Performance

From the very beginning of the novel, the idea and the importance of performance as a means to success and survival is put forward by the infamous Mrs. J. Mrs. J believes that performance is vital in the Public Relations business, but as we learn throughout the rest of the novel, it is also vital being a woman in a still patriarchal society. While, Mrs. J performs in front of others when doing speeches, Pauline is performing as a prostitute. Here with Pauline, though, the reader can see how a performance is also an act of pretending. Pauling pretends to be someone else entirely during her job as to ensure that she never loses herself in the process. Through both of these characters, Joanna Scott is presenting women with a warning; despite the fact that we have to perform in front of others or even pretend...