The Picture as "shadow of fair substance." (II.i)

Continuing the discussion of disguise (Sarah, Philip and Greg), what is revealed in the conflict between the physical disguised face and representations of identity in The Rover? The comparison between these types are evident: Belvile states what characters can get away with, providing they keep the ruse going long enough, “Because whatever extravagances we commit in these faces, our own may not be obliged to answer ‘ em.” (II,i) Yet, when Angellica realizes she has revealed too much of herself, a greater loss of face occurs: her emotional innocence is finally broken, “But I have given him my eternal rest,/My whole repose, my future joys, my heart!/My virgin heart, Moretta! Oh, ‘tis gone!” (IV.i)

Just as characters in this play wear elaborate masks to give the illusion of another persona, so too does Angellica play the part of actor. According to Roach, “actors and actresses in Restoration England made themselves objects of public fantasy.” (the performance, p.19) The poster Angellica uses to advertise her exotic services is like a masque she wears to conceal her human face. And, like the actors working a character into a role, this picture serves “a process of substitution,” (p.35) In Act V.i, Angellica pulls off her vizard, attesting to a final veil-lifting and points to herself as a distant memory, as if even the picture itself has faded, “Behold this face so lost to they remembrance.” {During the trail scene In The White Devil, Monticelso uses this symbolic reference to render an evil illusion, “If the devil/Did ever take good shape, behold his picture.” (3.2.118-119) And, shortly after, he alludes to Vittoria’s reputation as contained within her portrait, “I yet but draw the curtain, now to your picture,/You came from thence a most notorious strumpet,/And so you have continued.” (245-246)}

Since this is the time when women were performing on the stage, this picture also seems to preview the stagebill or marquee when actresses in The Rover would go on to become celebrities in their own right. It is almost as if the “stylized” qualities which Roach describes as dominant in Restoration theater are being held up for debate within the expected qualities of this Venetian courtesan. What is Behn saying about how Angellica’s role is being performed? What is the relationship between the original and facsimile? Surely Angellica has made some tactical errors by exposing her heart and more than any other character, suffers most because she conceals the least. “Would ‘twere lawful to pull off..false faces;” (V.i) it would certainly level the playing field.