Order for Masks
First and foremost this paper endeavors to appreciate the piece of poetry written by Virginia Moreno. Without having any knowledge regarding the author’s life and time, this paper will try to stand on its own as an entity in itself. It is worthy to note that, a lot of patience for the critic as well as for the evaluator is needed to fully understand the meaning of this poem. After the first reading of the poem, I could only grasp how ambiguous the poem could get.
This narrative poem written in free verse speaks about a persona who wears a mask to portray certain as a task to the three men in her life. The narration of the female persona talks to Billiken which is actually a charm doll that represents the “no worry ideal”. The persona asks Billiken to order three masks: the first one is for her brother, the second one to the father and the last one to her lover which will be discussed further in this paper later on to this harlequinade. From the first line, the word harlequinade is to be given emphasis to construct the premise of this paper.
From the term itself, harlequinade is a type of theatrical performance piece which dates back to England in the mid 18th century. Harlequinade could represent what the persona is trying to do which is acting like a clown or buffoon which builds up the idea in line two which says: I wear black tights and fools cap. This means to say that the persona is like trying to play the role of Harlequin who plays the principal part in this play. In the Harlequinade, his everlasting high-spirits and cleverness work to saves him from several difficult situations which his behavior gets him into during the course of the play. But he never holds a grudge or seeks revenge. Hence, as an actor in a harlequinade, the actor needs to have a mask which is stated in line three: 3Billiken, make me three masks Masks connotatively mean a covering worn on the face for protection or disguise.
Why need masks
This suggests that the persona wants to hide something. She wanted to create a new personality through the use of the mask. 4 For the three tasks in my life 5 Three faces to wear 6 One after the other 7 For the three men in my life Each face corresponds to a task that the persona has to perform. Each task requires a corresponding personality for the three men. 8 When my brother comes 9 Make me one opposite 10 If he is devil, a saint 11 With a staff to his fork 12 And for his horns, a crown Lines 8-9 conditions that the mask she needed for her task to her brother must be of opposite personality to her sibling which further strengthened by lines 10-12 that the persona wanted to be of extreme paradox to her brother. 13 I hope by contrast 14 To make nil 15 Our old resemblance to each other Accordingly, lines 13-15 express the persona’s desire to erase her resemblance to her brother.
Thus, when her brother escorts him, his brother will face other people blissful and assured that she’s not a threat to him anymore. 16 And my twin will walk me out It is noticeable in line 16 that the persona used the term twin as allusion to her brother. Perhaps they were really not twins. But this line somehow implies that twin is used to signify that like twins who are in nature born with similar characteristics, each twin would always want to be distinguished from the other. The same thing is applied why the persona wanted to be different from her brother.
In line 16 also, the phrase ‘will walk me out’ will appear again on the following stanzas signifying that the object of the persona will escort her out facing other people. 17 Without a frown 18 Pretending I am another However the last two lines of the stanza (lines 17-18) could mean that the brother is happy that he will not resemble like his sister anymore but ironically, he is not proud. Perhaps it is because of the reason that no matter how they try to be different from each other, they cannot erase the fact that they are brothers and sisters.
Hence, the irony arises that the persona’s attempt to please her brother is futile. 19 When my father comes 20 Make me one so like 21 His child once eating his white bread in trance 22 Philomela before she was raped The second mask of the persona is for her father. From lines 19 to 22, the desire to have the mask designed with a face of innocence, naive and childlike. However, line 21 could mean that the child is in a state of complete mental absorption or deep musing. Seemingly in line 22, Philomela is used again as an allusion to represent the personality that the persona wanted to be like.
In Greek Mythology, Philomela was raped by her sister’s husband, Tereus. The Philomela being referred to in the poem is the one that is virginal, pure and unadulterated. 23 I hope by likeness 24 To make him believe this is the same kind 25 The chaste face he made 26 And my blind Lear will walk me out 27 Without a word 28 Fearing to peer behind In lines 23-25, the persona expresses her yearning towards being like a child she once was. And on line 26, the father this time is compared to King Lear from Shakespeare’s drama—an aging King of Britain whose downfall was caused by his daughters.
That is why, in lines 26-28, we can see that her father fears to peer behind because he is afraid that his child would also cause his downfall. Again line 26 shows the phrase ‘will walk me out’ which portends that the persona’s attempt to please her father is futile. .29If my lover comes 30Yes, when my seducer comes 31Make me the face 32That will in colors race 33The carnival stars 34And change in shape 35 Under his grasping hands The third mask is for the third man in her life—her love and seducer.
It is noticeable that line 30 is stated in a way as if the persona is really talking to the addressee. And this time, the mask that the persona wanted is a mask fit for a carnival. That is, a mask that would reflect a happy face. However in lines 34-35, the persona wants to make it appear that the lover is in control. She wants the lover to think that the he is still manipulating her but in reality the persona is the one who is in control by making a face that will make him believe she is the person he wanted her to be. 6Make it bloody 37When he needs it white 38Make it wicked in the dark 39Let him find no old mark 40 Make it stone to his suave touch 41This magician will walk me out, 42 Newly loved 43 Not knowing why my tantalizing face 44Is strangely like the mangled parts of a face 45 He once wiped out In this fifth line, the “it” being referred to from line 36-40 perhaps is not the mask anymore but rather the face she’s hiding behind the mask. This goes to show that the face behind the mask is a face without any pretensions.
Line 39 means that the persona is deceiving the lover without his knowledge. It only appears to the lover that he is still the one manipulating her. Line 40 suggests that the face is stern to his caresses and foolishness. And again, as expressed in line 41 that the lover ‘will walk me out’ as ‘newly loved’. Meaning, the lover will escort her as if she has no past. That is why the magician is used as an allusion to the lover who projects a remarkable image to people but in reality a magician fools people with magic his tricks.
Lines 43-45 support the idea that the face behind the mask (the mangled face) is the real face that the persona has and is also the face that the lover has erased from her. ‘He once wiped out’ the true being and identity of the persona. But the irony again lies on the fact that the persona—no matter how hard she tries to create an image to her lover to please him, she cannot deny that deep inside her is a ruined. Finally, the last line of the poem ‘Make me three masks’ gives a feeling that the persona is begging the addressee that she wanted to have the three masks to give herself dignity in her identity.
What plays inside our mind now is the question of why is there a need for the persona to please these three men in her life who are suppose to be close to her and understand the face behind the mask. Siblings should be like best friends not competitor. A father should be the protector not the one disowns her own daughter. And the lover, he is the one who is suppose to make her feel loved and make her feel safe to be herself. Thus the futility of woman’s task to man is evident.
We saw the woman’s task as a sister to his brother as a threat to her masculinity, to her father as an omen to his downfall and to her lover as someone who is being manipulated like a thing. It’s not the poems ambiguous complexities that make this poem a masterpiece but rather the beauty of all the symbols penned magnificently and combined to tell us its message. Having said all that, we see now the central irony of the poem that the real identity of a person no matter how much she tries to conceal it from the people around her, the face is what is important. Indeed, a woman’s grief cannot be hidden under a colorful mask.
