Le Balet Comique de la Reine commences with a gentleman, breathless and agitated, arriving before the King to seek his aid in overcoming Circe's evil magic, which she has used to change he and his companions into wild beasts. The gentleman explains that "only such a monarch [as Henri III], who has brought about a Golden Age in France, has the power to overcome magic"(McGowan,p.19). Just as his speech is concluding, Circe appears, in search of her man. Unable to find him, she castigates herself for her weakness in turning him back to human form, and vows to be cruel and relentless in all her future deeds -
Silly, three times silly Circe, silly and frivolous. You think that a man who has returned to his original state will consent to love you afterward, and will allow himself to be deluded by pleasure, when he can use his reason?...Circe ...arm yourself with serpents and rage. Let no one whom you have smitten with your wand ever boast that he escaped from your yokeMacClintock,p.43).
Circe's departure marks the entrance of a company of musicians and dancers dressed as sea gods and sea monsters. After singing the praises and virtues of the King and Queen, a group of twelve naiades, led by Queen Louise, are joined by twelve pages and begin to dance the first ballet. In the midst of the dance, Circe reenters striking each dancer and musician with her wand, thus immobilizing them. This is the first test of the king's omnipotence.
Circe's triumphant exit is immediately followed by a loud thunderclap announcing the arrival of the god Mercury. Mercury boasts that he can undo Circe's spell with a special herb called, Moly: "To cure a mind deprived of its reason which, when it is tired of virtue, has been charmed by pleasure, I bring the powerful root of Moly" (60). He then proceeds to christen the head of each dancer and player with the juice to the herb, freeing them from their stone-like state. Just as the dancers begin to form new figures, Circe reappears, returning the performers to their previous state and rendering them senseless. Mercury also falls victim to Circe's magic. Like the Naiads and all humans, Mercury is subject to change of will and desire. He "is volatile, changeable and foolish...weak and without power, unless Pallas gives him advice and assurance" (63). Mercury has no lasting power over Circe, because she alone controls all changes in the universe.
The drama continues with the emergence of eight satyrs, who sing the praises of Jupiter and Henri III, lauding the king for his power, beneficence and judiciousness. They come upon a wood inhabited by four dryads and the god, Pan. Pan agrees to aid the satyrs in their struggle against Circe. At this moment, the goddess Minerva appears accompanied by the four cardinal virtues. Minerva is the only goddess that Circe has admitted fearing. This assemblage of divine and mythical characters proceeds directly to the king's dais, where they are joined by Jupiter. Minerva explains that the power of her reason coupled with the justice of the king and the supreme power of Jupiter , is the only means by which Circe's evil and vice will be vanquished.
Maintaining her calm in the face of these imposing adversaries, Circe states that she fears only, her greatest opponent, the King of France, Henri III:
I will resist you. If destiny brings an end to the power of my golden wand, it is not in your favor, Jupiter. Do not believe it. If someone is soon to triumph over me, it is this King of the French. You must yield to him, as I am doing, the heavens with you possess(88).
Circe's prideful speech insights her adversaries to storm the gate of her garden. She is finally forced to succumb to the superior strength of her powerful and virtuous opponents. She reluctantly relinquishes her magic wand to Minerva and is led out of her enchanted garden and brought to the king's dais, where Minerva places the magic wand in the hands of Henri III.
The drama concludes with an entrée of the grand ballet (composed of fifteen figures),immediately followed by the final grand ballet (composed of forty figures). These dances were performed by the four dryads and twelve naiads. At the end of the grand ballet, the naiades and dryads bowed before the king, presented symbolic medallions to honored members of the audience, and led the princes out to dance the great ball.
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