ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Isaac de Benserade's 1634 play, Iphis and Ianthe, in order to elucidate the way in which visual deception and mendacity is presented, not as antitheses of truth-telling, but as means of expression that draw attention both to what they purport to articulate and what they actually mask, as well as suggesting that there is a possibility for the collapsing of these differences. It explores the power structures in the play which force the character into the disguise, and the curious way in which the falsehood maps onto a deeper hidden truth for the cross-dressed character, Iphis. The chapter also examines the way Pierre de Ronsard's poem Orphée configures the story and provides an interesting source of comparison with Benserade's specific innovations. In the adresse au lecteur, Benserade assumes that his public is familiar with his source, remarking, 'you know perhaps as well as I that this is a comedy taken from the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses'.
