ERVING GOFFMAN
University of Edinburgh
Social Sciences Research Centre

The p e r sp e c t iv e employed in th is report i s that of the th e a t rical
performance ; the p r in c ip le s derived are dramaturgical
ones . I sha ll cons ider the way in which the individual in ordinary
work s i tu a t io n s p r e s e n ts himself and his activi ty to others,
the ways in which he guides and controls the impression they
form of him, and the kinds of things he may and may not do
while su s ta in in g his performance before them. In using th is
model I will attempt not to make light of i t s obvious inadequacies.
The s tage p r e s e n t s th in g s that are make-believe ; presumably
life p r e s e n t s things that are real and sometimes not well
rehearsed. More important, perhaps, on the s tage one player
» re s en ts himself in the guise of a ch a ^ .c te r to ch a ra c te r s proje
cted by other p la y e r s ; the audienc e co n s t i tu te s a third party
to the in te ra c t io n—one that is e s s e n t ia l and yet, if the s tag e
performance were real, one that would not be there. In real life,
the three p a r t ie s are compressed into two; the part one individual
p la y s i s tailored to the parts played by the othe rs present,
and yet the se others a lso co n s titu te the audienc e. Still
other in ad eq u a c ie s in th i s model will be cons idered later.