For this paper, I will be focusing on Erving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy. Erving Goffman was a sociologist who studied social interaction, and is well known for his work on ‘the self.’ His book, Presentation of Self, continues to be an important and relevant book in sociology since it explains by social interaction within humans is important. In his theory, Goffman explains that people are like actors performing on a stage because of how they live their lives. Drama is used as a metaphor for how an individual presents their self to society. In his work, Goffman explains that ‘the self’ is the result of the dramatic interaction between the actor and the audience he or she performs to. There are many aspects of how an individual performs his or her ‘self’. One of the aspects from performing the self what Goffman labels as the ‘front.’ The front involves managing the individual’s impression. Similar to the definition of the word, the front is a part of an individual that is presented in order for others to see and is seen first. In our lives, the front stage occurs when we interact with others within public or professional settings. The personal front refers to the “expressive equipment that the audience identifies with the performers and expects them to carry with them into the setting” (Pada, 2016). The personal front includes the performer’s clothing style, sex, age, and race, posture, manner of speaking, facial expressions, and gestures. This list refers to the two subcategories of the personal front: appearance and manners. The appearance involves everything that has to do with our appearance, and what we do with our bodies. Manners refer to how we carry ourselves. For example, a young doctor may not be taken very seriously by older patients because he or she is younger than them. However, by keeping his or her appearance and manners professional, he or she can gain the trust of older
Dramaturgy is a view of social life as a series of dramatic performances akin to those taken place in a theatre (Ritzer, 144). Much of Goffman’s dramaturgy is concerned with the processes by which such disturbances are prevented and dealt with (Ritzer, page 144). In the Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman developed a new approach to the sociological study of human interaction, due to a mental health court scenario, of what he referred to as “dramaturgical” because of the analogy it had of the theatre to describe how an individual engages in social interaction with others in a performance (Staton et al, page 5). This performance was a way for actors to influence their audience in a given situation. In the addition of the mental health scenario, age, gender, and race relevant. The human relationships observed in the mental health court was analyzed was theorized so Goffman could explain characteristics of human interactions.
One of the central themes of theatrical form is identity and the catalyst by which identity is formed is the body. In using the body as the site of formation of individual identity, women are “uniquely identified with their anatomy” and specifically the parts of their anatomy that differ from that of men (Callaghan 30). Because women are thus defined by their relation ...
Front stage refers to how we are expected to present ourselves a certain way, however, when a person goes against the norm society tends to notice. Goffman noticed this and related it to the front stage of a play performance and how the actors play a part the way they are supposed to, but if that actor doesn’t play the character correctly the audience (society) will notice and try to shun or revert the actor back to the social norm. In Goffman’s book “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life” he states that the back stage is a place where "the performer can relax; he can drop his front, forgo speaking in his lines, and step out of character" (488). Meaning when a person is away from society they are able to drop there “role” and truly be themselves without judgment or consequences. Outside or off-stage is where individual actors meet the audience and then play a different role altogether. This is to say that a nurse is to plays a front stage role when she is on a team of doctors and nurses when performing a surgery. They are meant to be focused and be ready to help the surgeon in a moment’s notice. Though when the surgery is over the nurse goes to meet the patient personally and plays a whole different role. They usually nice and cheerful, to make the situation and conversation as enjoyable and easy as possible. Finally borders or boundaries prevent or restrict
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.
In our society, appearance and its importance might not look like a problem because of how much it is present in our lives and how it has been presented to us but it is important because we face problems like bullying at every level from child to adult and lower self-esteem that are highly correlated to suicide. The problems that we face today related to appearances are important so this topic deserve attention. Because it affects children, parents, models, teenagers and everybody, we s...
According to Erving Goffman’s performances theory, the way we interpret ourselves is similar to a theater in which we are all actors on a stage playing a variety of roles. The way in which we act in front of a group of observers or audience is our performance. Goffman introduces the idea that we are always performing for our observers like actors performing on a stage. The impression that we give off to an audience in a scenario is the actor’s front. You can compare an actor’s front to a script. Certain scenarios have scripts that suggest the actor how he or she should behave in every situation. The setting for the performances includes the location and scenery in which the acing takes place.
A front or script is the part of an individual’s performance which functions to define the situation for the audience. Certain situations or scenarios have social scripts that suggest how to behave or interact in that situation. As previously mentioned, I would not utilize the same script in my role as student that I would in my role as wife. It would be ludicrous to present a two page essay on the components of dinner in my role as wife, yet it is normal to write a two page essay in my role as student. As a student I am responsible for doing my assignments in accordance to specific rubrics and directions designed by the instructor. Granted one could argue that some wives have to follow strict guidelines and directions designed by their husbands, but that is not my case. Thus, the script I follow as a student varies significantly from the script I follow in my role as a
How we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. Throughout the interview I knew that the way I interacted within the group would determine whether or not I would be able to study as a student nurse. Subsequently, I wanted to appear socially desirable. Therefore, I believe there was a distortion of self-image because the interview was very important to me. Using Goffman 's theory of self (1959), the 'social mask ' I put on during the interview, could be seen as 'performance ', '...the term ‘performance’ refers to all activity of an individual in front of a particular set of observers, or audience... ' , I wasn 't my: bubbly, hyper self, I felt I had to keep this hidden as I was in a professional environment. Therefore, Johari 's window demonstrates mundane realism, because my self-image did change. My bubbly, hyper personality which is usually 'open/public ' was now 'Hidden/private '. However, Johari 's window see 's self-awareness constructed by the individual alone, which makes the theory over –simplified and not interactionist as it only considers 'nurture ' factors impacting on an individual’s self-awareness, when in reality it’s a combination of biological/genetic and social factors (nature nurture). Therefore the theory is reductionist as it over simplifies human behaviour. Although Johari 's window doesn 't give a holistic reflection for my own self-awareness and communication, the fact I can identify this as a result of using Gibb’s model means that I have a rounded analysis of my interviewing
In the first chapter Esslin deems all common definitions of drama as lacking and insufficient since they overlook dramatic genres that are not staged. He thus draws heavily on those who regard live theatre as the only true form of drama. And yet Esslin does not state his own definition. He instead declares that drama should not have ...
In this paper, I will be focusing briefly on my knowledge and understanding of the concept of Applied theatre and one of its theatre form, which is Theatre in Education. The term Applied Theatre is a broad range of dramatic activity carried out by a crowd of diverse bodies and groups.
Erving Goffman uses a dramaturgical perspective in his discussion of impression management. Goffman’s analysis of the social world primarily centres around studies of the self and relationship to one’s identity created within a society. Through dramaturgy, Goffman uses the metaphor of performance theatre to convey the nature of human social interaction, drawing from the renowned quote “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players” from Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.’ Much of our exploration of Goffman’s theories lies within the premise that individuals engage in impression management, and achieve a successful or unsuccessful performance. Impression management refers to the ways in which individuals attempt to control the impression that others have of them stemming from a basic human desire to be viewed by others in a favourable light. Goffman argues that our impressions are managed through a dramaturgical process whereby social life is played out like actors performing on a stage and our actions are dictated by the roles that we are playing in particular situations. In a social situation, the stage is where the encounter takes place, the actors are the people involved in the interaction, and the script is the set of social norms in which the actors must abide by. Just as plays have a front stage and back stage, this also applies in day-to-day interactions. Goffman’s theory of the front and back stage builds on Mead’s argument of the phases of the self. The front stage consists of all the public and social encounters with other people. It is similar to the ‘me’ which Mead talks about, as it involves public encounters as well as how others perceive you. Meanwhile the back stage, like the ‘I’, is the time spent with oneself reflecting on the interactions. Therefore, according to Goffman’s dramaturgical
The point of this essay was to illustrate the key concepts of the Performance Theory, to show how to understand them and apply them on the actual performances and actions. I think that the most important thing to elucidate is that „everything around us is a performance.“ So after all, everybody is a performer and an actor in their own way. And life is a performance.
This essay elaborates on the importance of physical appearance of an individual as a criterion for personal development and success in a career.
The survival of theatre lies in the very nature of humankind: its inner voyeuristic drive. The desire to watch other people dealing with their conflicts and fates challenges as well as reinforces values and the morality of society. The theatre provides an exciting opportunity to watch stories and situations as if they were real life, showing us the truth of our nature.