Harry’s masks
In his essay, The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious, Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, discusses the tension between the artificial versions of ourselves we present outwardly, and darker elements we tend to hide away.
In what follows, I’ll discuss a section of Jung’s essay, exploring his concept of the persona, why personas can be useful, but also how overidentification can lead to problems. To illustrate this, I’ll look at some modern examples – including a story about ex-Special Forces soldier, Ant Middleton, and an interview with singer, Harry Styles. Each example sheds light on the complexity of living with multiple masks and what happens when they become dangerously fused with our true selves.
The masks we live by
The persona, says Jung, is a complicated system of relations between individual consciousness and society, fittingly enough a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and, on the other, to conceal the true nature of the individual. That the latter function is superfluous could be maintained only by one who is so identified with his persona that he no longer knows himself.
What does Jung mean by this?
The persona, this somewhat artificial construction that we wear in society (succinctly illustrated through the metaphor of a mask) has a strong social function. We use our persona, or rather, personas – versions of ourselves – to operate in a variety of contexts. Someone will behave very differently in the professional sphere than when they are playing the role of a parent, for instance. A variety of personas is therefore important for social cohesion.
The utility of different masks
There is a note at the bottom of my version of Jung’s essay. I believe it’s written by the compiler of the essays, Anthony Storr.
Storr writes:
The ideal individual, one might postulate, would be consistently the same whatever the circumstances. In practice, most human beings adopt attitudes in public which are different from their attitudes in private.
I’m struggling with this. I remember an interview with SBS soldier Ant Middleton – now writer and budding political spokesperson. Using the metaphor of a ‘helmet’ – as Jung does with the mask – Middleton described the contrasting versions of himself; one at war, one at home with his family. He said something along the lines of:
‘I would to go out there and put my Afghanistan helmet on; when I’d get home I’d take it off.’
From this perspective, Storr’s interpretation of the individual remaining ‘consistently the same whatever the circumstances’ seems questionable. Are our masks (or helmets) not incredibly useful, indeed crucial? Fundamental psychological resources for us to draw on?
Granted, the case of a soldier is an extraordinary one, but it’s helpful to illustrate the point. Middleton leaving his ‘Afghanistan helmet’ on when returning home would be far from ideal.
Overidentification with a particular mask
Indeed, Ant Middleton was once arrested for just this. During a night out back in England, he assaulted a police officer and was subsequently sentenced to fourteen months in prison.
The war context is one that demands extreme violence, something that must be left behind when re-entering a functional, relatively peaceful society and homelife.
This being said, I could be wrong in my critique of Storr here. He may be getting at something deeper. Storr’s notion of ‘the ideal individual maintaining consistency whatever the circumstances’ may not refer to behavioural uniformity across all circumstances or contexts. Instead, it could imply a more profound internal consistency or authenticity, where despite different outward behaviours, the individual remains true to their sense of self. The individual may change their behaviour drastically, yet maintain a core set of values. Perhaps this is what Storr is getting at.
Jung goes on to describe how overidentification with one mask can become a real problem.
The construction of a collectively suitable persona, writes Jung, means a formidable concession to the external world, a genuine self-sacrifice which drives the ego straight into identification with the persona, so that people do exist who believe they are what they pretend to be.
A perfect example of this for our era is that of social media. A particular persona will develop on our Instagram profiles. As it grows, it may become a kind of gravitational pull in our lives, drawing our true selves closer and closer into alignment with this online construction. If we are not self-aware enough, this may drive our egos – as Jung describes – straight into identification with the persona.
I remember an interview with Harry Styles. He was sat by a pool discussing the covid pandemic, specifically his experience during lockdown:
For a really long time, said Styles, I was terrified of what my life was if I wasn’t up here doing music, like on a show, like doing something, and then you’re faced with a time when you can’t do that […] it doesn’t matter how much money you have, it doesn’t matter where you live, doesn’t matter this, doesn’t matter that, you can’t travel, you can’t go outside your house. It’s like suddenly you’re forced to not be this musician guy, you’re forced to be a friend and a brother and a son.
Styles describes what we’re talking about; a kind of momentary sense of instability due to the pandemic when he could no longer fulfil the musician persona that he had built in the outside world.
It is telling that Styles slips into the second person pronoun, saying things like: ‘you can’t travel, you can’t go outside.’ He’s talking about himself, but he’s really talking about this persona that he created as if it’s another person, which to some extent it is.
It is also telling, that Styles goes on to describe a collection of other ‘masks’ he had been neglecting; a variety of personas – the friend, the brother, the son – that he needed to cultivate. To repeat what Jung said:
The construction of a collectively suitable persona means a formidable concession to the external world, a genuine self-sacrifice which drives the ego straight into identification with the persona, so that people really do exist who believe they are what they pretend be. The soullessness of such an attitude is, however, only apparent, for under no circumstances will the unconscious tolerate this shifting of the centre of gravity.
What Jung describes in the second part of this passage, is the psychic correction that takes place when we overidentify with a persona.
While our personas are necessary and useful, we must not confuse them with our true identity. Such masks – the soldier’s helmet, the musician’s stage persona – should be treated as just that – masks – something to be picked up for a purpose and then put down.
The challenge during this process, is to remain anchored in a deeper sense of who we are, using masks to navigate different contexts without sacrificing our true self in the process.
The interview with Harry Styles is titled ‘Harry Styles - Zane Lowe & Apple Music Harry’s House Interview’.