"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth." (Oscar Wilde)
He discusses how costumes and disguises were a vital role in Shakespeare’s plays as they created a dramatic effect that stretched beyond appearance. By introducing a disguise, Shakespeare introduces a new character. To the audience it is still the same character only pretending to be someone else. However, to anyone unaware of the disguise, the character is a completely different person.
Similarly to Lacan’s ‘structure of the psyche,’ Kohut’s self-psychology focuses on the idea that we experience stages as young children that affect our personal development. These stages are mirroring, idealising and alter ego.
One particular aspect of self-psychology, which Kohut explores, is alter ego transference – when a person projects certain characteristics of their own personality onto an object or imaginary person created within a fantasy. Kohut defines alter ego transference as a response to narcissistic tendencies as the person is creating a new personality from their own characteristics.
Kohuts analysis shows that the creation of the alter ego goes deeper than visual aspects. I initially considered an alter ego to be a personality that is invented in order to allow the person to behave in a way they usually wouldn’t under their own identity. Kohut, however, describes it as an example of mirroring as the alter ego reflects aspects of the subject.