What defines a character?
Is it their words or their actions?
Is it found in their disguises or their alter egos?
Are they a conglomeration of their motivations or a derivation of their actions?
Are disguises really disguises or are they just as much the real character?
Are they even disguises?
Iago is one of my favorite characters in all of Shakespeare. He successfully stabs everyone around him in the back and still manages to fool everyone. Iago changes with everyone that he talks to. For Roderigo he is a supportive and sympathetic friend, for Othello he is a loyal servant, for Cassio he is eager and ready with helpful advice. His character is this deceitful being. That then begs the question of similar characters in other plays. Edgar adopts the guise of Tom in King Lear, but his deception seems to be little different from Iago's except that he wears a mask and his motivations are "purer." It is perhaps, not the character that wears the disguise, but the disguise is the character.
This idea, developing as it is, has caught the interest of those I have shared it with, many waiting, just like I am, for the idea to completely form into a plausible argument. Their interest has peaked my own as I endeavor to wrap my brain around the idea that I am steadily approaching. I am taking baby steps into this idea and have tested it on my roommates and classmates and they have responded with interest and input of their own. For now I am still letting the idea grow in my mind as I look into further research throughout mass media.
This could be really cool--talking about a "supertheme" across many plays has some serious potential!
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could also talk about Henry, from Henry V, and why he disguises himself to talk with his men; also, Portia from The Merchant of Venice (who dresses up as a lawyer to help her fiancee's friend) might be someone else to look at.
Oh..."The disguise is the character." Fascinating.
ReplyDeletePossible argument following this evidence: Shakespeare's shameless recognition of the human's tendency to hide true identity has influenced society for the last 400 years and is now proving to have direct manifestation in consumerism, democracy, and Western society as a whole.
I guess my concern at this point is that this topic still seems way too broad for an 8-10 page paper. Disguise as character in Shakespeare sounds like the length of a master's thesis to me--but I'm sure other people have already written about it, at least in brief snatches here and there. That would be a good topic to start out with in your social research, but I would recommend still tying yourself closely to a primary text.
ReplyDeletehmmm... I'm not sure I'm completely following you, could you explain "the disguise is the character" a little more fully? Another tidbit that might help: So what? Do the themes your finding about disguises change our perceptions of the characters? the plays? Sorry if that came out harsh by the way, I'm actually really interested in what you're writing about!
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