Setting
This year on Valentine’s Day my boyfriend took me to a romantic restaurant for a candle light dinner. My boyfriend is a kind of shy person so he booked a table at a corner of the restaurant, so that people around us won’t be staring at us and consequently we will be able to have a memorable dinner. Luckily we got a table reserved as per our requirements but the only problem was that the glass of the window was transparent through which the pedestrians walking in the street were able to see us. Although I was fine with this situation because nobody stood there the whole time and stared at us but my boyfriend kept on getting nervous due to people walking by the window side. After all we had dinner and then took off to our homes, I think next time we should not reserve a table beside the window, especially if the window glass is transparent.
Role
In this setting I and my boyfriend are the main actors who are playing the leading roles. The waiters and other restaurant staff are the side and temp actors which play the role serving food and welcoming us in the restaurant. The people outside the window are the audience who watch our activities while passing by the window.
Behavior, interaction and logic
My boyfriend is feeling shy due to his nature and for this reason he is behaving conservatively and passively in the given situation. I am trying to comfort him by engaging him in the conversation to get his attention away from the audience. The waiters and other staff are playing their role smoothly and behaving professionally to retain us as their customers (Dennis ,Charles Edgley.2005). The audience which is looking at us while passing by are just looking at us for very short period due to having no significant interest in our conversation etc. In this special case the audience is not fixed and due to its very nature it keeps on changing hence the behavior of the audience can’t be same all the time and heavily depends on the situation in which we are as well as on the nature of each member of the audience.
At relative’s home
Setting
Last weekend one of my uncle along with his family arrived back in country after more than ten years of their stay in Australia. So I went to my uncle’s place along with my father as my other family members were busy in planning something at home. My father is a very friendly person to all the people so everyone likes him very much. When we reached at my uncle’s home he welcomed us with open arms and cheered me up with a loud and encouraging voice about my studies. I felt happy and excited by such warm welcome. I met with my cousin, who was of my age. He took me to his room and showed me his video games, computer and other cool stuff from Australia. Then we all gathered in dining hall for lunch during which we had a delicious food and pleasant discussion. After staying for a couple of hours at uncle’s place we returned back home. I enjoyed those moments a lot and I am still in touch with my cousin and am planning to invite him to my home next weekend and show him my room (Erving, 1999).
Role
In this setting the main actors are me and my cousin while my father and uncle are playing the role of side actors. In this case the audience is not big but we can consider the maid in my uncle’s home as the audience owing to the reason that she is not participating in the setting and story with any significant role.
Behavior, interaction and logic
The behavior of my uncle is warm and welcoming due to the reason that he is playing the role of a nice and kind person as he is known for. My father has quite a passive role in this special setting as he is a not a talkative person by nature. My cousin is trying to impress my with his toys and other things that he has brought from Australia so that I will be inspired by him and he will be able to make a good friend here since he has just moved in. I am playing the role of being a good and friendly person to my cousin while side by side I am planning to invite him to show my home to him as well, so that we can be good friends at the end. The audience who is a maid in this setting is observing only few of our actions and scenes due to the reason that she is not supposed to be watching us all the day. So her role is also limited by the nature of the setting in this case.
Computer Market
Setting
Yesterday I had to go to a computer market to buy a new hard drive for my computer. I took one of my friends with me, who has good knowledge of computers and related accessories. We went to the first store that was on the main street of the computer market where we were told by the storekeeper that the store was serving the purpose of whole seller for most of the shops in the computer market. I figured out that we should buy the hard drive from here but my friend told me that most of the storekeepers tell lies about being whole seller so that people would buy from them thinking that they might be giving things at cheaper rates. So we both went to another store and got same statement from them as well. So we had to take a detailed visit of the market and then finally we found the real whole seller. We bought the hard drive from him at reasonably lower price and came back.
Role
In this setting the leading actors are me and my friend in which I have the role of a buyer of computer for myself and my friend is helping me to get a good computer to prove that he is a good friend of mine. The reason behind me acting passively in the market is that I don’t have good knowledge of computers so I am trying to remain silent so that my friend will help me out. My friend is giving me good suggestions and showing me that he knows very well about computers and to prove himself he is trying to get the best computer for me. The side actors are the shopkeepers who are trying to show us that they are the best suppliers of computers. The audience in this case is the other buyers who happen to be in the same shop and unintentionally hear and see the conversation that we are having with each supplier (Rebecca,2003).
Behavior, interaction and logic
The behavior from my side is very much passive due to the reason that I am relying on the suggestions given to me by my friend. The logic behind this kind of behavior is that I am not confident to be good at buying computers with good specifications at reasonable prices. So I have asked help from a friend who can do this for me. My friend on the other hand is playing the role of a helping friend so that when he will need help he will openly ask from me. This creates a mutual trust and sense of belongingness between both of us. The shopkeepers / suppliers are the ones who are playing side role due to the reason that they are changing each time when we go to some other shop / store. They are trying to do exactly opposite of what we are trying which means that they are trying to sell lowest possible specifications at highest possible prices. So in order to achieve this goal they are trying to deceive us and showing themselves as the opposite of what they really are. The audience in this case is just trying to hear the conversation between the shopkeeper / supplier of the market and us to get to know better understanding of what the real market prices are at which we are bargaining. The motive behind this is to become aware of the prices of computers so that they will buy a good computer for themselves at reasonable price.
References
Dennis Brissett, Charles Edgley.2005. Life As Theater: A Dramaturgical Sourcebook. Transaction Publishers.
Erving Goffman. 1999. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Peter Smith Pub Incorporated.
Rebecca Piatt Davidson.2003. All the World's a Stage. HarperCollins.
