Masquerade in seductive fictions

Type :

Book review

Pages :

9 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/07/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Literature

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Summary :

Introduction
What is masquerade
1. Masquerade, a seductive concept
2. Women and masquerade
Origin of romance
The origin of seductive masquerade
Multiple layers of masquerade
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

In her masquerade and Civilization, Terry Castle hypothesizes that the concept of "masquerade" is central to 18th century consciousness, and provides an intriguing insight into how the self was conceived of in "the age of disguise"(Castle, 5). Implicit in the idea of masquerade is a tension between appearance and reality, between self-presentation and self-concealment. According to Castle, "The masquerade- with its sensuous, exquisite duplicates, its shimmering liquid play on the themes of self-presentation and self-concealment-must take its place among the exemplary phenomena of the period"(Castle 5; Novak 1-3).masquerade offers a freedom from social roles and constraints, especially for women. Masquerades, along with churchgoing, where the only public activities women could attend unaccompanied (Castle, 32). Masquerades offered a unique opportunity for self-creation. Only when a woman is masked is she free to express desire. By constructing her own disguise, the woman may construct her own identity: "thus romance and the masquerade provide a way to determine and define the female self" (Schofield, 20).