The Disguise -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 18:56:51 02/02/08 Sat
Author: Caitlin
Subject: The Disguise

I noticed in King Lear that almost every character is disguised in some way at some point. Lear goes crazy, which is a type of disguise, making him almost unrecognizable to others, Edgar disguises himself as Mad Tom, Kent disguises himself as Caius, and many other characters wear something of a mask, pretending to be something they are not (i.e. Goneril, Regan, Edward). This also happens in Euripides' Bacchae. Dionysus "masks" himself in front of Pentheus.

Now, what I'm starting to wonder about is why this seems to be so common in these plays that demonstrate the mimetic theory. From what I can remember, Girard hasn't really mentioned anything about masks or disguises in relation to mimetic desire. I speculate that maybe masks or disguises might be a way in which humans imitate one another or strive to get that desired object.

For Lear the madness disguise was a way to delude himself to achieving his goal - the love of his daughters. For Edgar, Old Tom was a way in which he could save his blind father. For Kent, Caius was a way to follow and protect his King. For Edmund, Regan and Goneril, their masks were ways of manipulation to achieve that desired object. For Dionysus I think the disguise is a means for revenge on his "rival".

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: The Disguise -- Jonathan Dunn, 14:24:43 02/03/08 Sun
Re: The Disguise -- Cara, 15:40:43 02/03/08 Sun
Re: The Disguise -- JD, 19:43:48 02/03/08 Sun