"Many masks, many selves" exhibit

Doniger asserts in her essay, “Many masks, many selves,” that the masks we put on depending on the company we keep helps us determine who we are. Doniger does not endorse the popular belief in a true self, but rather the creation of a personality based on how we act in different circumstances. “Masquerading as ourselves often reaffirms an enduring network of selves inside us…” She uses triple-cross dressing to demonstrate how when we masquerade, we reveal ourselves. However, Doniger does note some exceptions to this rule. She mentions “pathological fantasies” of many selves, which she believes differs from her thesis because the former is experienced “passively, helplessly”. What Doniger emphasizes is a realization of the masks, not a passive acceptance. Using them as a tool to understand ourselves, “the best bet is to…realize we are wearing them, and try to find out what each one conceals and reveals.” In Virgil’s Aeneid, a brave Trojan soldier slays many Latins as they sleep in their camp. As he finishes his work and prepares to escape, he takes one of his dead enemy’s helmets and places it on his head. As he makes for safety, a group of enemy soldiers recognizes his gleaming helmet and calls to him, and after he doesn’t answer they realize the situation and in the end, he is slain. When Euryalus put on his enemy’s helmet, he made it certain that the Latins would recognize him as a Trojan. Unknowingly triple-cross dressing, it ended badly because he didn’t realize what he had done. The realization of the masks is the key part to building a personality, and understanding ourselves.