ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the notion of masquerade through an application of performance theory. The character of the conscientious objector seems particularly apt to the topic of war masquerade, due to the way that these individuals are compelled to perform for others in order to prove their moral sincerity. Conscientious objectors engage in a struggle of social masks, in which they don the masks already crafted by both legal and cultural frameworks. Conscientious objectors whose cases have attracted media attention have found themselves branded with the same epithets as their First World War and Second World War counterparts. Called cowards, malingerers, and members of the white feather brigade, they are frequently maligned for their change of heart and opposition to war violence. Clearly, it is not only the dove-like feathers of pacifism that may in some fashion be borrowed from the historical repertoire; equally, the characteristics and costuming used to malign them have their roots in the enactment of past wars.
