ATDTDA (18): 493-494 "captivated by eyes"

[John BAILEY]

Cyprian finds romantic - and erotic - pleasure in gazes which refuse to
return his own interest. Obviously schooled in classical art and the
averted, cold gaze of antique statues and paintings, this makes a
certain amount of sense. One of Pavlov's (or Pointsman's) dogs, learning
to love the object regardless of its emotional return.

 

Worth visiting Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs, here, though, and
Deleuze's intro as well (the equal of its subject). Masochism is a key
to Cyprian's metamorphosis, as he moves through various states of
submission not to find a final, triumphant will to power but to find the
right power to submit to. In these early stages of his narrative he's
clearly conflicted, aroused by Yashmeen's voice alone but "left with an
inelastic embarrassment" which prevents him from following the object of
his desire.

 

He conjugates Greek "in obscure gnomic tenses" to mentally distract
himself, but it doesn't work. A gnomic tense is one used to state an
apparently universal truth, I think - in Greek, usually worded in a
present or future tense form. He's looking for universal platitudes to
calm himself, but obviously his situation is far from a universal one.

 

There's also hints of the spiritual coming in here - important in this
chapter - when Yashmeen warns Cyps that he "burns incense at the wrong
altar." His devotional, perhaps even sacrificial offerings won't be
rewarded, in other words. Knowing as she says this that, paradoxically,
the voice that utters these words is offering excitement (a reward?) at
the same time.


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