Galatea

“I don’t say this in a nasty way, for I don’t begrudge her a good fuck, if it was good, which I don’t know. But I say this to you so you understand what I was up against: that I was worth more to her sick than I was well.”

The nurse, Chloe, hurries through Galatea’s care routine so Chloe can surreptitiously have sex with the doctor in the next room. Through Galatea, the text explores a key theme, Bonds Between Women. This passage establishes that Galatea is generally kind and empathetic toward other women. These lines also refer to the larger system of patriarchal dominance in which women like Chloe are complicit, and that often cause them to inadvertently harm or neglect other women for the sake of men.

“It was the first thing I thought of, but it only made him frown more, because there were no flowers here, since we are on the rocky edge of a cliff over the sea, so that if I tried to climb out the window, I would not escape but die. Also, I was not even sure narcissus had a smell.”

While trying to get away from the doctor’s bad breath, Galatea describes the location of the hospital, which seems to have been intentionally designed to keep patients from escaping. Galatea’s lack of certainty about which flowers have a scent seems rooted in her lack of experience in the world, and highlights the extreme limitations her husband has placed on her.

“It’s easy, because I’ve had a lot of practice, but also because I think there’s some part of me, the stone part, that remembers and is glad to settle into solid lines.”

Galatea describes arranging her body for her husband’s arrival prior to their roleplay of her original awakening. This passage emphasizes how many times she has done this, and it also reveals how Galatea thinks about her own body and identity. The “stone part” is not merely a state in which she existed prior to her birth; rather, it’s something that persists in her and that she can even appreciate.