# How does Bertram Cope’s Year develop the theme of Performance and Artifice?

> Bertram Cope’s Year by Henry Blake Fuller

## Answer

Bertram Cope’s Year by Henry Blake Fuller develops Performance and Artifice across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.

Theatricality pervades the novel, from Lemoyne's cross-dressing stage performance to the characters' social performances—posing as artists, poets, or lovers—highlighting the gap between authentic self and social facade.

Cope consciously adopts a smiling, affable demeanor as a 'calculated expressiveness' to navigate social expectations, masking his true irritation.

The conversation between Cope and Mrs. Phillips is a performative sparring match, with both adopting roles and testing each other.

The entire afternoon is a staged entertainment where the young women perform their arts (violin, painting, poetry) and Cope is expected to perform in return by singing.

## Evidence

- [i-cope-at-a-college-tea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/i-cope-at-a-college-tea.md): Cope consciously adopts a smiling, affable demeanor as a 'calculated expressiveness' to navigate social expectations, masking his true irritation.
- [ii-cope-makes-a-sunday-afternoon-call](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/ii-cope-makes-a-sunday-afternoon-call.md): The conversation between Cope and Mrs. Phillips is a performative sparring match, with both adopting roles and testing each other.
- [iii-cope-is-entertained](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/iii-cope-is-entertained.md): The entire afternoon is a staged entertainment where the young women perform their arts (violin, painting, poetry) and Cope is expected to perform in return by singing.
- [iv-cope-is-considered](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/iv-cope-is-considered.md): Cope's singing is described as 'cool and correct, but pleasant,' suggesting a performative aspect to his social interactions.
- [v-cope-is-considered-further](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/v-cope-is-considered-further.md): Cope's singing is described as a cool, correct performance, and Foster's commentary highlights the artifice in social interactions.
- [vi-cope-dines-and-tells-about-it](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/vi-cope-dines-and-tells-about-it.md): Cope hires a dress suit, recites poetry, and dances to perform his social role; the evening is a series of staged entertainments.
- [viii-cope-undertakes-an-excursion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/viii-cope-undertakes-an-excursion.md): Cope's deliberate avoidance of direct address and his 'generalized manner' are seen as a performance to maintain social distance.
- [x-cope-at-his-house-party](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bertram_cope_s_year_se/chapters/x-cope-at-his-house-party.md): Cope performs admiration for the landscape under Randolph's coaching, and Mrs. Phillips curates the natural experience, naming trees after literary figures to create a cultured facade.

## Links

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