Bohemian Gothic-The Queens

swimming in tarot

Re: suspension of disbelief and getting worked up over fiction.

It's not always a bad thing. Heck, drama has very respectable Greek roots, where the purpose of the plays was catharsis of the emotions (so we were taught). Possibly the equivalent of a five-hankie tear-jerker with a happy ending, where movie patrons leave the theater emotionally wrung-out but satisfied. Drama that allows us to relate to the protagonists and their trials can help us be sympathetic to other people and their situations. And actors are most convincing when they really get into their roles. But after the play, the bright lights of the dressing room or the daylight of the street bring us back to real life, and we go back to our daily routines with our inner landscapes broadened.

However: getting stuck in roles? Not healthy! There are some well-known syndromes--wrong word? in psychology, some named after fairy tale characters. Red Riding Hood, who keeps LOOKING FOR big bad wolves to make her look all the more innocent; and Cinderella, always waiting for her prince to come, rather than take steps for herself. There are more. And there are roles of martyr, femme fatale, etc., just to name some common female ones. It's all role playing and inauthentic behaviour, but some people take them for the real thing and their real selves. And the resistance, when they are asked to step beyond those roles!

One function of a masquerade, I think, is to be a safety valve. It offers what might be an escape, at least for an evening, for people in fairly strict social roles to step outside of their prescribed boundaries and have a little fun. It doesn't change their social stations, because they go back to being the dutiful wife or responsible husband in the morning; a countess or duke or advisor to the king; but for one night, they get to be silly...the belle of the ball, a gypsy, the queen of the night, a fairy queen...kind of like Hallowe'en, which I consider a most excellent tradition! But our Queen here is still in the ballroom after everyone has gone home. His/her real life may not be satisfying. He/she may or may not be taking responsibility for finding meaning in day-to-day life, which I suspect is possible to do even in a strict social hierarchy. (I have the parody song in my head, now: "After the ball is over/After the dancers go home/See her take out her..." I forget the order, but the woman has a glass eye, false teeth, wig, etc. Lots of window dressing.)

I have to go do some errands now, but I've very much enjoyed reading your musings, and hope mine are of some use as well. Thank you!
 

Thirteen

swimming in tarot said:
But our Queen here is still in the ballroom after everyone has gone home.
Indeed, he/she is! More than that, he/she is still in the ballroom acting as if the paintings weren't paintings. As if they were people. I think this moves us into that creepy kind of madness where the person is a living ghost as it were, stuck forever at the masquerade ball, at that moment and in that pretend role where he/she was at their most glorious. Very like Miss Haversham forever wearing her wedding dress and in that room ready for the wedding.

It's no wonder that this card disturbs a lot of viewers.

"After the ball is over/After the dancers go home/See her take out her..." I forget the order, but the woman has a glass eye, false teeth, wig, etc. Lots of window dressing.)
What a great song!