Philosophical Stages: Sonya's Scene of Reflection

It'll be about masks, literal and figurative.

Some things I'd like to address and will flesh out later:

What a mask is and how it transforms the person wearing it, both to fit the mask's expression and to compliment it with another.
How masks personify one emotion and hide others, for safety to fit various situation ("numbing" in PTSD)
Use of masks in Greek tragedy (I will read that link posted on the Masks! page at some point)
The definition of self versus that of identity (both feeling, the one expressed, and the one viewed)
Some personal thing to be decided later...

Partial definitions from the OED:

Identity
1. a. The quality or condition of being the same in substance, composition, nature, properties, or in particular qualities under consideration; absolute or essential sameness; oneness.
2. a. The sameness of a person or thing at all times or in all circumstances; the condition or fact that a person or thing is itself and not something else; individuality, personality.
personal identity (in Psychology), the condition or fact of remaining the same person throughout the various phases of existence; continuity of the personality.
b. Personal or individual existence. rare. ?Obs.

Persona
1. An assumed character or role, esp. one adopted by an author in his or her writing, or by a performer. Also: {dag}a dramatic or literary character (obs.).
2. a. The aspect of a person's character that is displayed to or perceived by others.
b. Psychol. In Jungian psychology: the outer or assumed aspect of character; a set of attitudes adopted by an individual to fit his or her perceived social role. Contrasted with anima.

Mask
2. fig. and in fig. context. a. A pretence, a front, an outward show intended to deceive; freq. in to put on (also throw off, drop, etc.) the mask.
c. A facial expression assumed deliberately to conceal an emotion or give a false impression; an outward appearance which belies a person's true nature.
9. a. Psychol. = PERSONA n. 4b.
as a verb
1. {dag}a. intr. To be or go about in disguise; to hide one's true form or character behind an outward show. Freq. fig. Obs.
b. trans. To disguise (feelings, etc.) under an assumed outward show; to conceal (intentionally or otherwise) the real nature or meaning of.
c. trans. To obscure the true character or extent of; to cause to appear differently.

Who you are entirely vs. what you think you are/what you show people. Mask a tool of identity. Self creates/chooses which mask to wear. Outside influence can shape mask or identity and then sometimes self. Inevitable expression of self through identity (then through mask). Mask affects actions and emotions based off of various viewpoints.

First actor: Creon -- power, state vs. person struggle
Second actor: Antigone, Haemon, Tiresias, Eurydice -- dissent, status (personality and social)
Third actor: Ismene, Messenger, Guard -- subservient, passive

I've recently found a new form of art that bonds with my love of theatre: makeup artistry. Not only making a face ready for the stage, but transforming an actor, someone I know in street clothes with real skin and distinct features, into a new person by giving them a new living mask. People are sometimes surprised when they hear about my latest hobby since I never wear makeup offstage or out of costume and don't give the impression of being someone who has to look the best. There is a stigma attached to makeup artists because so many of them are relatively uneducated and not like the intellectuals that flock to discuss Shakespeare. Being of the latter breed, I know I would become frustrated working with flakey artists and actors' egos. I would not want to go to work every day wearing a mask and to leave the philosophical discussions for my free time in order to do something I enjoy doing. I can't revolutionize a field to fit my personality, and I'm not willing to change my identity to fit in. (eh there's more to this... later, perhaps...)

Posted at Jul 19/2007 10:04AM:
Jason: Here's a cool image excerpt of the "Pronomos Vaes": http://www.csudh.edu/bdeluca/WorldTheatre/Pronomos.Vase.jpg. Or choose from this Google Image search: http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=pronomos+vase&btnG=Search+Images