Social Interaction May Be Likened To A Theatre By Erving Goffman

Erving Goffman (1959) wrote that “social interaction may be likened to a theatre, and people in everyday life to actors on stage, each playing a variety of roles”. When you think of the way we behave and interact with each other, there really is not a more appropriate metaphor than comparing our behavior to that of actors portraying roles on stage. For example, there are a multitude of roles and statuses that could be used to describe me; among them being Mexican American, student, wife, daughter, sister, female, and middle child. However, while all these are true at any given time throughout the day, the role I portray changes with the situation and it should since different settings or situations have different audiences thus requiring a distinct performance to accommodate the current situation. An example of this phenomenon is described by the differentiation between front stage performance and back stage performance. To use myself as an example again let us consider my front stage performance as a

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