Formalistic Approach Applied to the Poem “Order for Masks”

Formalistic Approach Applied to the Poem “Order for Masks” First and foremost this paper endeavors to appreciate the piece of poetry written by Virginia Moreno. Without having any knowledge regarding the author’s life and time, this paper will try to stand on its own as an entity in itself. It is worthy to note that, a lot of patience for the critic as well as for the evaluator is needed to fully understand the meaning of this poem. After the first reading of the poem, I could only grasp how ambiguous the poem could get. This narrative poem written in free verse speaks about a persona who wears a mask to portray certain as a task to the three men in her life. The narration of the female persona talks to Billiken which is actually a charm doll that represents the “no worry ideal”. The persona asks Billiken to order three masks: the first one is for her brother, the second one to the father and the last one to her lover which will be discussed further in this paper later on. 1 To this harlequinade From the first line, the word harlequinade is to be given emphasis to construct the premise of this paper. From the term itself, harlequinade is a type of theatrical performance piece which dates back to England in the mid 18th century. Harlequinade could represent what the persona is trying to do which is acting like a clown or buffoon which builds up the idea in line two which says: 2 I wear black tights and fools cap
This means to say that the persona is like trying to play the role of Harlequin who plays the principal part in this play. In the Harlequinade, his everlasting high-spirits and cleverness work to saves him from several difficult situations which his behavior gets him into during the course of the play. But he never holds a grudge or seeks revenge. Hence, as an actor in a harlequinade, the actor needs to have a mask which is stated in line three: 3 Billiken, make me three masks Masks connotatively mean a covering worn on the face for protection or