Dramaturgy and the Environment - Essay Example

 Dramaturgy refers principally to the reaction that an individual has against an action taking place within his surrounding, whether or not it may be directly related to him. In the words of renowned sociologist, Ervin Goffman, dramaturgy may be defined as ‘the self is a sense of who one is, a dramatic effect emerging from the immediate scene being presented. Society, in a nutshell, consists of various people following different cultures, values, and norms that include personal affiliations to the external environment like power, authority, status, and role. All these aspects within an individual’s life give him a place when compared with other individuals that may or may not be higher than him in this hierarchy of life.

In the given scenario, a businessman accidentally spills a drink on very expensive clothes that a woman, that happens to be his supervisor, is wearing. She obviously is annoyed because of the happening of the events and is angry at him for having done what he did; however, she must not negate the fact that the action was not intentional but accidental. The various roles that are involved within the scenario include the two main roles of the businessman and his supervisor on the front stage, and backstage, the people that may be present around them, witnessing the incident. The props to be noted in the scenario are primarily business props for the setting to seem extremely formal and professional, for example, briefcases, formal clothing for the people, documents, and some snacks and refreshments to make it seem like a relaxed office environment, as well as the main prop, the glass full of a drink, that the businessman is holding in his hand.

In order to further understand the maintenance of social order in the given case, one needs to first have a rapport with the term itself; social order, briefly, is a set of social structures, institutions or practices, and beliefs, that assist in enforcing a ‘normal’ or most suitable manner of conduct to the greatest number of people in a given society. It includes the fashion in which people behave and respond to each other’s actions in well behaved and civil way. In this example thus, it is the work of the supervisor to maintain social order within the office environment. Since the incident took place in a matter of seconds as the businessman accidentally spilled his drink on her expensive clothes, instead of getting angry she might as well change her attitude and understand the difference between a deliberate situation and a mishap. In order to maintain a calm atmosphere, if she does not get angry, the other employees (backstage individuals) will not feel a need to react to the situation. Moreover, the businessman will be spared the embarrassment that he would have to otherwise face from the other members present witnessing the situation.

By countering her negative emotions, the supervisor can easily hide the embarrassment she would be facing and instead of creating a scene and attracting more attention to herself, she would be able to restore social order by simply accepting what happened with grace and excusing herself to clean the mess. The businessman himself would feel the guilt and apologize for his mistake, being more careful the next time.  Eminent sociologists and thinkers have stated that social order needs to be present otherwise society is simply made of chaos and thus dysfunctions. Thus, in order to avoid all the confusion and chaos, it is important for the supervisor to be responsible and take the situation into her own hands in order to do away with any kind of conflict that may arise.

By comprehending the matter, the environment will be back to its normal state; the businessman in no way can make the situation better except apologize for his mistake, however, if he is not forgiven and the supervisor is still angry, then she will be adjudged by the other members present in the scene for her social etiquette and regulation of self as well. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand the reaction and control the same in a situation like this otherwise leading to a dramaturgical disaster.