"[1] The play was licensed for performance, under the title The Beauties, by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 21 January 1633.
The play was ironically dedicated to William Prynne, the Puritan author and religious controversialist who published his wide-ranging attack on stage drama and actors, Histriomastix, in the previous year, 1632.
And in January 1633, the Queen and her ladies had performed speaking parts in Walter Montagu's masque The Shepherd's Paradise.
"The Bird in a Cage involves extensive reworking of Fletcher's earlier play of wagers and incarceration, Women Pleased.
Eugenia, brought to the court for confirmation, supports Philenzo's claim — and asks that she be allowed to marry the clever stranger.
Seemingly in the knick of time, a letter arrives from the Duke of Florence, who has heard of the matter of Eugenia and Philenzo and renounces any interest in the arranged match.