The mask is partial covering; disguise is full covering; masquerade is deliberate covering. The mask hints; disguise erases from view; masquerade overstates. The mask is an accessory; disguise is a portrait; masquerade is a caricature... Indeed even in the dictionary definitions, the word 'disguise' appears in all three.
Therefore, masquerade, mask and disguise all share similarities that become obvious 'through a dialectic of concealing and revealing'. Masquerade:...calls attention to such fundamental issues as the nature of identity, the truth of identity, the stability of identity categories and the relationship between supposed identity and its outward manifestations (or essence and appearance).
The paradox 'appears to be that it presents truth in the shape of deception... [and thus] reveals in the process of concealing'.
