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The interest that impostors hold for others, evident in the popularity of novels and movies about them, is much greater than the imprint they have left upon the world. Although some impostors, particularly those for whom imposturous tendencies are interwoven with genuine ability, produce serious works of art or function fairly effectively in certain organizations, the greatest accomplishment of most impostors is imposture itself.
Impostors fascinate us because it is difficult for us to understand exactly what they are doing, even when the falseness of their performance has become known to us. Do they believe in the roles they play, we wonder. Do they simply wish to become the figures they portray, or is deception an important aim as well? And what of those whom the impostor deceives—why do they believe in what is often a laughably superficial imitation of life? Do they simply wish to believe the imposture is real? Or is there something about these believers that draws them easily into the role of being deceived?
From a psychoanalytic standpoint, imposture can be placed in relation to the development of the ego: its early identifications and the equilibrium that it establishes with superego, ego ideal, and reality. The story-like,