According to Shakespeare’s As You Like It, every person in the world is like a player on a stage. They have entrances and exits and play many roles throughout their lives, which can be divided into seven ages. This idea of social interactions as performances before an audience is known as dramaturgy and was described by Ferrante in 2011.
Goffman’s theory, inspired by Kenneth Burke’s dramatistic approach, can be categorized into six themes: the performance, the region, the team, discrepant roles, communication out of character, and impression management (Manning 1992). To begin with, Goffman highlights seven components of performance: belief in the role being portrayed, the front or ‘mask’, dramatic realization, idealization, maintaining expressive control, misrepresentation, and mystification. As an illustration, let’s imagine a scenario where a young man is attending a job interview.
As he strives to embody the perfect employee (idealization), he attempts (in his behavior) to project a specific image of himself through his attire, his communication, and his demeanor (his front), accentuating the aspects he wishes the interviewers to perceive (dramatic realization). He must sustain authority over these expressions during the entire interview (maintenance of expressive control). Any slip in his portrayal in that capacity (misrepresentation) could expose the very aspects he has been endeavoring to hide (mystification).
Goffman categorizes society into different stages or ‘regions’. For example, when a young man is in a room before an interview, that room is considered the ‘front stage’. This is where both actors and audience are present, and actors are mindful of their images and behavior. On the other hand, when the same young man is at home in casual clothes, having informal conversations with friends or playing football, this is considered the ‘back stage’.
In his writings, Goffman discusses the concept of the ‘team’ and defines them as any group of individuals who collaborate to perform a single routine. One example of this can be observed during Christmas time in Barbados, where many adults attempt to deceive their visiting relatives by portraying a higher socio-economic status. In some families, adults work together to achieve this by temporarily acquiring furniture through hire purchase, dressing in expensive clothing, and dining at upscale restaurants.
The text emphasizes the importance of consistency within a team’s performance and how a single mistake by any member can cause the entire performance to fail, especially in front of an overseas audience. Goffman also explains how individuals can assume different roles to either hide or disclose secrets within the performance. One example discussed by Goffman is the ‘Shill’, who pretends to be part of the audience but is secretly colluding with the performers.
For instance, in the case of the young interviewee, if he had a relative among the interviewers who was discreetly pressuring his fellow colleagues that this young man’s qualities were genuine, he would be acting as the Shill. There are also other contradictory roles such as the ‘informer’, the ‘spotter’, and the ‘go-between’ii. Fifthly, when we refer to ‘communication out of character’, this can be both deliberate or unintended. When it is deliberate, it typically happens behind the scenes where the actors relax and stop ‘performing’.
On the contrary, it could also be accidental, where actors make mistakes or say something that is not consistent with their character while on stage. Such instances can negatively impact their performance. Goffman illustrates communication that is not in line with one’s character by using the behavior of waiters in a restaurant as an example. The way they act, behave, and treat customers while serving them can be completely different from their behavior in the kitchen behind the scenes (Ferrante 2011). Lastly, impression management is considered one of the key components of dramaturgy.
In social situations, people utilize their clothing, surroundings, words, and gestures to convey a particular image to those around them (Ferrante 2011). Goffman explains how individuals manipulate their behavior, speech, and even facial expressions to present a specific perception of themselves to their audience. Goffman introduces the concept of ‘sign-vehicles’ or ‘carriers’, which are the props (such as clothing, accessories, or accent) that actors use to establish the desired impression.
The family above used furniture purchased on hire purchase to convey their wealth to their relatives, employing the furniture as a sign-vehicle for impression management. In conclusion, Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy offers a creative perspective on human face-to-face interaction. While Blumer is recognized for symbolic interactionism, Goffman’s microsociological approach can be labeled as “strategic interactionism” (Manning 1992). While the theory accurately depicts human interaction, it is important to note that honesty is always the most effective approach.
