The Only Woman in the Room

“I summoned my power and assumed the mantle of the empress once again, her necessary steeliness and her heavy responsibilities. Then I opened my eyes and stared out at my subjects.” 

This quote displays the depth of Hedy’s acting ability, by demonstrating the command she has over the audience. This is the novel’s first introduction to the protagonist, so it determines a great deal about Hedy’s character from the onset. Here, the audience learns that Hedy enjoys inhabiting the lives of characters and that she can easily transform herself. As the last line emphasizes, she doesn’t pretend to be anyone, she becomes her character. This quote, then, establishes Hedy as a chameleon.

“When I went to school—and suddenly became introduced to a wide, dizzying array of people—acting became my way of moving through the world, a sort of currency upon which I could draw whenever I needed.”

This quote demonstrates why Hedy is drawn to acting; it serves as a defense mechanism, a tool she uses to ensure that others like her. Having been isolated in her family home for most of her life, Hedy is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people who pass through her life. Acting, then, comes to her far before she sets foot on a stage, making it more of a means for survival than a profession.

“[A]s soon as the Nazis came to power, they began a formal boycott of Jewish business and banned all non-Aryans from the legal profession and civil service. Jewish German citizens have not only been subject to violent attacks, but they’ve been stripped of their citizenship rights—rights that Austrian Jews have counted upon since the 1840s.” 

This is the first direct explanation of the state of things in Europe and sets the stage for the novel’s handling of anti-Semitism. Here, Hedy’s father is explaining to her the significance of the reports coming from Germany.