All’s the world’s a stage, Shakespeare said it best. Erving Goffman developed a concept called dramaturgy. Basically, dramaturgy is a metaphor of our social life as a theatre. We are all actors and the play is our life. Goffman, through the social interaction theory, tried to use this analogy to explain why we do certain things, react in certain ways, and explain others’ reactions. In Sociology Hub it states that “the quality of our performances is essential to our sense of self. More than that, we put our self on the line every time we engage in interaction. As much as possible, in our presentation of self, we try to shape how people perceive us and what kind of impression we make on the audience. Goffman calls this process impression management. There are many ways in which one tries to convey favorable impressions: through the use of objects, clothes, as well as body language. The way we talk, move, how we look and dress, our mannerisms, etc. all convey symbolic information about us to the audience regarding our social class, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity”.( C.M 2008) In movies and sitcoms there’s a plot, characters, and an overall theme. Without you even realizing it, your life is full of characters, directors, producers, costumes, props, scripts, and even stages.
In dramaturgical
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Our personal and professional wardrobe are considered our costumes. In dramaturgical analysis, our costumes influences our social situations. Police officers wear uniforms, scientists wear lab coats, and businessmen typically wear suits. If you were playing the role of a football player and you came out onto the field, which would be your stage, in a tutu your acting would be considered foolish and subpar. To leave a good first impression at a job interview you would typically wear your best, you wouldn’t get the job in a dirty t-shirt and jeans, and in a stage production the audience wouldn’t be convinced