Dramaturgy
Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective developed by Erving Goffman, which views social life as a theatrical performance. People behave like actors on a stage, presenting themselves in ways that secure approval, manage impressions, and control how others perceive them.
At its core, dramaturgy argues that identity is not fixed, but continuously performed and negotiated through interaction. Just as actors use costumes, scripts, gestures, and stage settings to convey roles, people use language, expressions, settings, and behaviours to shape how others see them.
Example: A teacher behaves differently in a classroom than at home—with students, they maintain authority, but with family, they may show vulnerability. These shifting performances create and manage social identity.
Key Concepts of Dramaturgy
1. Front Stage and Back Stage Behaviour
- Front Stage: where individuals perform roles for an audience
Example: A waiter smiling politely to customers. - Back Stage: private space where individuals relax and drop their public role
Example: The same waiter complaining in the kitchen after service.
2. Impression Management
People consciously or unconsciously control their behaviour to manage how others perceive them.
Example: Preparing carefully for a job interview to appear confident and competent.
3. Presentation of Self
Individuals use speech, gestures, dress, and demeanour to convey status, skill, or personality.
Example: Wearing formal clothes in court to signal authority.
4. Roles, Scripts, and Props
Social interaction is guided by normative behaviours (scripts), roles, and symbolic objects (props).
Example: Doctors wearing lab coats to legitimise their role.
Human Behaviour According to Dramaturgy
- People are actors who continuously adjust their performance.
- Social settings work like stages where performances unfold.
- Audiences evaluate performances, reinforcing or rejecting identities.
How Dramaturgy Relates to Symbolic Interactionism
Like symbolic interactionism, dramaturgy emphasises meanings, interpretation, and micro-interactions, but it uniquely highlights:
✔ Self as performance
✔ Identity as negotiated
✔ Social life as staged enactment
Applications of Dramaturgy
- Everyday manners and etiquette
- Professional roles (teachers, doctors, politicians)
- Digital identity performance (social media profiles)
Example: On social media, people curate images and captions to project desirable versions of themselves, engaging in impression management.
Criticisms of Dramaturgy
- Overemphasis on performance: Critics say it reduces human behaviour to manipulation and acting.
- Neglect of structural forces: It provides little explanation of how inequality or institutions constrain performances.
- Ambiguity in motivation: It sometimes overlooks why people perform roles—beyond vague interactional needs.
- Limited testability: Dramaturgical ideas are difficult to verify empirically.
Despite these limitations, dramaturgy remains influential in understanding identity, presentation, and social interaction, especially in sociolinguistics, psychology, media studies, and interaction analysis.
Important Keywords
Erving Goffman, Dramaturgy, Impression Management, Front Stage, Back Stage, Presentation of Self, Role Performance, Social Scripts.
Dramaturgy
Home / Dramaturgy Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective developed by Erving Goffman, which views social life as a theatrical performance.
Symbolic Interactionism
Home / Symbolic Interactionism Symbolic Interactionism is a major sociological perspective associated primarily with George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton
UPSC Current Affairs – December 10
December 10th Current Affairs Home / Table of Contents INDIA bloc MPs move motion to impeach HC judge Relevance to
Ethnomethodology
Home / Ethnomethodology Ethnomethodology, introduced by Harold Garfinkel, examines how people use everyday, common-sense knowledge to interpret situations, organise interactions,
Phenomenology in Sociology
Home / Phenomenology in Sociology Phenomenology argues that the subject matter of social sciences fundamentally differs from that of natural
UPSC Current Affairs – December 8
December 08th Current Affairs Home / Table of Contents Parliament approves Bill to levy higher excise duty on tobacco Relevance
Interpretive Sociology
Home / Interpretive Sociology Interpretive sociology examines how individuals construct and attach meaning to their social realities. It stresses that
UPSC Current Affairs – December 4
December 04th Current Affairs Home / Table of Contents Law Commission to brief joint committee of Parliament on simultaneous polls
Non-Positivist Methodologies in Social Research
Home / Non-Positivist Methodologies in Social Research Shift from Positivism to Non-Positivism As sociologists recognized that social realities cannot be
UPSC Current Affairs – December 3
December 03rd Current Affairs Home / Table of Contents Govt ready to talk about electoral reforms in Parliament, but not