On the stage . . . masks are assumed with some regard to procedure; in everyday life, the participants act their parts without consideration either for suitability of scene or for the words spoken by the rest of the cast: the result is a general tendency for things to be brought to the level of farce even when the theme is serious enough.
Anthony Powell (2010). “A Question of Upbringing: Book 1 of A Dance to the Music of Time”, p.51, University of Chicago Press
