John Warburton (1682-1759), a herald and collector of many plays, seems to have attached little importance to masques, arguing that "Shakespeare was an enemy to these fooleries, as appears by his writing none."　Against this line of argument Isaac D'Israeli (1766-1848) noted : "Warburton forgot that Shakespeare characteristi-cally introduces one in The Tempest's most fanciful scene." The question is thus posed as to what kind of masque-like elements can be indeed recognized in The Tempest. Firstly, there is the banquet scene in Act III, Scene iii, 18-82. To the accompaniment of solemn and strange music, spirits set a sumptuous banquet table before the gaze of Alonso and his crew. Just they are about to eat the dishes that have been set before them, the table is cleared away suddenly by Ariel, who charges them with their criminal act.  In IV, i, 60-139 Ariel is told to present a little masque. In front of an audience of Miranda and Ferdinand, Ariel conjures up the spirits such as Iris, goddess of the rainbow, Ceres, goddess of fertility, and Juno, queen of heaven, and presents a dance of Naiads, nymphs of the brooks and the reapers. Towards its conclusion the graceful dance is oddly disrupted and the spirits disappear in a disorderly mirage. Next, there is the subsequent interlude, which functions as an anti-masque, wherein Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano are hounded by dogs for the crime of stealing garish costumes.  Lastly, in Act VI, i, 172-74 the chess scene comprises "the inner stage," which can be seen as a part of the main "masque." However, Miranda makes critical comments on the way Ferdinand plays the game, disparaging the perfect status of ideal couples like them. More-over, they are so engrossed in their own business that the courtiers are unable to pay their respects to them, as if the couple rejects the idea of becoming an icon of worship. Considering that the structure of the masque characteristically pro-gresses from chaos to order, or from anarchy to harmony, how does The Tempest evolve as regards to structure? In light of the entire work, with Alonso and his company deemed as anti-maskers, we can under-stand chaos and selfishness come to be restrained and order and harmony are thereby restored to the nation thanks to wisdom and virtue. It is certain there is more than a little affinity between this play and the court masque. But the order restored by Prospero is incomplete since the former enemies forgiven by him are not fully under his control. Russ McDonald contends: "The forces of evil cannot be thoroughly accommodated and may not even be subjugated. Antonio's menacing silence in the final moments, which everyone noticed, is surely a Shakespearean caveat to the final harmony." However, it is not clear whether the play provides us with any clues as to the unity that Prospero might ultimately achieve. Conversely, one can say that it has the tone of a tragedy, and lacks the resolution that would mark a masque culminating in prosperity, security, and triumph. In other words, it signals a storm, or a social strife awaiting the hero that lingers even at the close of the drama.  Related to the festive ceremonies of the court, masques are perfor-med for the elite members of the upper echelon of the social hierarchy, thereby suggesting that the monarch of transcendental power governs everyone and is the centre of everything in the universe.  Of particular importance was the marriage of a royal couple, which might have occasioned entertainment such as in the form of a masque. Such entertainment has an emblematic significance of harmony, unity and reconciliation of opposites within society. According to historical records concerning The Tempest, it was acted on Hallowmas nyght, 1 November 1611 in the banqueting-house of Whitehall Palace. This performance is thought to be one of the earliest, if not the first staging of The Tempest. As an entertainment to celebrate the engagement of Lady Elizabeth, King James' daughter (1595-1662) and Frederick V, Elector Palatine (1596-1632), it was performed again there during the winter of 1612-13 when Frederick was visiting England. On 18 October 1612 he arrived in London, got engaged to her, and on 14 February 1613 they held a wedding ceremony. It is known that at the second perfor-mance of The Tempest in Whitehall Elizabeth, Frederick, and Prince Charles (1600-49) were among the spectators, and they would have been undoubtedly seated beside the King, his Queen and Henry, Prince of Wales (1594-1612).  While bearing this in mind, I would like to explore masque-like characteristics of The Tempest. After analyzing the process of transfor-mation in Prospero, I will consider elements of Misrule seen in this play, and then make a comparison with Hymenaei (act. 1606), one of Ben Jonson's court masques.