Atdtda32: Paprika flashback, 914-916

[Paul Nightingale]

The modernisation of monarchy is played out with "the ruler of a fictional
country" passing "as a member of the urban middle class"; evidently he must
be seen at leisure, here a "merry shop-window stroll" (915). He says he
requires "time for observation [and] ... thought" (914). What, then, is he
observing and thinking about: consumers or consumer goods? If indeed people
are what they buy, or perform the consideration of buying, is there any
distinction to be drawn? In the event, the action takes in an inappropriate
purchase of sorts when "the camouflaged monarch meets and falls in love with
a horrible little bourgeoise" (915). Caveat emptor, perhaps: if the king is
temporarily downwardly mobile, he demonstrates tastelessness, as does
Schleppingdorff ("immediately fascinated"). If Heidi is "horrible", and this
judgement is never explained, she is also irresistible to both men.

The operetta is apparently "all the rage in Vienna at the moment", so one
might invoke Weber on the transition from traditional to bureaucratic
authority (and Heidi's appeal is, if anything, charismatic). Previously, on
913, sex between Dally and Kit goes unnoticed in the deserted paprika field,
"it'll wash out" a pre-echo of "rouge and saliva all over his trousers"
while "nobody seem[s] to be watching them" (916): no one, that is, other
than the privileged reader. These two scenes are separated by the
(unfinished) story of the elusive burgher king, McDonaldisation as an
updated version of Weber's rationalisation, or film celebrity. Dally and Kit
find each other irresistible, as king and adviser find Heidi, and Mitzi
(915: "obsessed") finds the king. Desire is irrational (Kit on 916:
"crazy"). We have been forewarned (914: "As it turned out ..." etc) that
they won't make it through to the end of the performance; the "extended
episode of heat" (916) is anything but window-shopping, effectively
censoring the (staged) "tuneful intrigue".

On 915, briefly, the narrative reports on the "great fun" as the social
order is disrupted by bourgeois consumption. On 916, Dally's reference to
vampyrism ("Something they do in these parts?") might refer to the fictional
locale; it might also, given that her mind ("she was sure she didn't know
why") is on showbusiness, refer to the recycling of popular culture. The
narrative reminds the reader of their complicity in the process: after all,
we 'know' who the Burgher King really is.