ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the aesthetic concerns and considers how disguise relates to genre. Genre is, of course, a slippery matter, but genre definitions are both necessary and flexible, instruments that allow people to approach and analyze what we observe; according to Tzvetan Todorov, "It is because genres exist as an institution that they function as 'horizons of expectation' for readers and as 'models of writing' for authors". Jeremy Lopez has claimed that "virtually every play in Renaissance drama announces its genre quite explicitly". Although it is probably true that the genre of most plays is easily apparent, the word "virtually" does, in fact, leave room for a whole problematic area, especially of satirical plays. The chapter argues fundamentally a comic device, in considering disguise in relation to genre. Almost all comedy involves false appearance or mistaken identity, often because of confusion of the signs, especially clothing, by which identity is conventionally recognized.
