- I wanted to draw your attention to pages 385 and 386 where the two main subjects see a young woman wearing white silk shoes and the Cousin says she may be part of the ballet:
Everything about her is pretty and decent. .. Oh dear! What do I see? The young lady is wearing white silk shoes. Cast-off dancing-pumps in the market! Indeed, the more I look at this girl, the more I notice something peculiar which I cannot put into words. [...] but I have the feeling that she wants to buy something else besides her household needs. (bottom of 385, top of 386).
[...]
My cousin: the fact that she is wearing white silk shoes to market ought to have told you that the young lady belongs to the ballet, or some other branch of the theatre. As for the other things she's looking for... [...] That's right, dear cousin. AIl his thoughts directed towards our little comédienne. The appointed time has come; he is approaching the big fruit stall, where the most attractive goods are piled up in an appetizing display, and seems to be asking for fruit that is not available at present. No proper lunch can possibly be complete without a fruit dessert, so our little comédienne must finish her shopping for the table at the fruit stall. A round apple with ruddy cheeks slips mischievously out of her little fingers! The man in the yellow jacket bends down and picks it up, a dainty little curtsey from the little fairy of the theatre, their conversation is under way.
The Cousin brings the Narrator's attention to a young man watching the young lady. What I find the most striking about this passage is the juxtaposition of the dancer and the fruit on display. It reminds me immediately of the Manet portrait The Bar at the Follie-Berger which depicts a barwoman standing behind a bar piled with fruit and drinks. She is positioned just so with flowers in her bust, that she appears to be for sale herself. With this dancer, she uses the market as a place to meet this young man who the author implies she has met before. Her place in the market amongst the goods positions her as another commodity like the apple "with ruddy cheeks" or a "fruit dessert" (386). While the Cousin likes to people-watch and observe- she goes to be observed (at least by the young man). She wants to be seen. She is as much on display as the rest of the goods in the market, yet she has more obvious agency than the woman in Manet's painting.
2. This short story reminded me also of the Hitchcock film The Rear Window. Just wanted to put that out there. Also, the specific descriptions of people's clothing and mannerisms + the Cousin's predictions for their social classes and backstories reminds me of the pamphlet that we ended class with on Tuesday. The Cousin also described the way people carried themselves, their eye-contact with the sellers, and the gender of the observee. While I'm not sure if the Cousin is employing the use of Lavater's Physignomy, he certainly creates stories to accompany the mirad of characters he sees in the market and pays specific attention to little details, things which Lavater would have encouraged. But the pamphlet especially seems relevant because each page seemed to feature a crowd of different people which mimicked the may a crowded market square would look like from above. The Cousin sorts through the colors and imges of people below and learns to recognize them and their backstories.