Research Paper on:
A Review of Masks in Modern Drama

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
what the masks are telling us, or how they are being used from a psychological or philosophical perspective. We admire their art and we admire the creativity. Rarely do we  really delve into how the masks are used and what they are instilling in the audience. Susan Harris Smith has presented us with a book which helps us to understand  the various ways in which masks are used in modern, as well as ancient, drama. Her book provides many different chapters which illustrate, and support, the notion that there are  a myriad of methods in which a dramatist can employ the mask. In the following paper we examine Smiths book in relationship to four chapters. The chapters are Chapter 2  : Satiric Masks, Chapter 3 : Ritual, Myth and Spectacle, Chapter 4 : Personification and Projections, and Chapter 5 : Public Masks And Private Faces Chapter 2 : Satiric  Masks In this particular chapter Smith begins with the following: "A mask is usually used as a shield or disguise protecting the identity of the masker. A satiric mask, however,  exposes the masker. At once comic and sinister, the distorted mask stresses the wearers ridiculous behavior as it suggests the grossness and depravity of which he is capable. The satiric  mask isolates a characteristic, distorts or enlarges it, and freezes it permanently. The masker, unaware that he is being exposed and ridiculed, struts before the audience. foolishly displaying his guilt"  (12). In this particular excerpt we can understand much of what Smith will discuss within the chapter. She is beginning with a very simple illustration of how masks are  often used to demonstrate some of the most horrible and ridiculous conditions of mankind as it relates to his nature. It is sometimes subtle and sometimes aggressive in presenting the