VV(7) - Persona

[Richard Fiero]

David Morris wrote:
>http://www.cgjungpage.org/jplexicon.html
>
>Originally the word persona meant a mask worn by actors to 
>indicate the role they played. On this level, it is both a 
>protective covering and an asset in mixing with other people. 
>Civilized society depends on interactions between people through the persona.

In addition to the Gnostic Jung / Answer to Job, there is Eric 
Berne's practical therapeutic system of Transactional Analysis. 
On Berne's planet we have just three parts of personality which 
are "Child", "Adult" and "Parent. In his 1964 book "Games 
People Play" he describes the game of Schlemiel.
-----
   Thesis. The term "schlemiel" . . . a popular Yiddish word 
allied to the Dutch and German words for cunning. The 
Schlemiel's victim, who is something like "Good-Natured Fellow" 
. . . is called the Schlemazl. The moves in a typical game of "Schlemiel" are:
   1W. White spills a highball on the hostesses evening gown.
   1B. Black (the host) responds initially with rage, but he 
senses (often only vaguely) that if he shows it, White wins. 
Black therefore pulls himself together, and this gives him the 
illusion that he wins.
   2W. White says "I'm sorry."
   2B. Black mutters or cries forgiveness, strengthening his 
illusion that he wins.
   3W. White then proceeds to inflict other damage on Black's 
property. He breaks things, spills things and makes messes of 
various kinds. After the cigarette burn in the tablecloth, the 
chair leg through the lace curtain and the gravy on the rug, 
White's Child is exhilarated because he has enjoyed himself in 
carrying out these procedures, for all of which he has been 
forgiven, while Black has made a gratifying display of 
suffering self-control. Thus both of them profit from the 
unfortunate situation, and Black is not necessarily anxious to 
terminate the friendship.
   As in most games, White, who makes the first move, wins 
either way. If Black shows his anger, White can feel justified 
in returning the resentment. If Black restrains himself, White 
can go on enjoying his opportunities. The real payoff in this 
game, however, is not the pleasure of destructiveness, which is 
merely an added bonus for White, but the fact that he obtains 
forgiveness. This leads directly into the antithesis.
   Antithesis. Anti-"Schlemiel" is played by not offering the 
demanded absolution. After White says "I'm sorry," Black, 
instead of muttering "It's okay," says "Tonight you can 
embarrass my wife, ruin the furniture and wreck the rug, but 
please don't say "I'm sorry." Here Black switches from being a 
forgiving Parent to being an objective Adult who takes the full 
responsibility for having invited White in the first place.
-----

>"There are indeed people who lack a developed persona . . . 
>blundering from one social solecism to the next, perfectly 
>harmless and innocent, soulful bores or appealing children, 
>or, if they are women, spectral Cassandras dreaded for their 
>tactlessness, eternally misunderstood, never knowing what they 
>are about, always taking forgiveness for granted, blind to the 
>world, hopeless dreamers. From them we can see how a neglected 
>persona works.["Anima and Animus," CW 7, par. 318.]"
>
>[The above DOES sound like Benny]
>
>A psychological understanding of the persona as a function of 
>relationship to the outside world makes it possible to assume 
>and drop one at will. But by rewarding a particular persona, 
>the outside world invites identification with it. Money, 
>respect and power come to those who can perform 
>single-mindedly and well in a social role. From being a useful 
>convenience, therefore, the persona may become a trap and a source of neurosis.
>
>"A man cannot get rid of himself in favour of an artificial 
>personality without punishment. Even the attempt to do so 
>brings on, in all ordinary cases, unconscious reactions in the 
>form of bad moods, affects, phobias, obsessive ideas, 
>backsliding vices, etc. The social "strong man" is in his 
>private life often a mere child where his own states of 
>feeling are concerned.["Anima and Animus," ibid., par. 307. ]"
>
>"The demands of propriety and good manners are an added 
>inducement to assume a becoming mask. What goes on behind the 
>mask is then called "private life." This painfully familiar 
>division of consciousness into two figures, often 
>preposterously different, is an incisive psychological 
>operation that is bound to have repercussions on the 
>unconscious.[Ibid., par. 305.]"