He believes with makeup Ophelia is seducing men while seemingly innocent. “I have heard of your paintings, well enough. God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp; you nickname God's creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance. Go to, I'll no more on't; it hath made me mad.” (3.1.43-48) Here, cosmetics are working to change a woman's face and conceal her real self. Later in the play, Hamlet references cosmetics as a memento mori, by painting an inch thick one is denying the onset of aging and death. “Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.” (5.1.192-94) In this quote Hamlet is commenting that death cannot be stopped by makeup. Makeup is being used to make women more beautiful, but even the most beautiful women will die and then all turn into skulls. Shakespeare often comments in his plays and sonnets that outer beauty does not last, so makeup is futile, and it is inner beauty that is important.

Much Ado About Nothing

Claudio and Don Pedro are discussing the possibility that Benedick uses a cosmetics as a man. "[Claudio] And when was he wont to wash his face? [Don Pedro] Yea, or to paint himself? For the which I hear what they say of him." (3.2.56-58) A footnote in an online copy of Much Ado About Nothing interprets that "Claudio and Don Pedro are accusing Benedick of using cosmetics. A "wash" was a foundation coat, used to lighten the skin; "paint" refers to the highlights which would be applied after the wash was set." Claudio and Don Pedro use this allegation to prove that Benedick is in love.

Shakespeare Sonnets 82 and 83

“I never saw that you did painting need, And therefore to your fair no painting set; I found, or thought I found, you did exceed The barren tender of a poet's debt.” (Sonnet 83) In sonnet 82 Shakespeare writes that his muse doesn't need fancy words and over-the-top descriptions of her beauty, poets who write that about her should put their painted words elsewhere with less beautiful people- his muse doesn't need the dressings/paintings (Poets words are compared to makeup for those who need blush). “Thou, truly fair, wert truly sympathized In true plain words by thy true-telling friend: And their gross painting might be better used Where cheeks need blood; in thee it is abused.” (Sonnet 82) Sonnet 83 similarly claims that the muse does not need makeup and painting to describe her beauty.

The Revenger’s Tragedy

In The Revenger's Tragedy, there are a multitude of different cosmetic references. "Here's a cheek keeps her colour, let the wind go whistle: Spout rain, we fear thee not; be hot or cold Alls one with us. And is not he absurd Whose fortunes are upon their faces set, That fear no other God but wind and wet?" (3.5.45-48) "Set" refers to the setting or painting of makeup on one's face, similarly, "false forms" is used as a negative reference to the use of cosmetics creating an unreal version of the woman.

Later in the play, camphor is mentioned, which was a cosmetic material used for whitening one's face. Most of the cosmetic references in this play are anti-cosmetic and negative."Does every proud and self-affecting dame Camphor her face for this, and grieve her maker In sinful baths of milk, when many an infant starves, For her superfluous outside fall for this?" (3.5.67-70) "Set" and painting are used to create falsehoods, disguises, and lies, like in these two quotes. "[Hippolito] Nay, push, prithee be content! There's no remedy present; may not hereafter times open in as fair faces as this? [Vindici] They may if they can paint so well." (5.1.19-21) "May not we set as well as the duke's son?" (5.3.127)

Vindici believes his love (when alive) was too beautiful to needs the falsehoods of cosmetics, but later in the play cosmetics are used on the skull. Interpreters believe a reference to memento mori. "Look through and through herself; see, ladies, with false forms You deceive men but cannot deceive worms." (3.5.80-81) Any bought complexion refers to the purchase of cosmetics to change one's appearance, in this case Vindici refers to the skull, his former love. "'twas a face So far beyond the artificial shine Of any woman's bought complexion" (1.1.20-22) In act 3 the name of the skull is revealed- Gloriana. A footnote reads that "It is impossible (given the play's imaginatively distanced English reference) not to recall that this was a favorite name for the idealized Queen Elizabeth". Revenger's Tragedy is commenting not only on women's practices with cosmetics but the Queen's herself.

The Second Maiden’s Tragedy

Similar to The Revenger's Tragedy, there are general anti-cosmetic comments insisting the moral corruption caused by cosmetics in the play. But more distinctive is that in both The Revenger's Tragedy and The Second Maiden's Tragedy, cosmetics are used to make a corpse seem alive. There is an erotic fetishism with female corpses painted to look alive. In act 5, Tyrant says that "so shall we By art force beauty on yon lady's face Tough death sit frowning on't a storm of hail To beat it off." (5.2.118-121) In this scene Govianus and Tyrant are painting the face of the corpse to make her seem living. Cosmetics are being used to mask death, like in The Revenger's Tragedy. Tyrant claims that with the use of makeup to conceal the corpse, "Our pleasure shall prevail" (5.2.121). This shows the undertones of necrophilia towards the female corpse in the play.