Gender-masks: Between Masking And Unmasking

Gender performance as a interesting phenomenon can be found in both Chinese theatre of Qing Dynasty and Ming Dynasty and English renaissance stage—actor perform heroines on the stage, heroines cross-dressing to be a man in the text. The cross-gender theatres enjoyed by audiences because the gender-masks play an important role between masking and unmasking. This paper try to find the way how gender-masks bring audience aesthetic feeling by analysize the cross-gengder and crossing-dressing of Chinese theatre of Qing Dynasty and Ming Dynasty and English renaissance theatre, to explore the meaning and revelation of gender-masks.The main body of this paper includes an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion. In the Introduction, the source of this topic and the academic background are discussed.Chapter One reaches after the name and the implication and the expressiveness of gengder-masks. Gengder-masks can call those forms which individual cross genderto cover the players'sex and perform the character under make-up, dress, posture, voice, action. The expressiveness of gender-masks includes gender-crossing performance, gender-crossing plot, peformers and playwrights'gender-crossing .Chapter Two is on the gender-masks of Chinese theatre of Qing Dynasty and Ming Dynasty and English renaissance theatre. Between masking and unmasking, gender-masks show hermaphroditic harmony in stage and play.Chapter Three explores the aesthetic value and the enlightment of gender-masks. Gender-masks bring aesthetic feeling not only from the appearance of masks, but also from deep level pleasure behind masks. It inspires us to use a multidimensional aesthetic viewing angle in aesthetic appreciation.The Conclusion states that gender-masks as a special form of theatre shows the essence of masking and unmasking. Between masking and unmasking, cross-dressing in theatre helps performer and character to arouse audience's aesthetic feeling. Gender-masks provide important aesthetic meaning for satisfying audience's anticipation, richen the art multiplicity, and call attention to treat the masks and what behind masks. It inspire us to study a individual with something covered with a tridimensional and multidimensional viewing angle—not only search the internal truth, but also pay attention to the presentational truth.