Sentence:  Professionally a lawyer , that is to say associated with dignity , reserve , discipline , with much that is <WSD>essentially</WSD> middle-class , he is compelled by an impossible love to exhibit himself dressed up , disguised - that is , paradoxically , revealed - as a child , and , worse , as a whore masquerading as a child . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  in essence; at bottom or by one's (or its) very nature