In the Loge with Lydia: Mary Cassatt’s Need for Companionship

Spencer Case, Princeton Class of 2009

Mary Cassatt’s At the Opera (1878-1879) has become a symbol for feminism for its ability to “subvert dominate gender roles,” as Tamar Garb asserts (Garb 264). Here is a fiercely independent woman sitting alone in a loge, attending the opera to become educated, taking on the male action of observing. Looking at her pose, the subject is in control with the male gesture of holding the binoculars (Garb 264). Her hunched back is masculine, rather than the soft, rounded shoulders that typified female depiction. This woman is placed alone in the box, conveying independence, but at the same time isolation. The sharp angular bend of the arm holding the opera glasses conveys masculinity, rather than feminine softness. While Cassatt places a man in the background watching the subject, the woman’s posture trivializes him in that she defiantly does not invite anyone to join her: she is absorbed in the intellectual activity of observing.

This same defiance is echoed in the words of the artist, “Oh, I am independent! I can live alone and I love to work” (qtd Roudebush, 16). Uttered only a year before this work was completed, Cassatt’s own words express a similar desire to deviate from the norm, but through entering the male-dominated world of professional art. In fact, according to Herbert, the woman bears a resemblance to the artist (Herbert 99). Cassatt seemingly understands the repercussions of this choice: if she is to work, she must “live alone.” For as a professional, this forces her to give up the traditional roles of wife and mother. By living alone, she denies her sexuality while fulfilling her intellectual desires. This lifestyle did not adhere to traditional ideas of the role of women at the end of the nineteenth century.

We might expect that Cassatt’s opera series would all reflect a similar independence. Yet, At the Opera is the glaring exception in her opera series. As the series progresses, her own loss of confidence is reflected in her models. With the failing health of her sister and chief companion, Lydia, and her ultimate death in 1882, Cassatt seems to become increasingly aware of her own vulnerability and solitary life. She thus turned longingly to subjects of younger girls posing themselves on display, desiring attention, presumably mirroring Cassatt’s own desires for companionship. She comes to celebrate the sensuality and romance of women, reveling in the opera as a locale of flirtation where women are on display, positioned to be looked at. Increasingly, Cassatt poses these ladies as sexual, submissive beings conforming to the societal norm. Their body language invites the viewer into the painting, establishing a dialogue between viewer and viewed. By regressing towards posing girls flirtatiously, romantically, and dependent on each other, Cassatt turns to a more traditional view of female life at the opera, revealing her own doubt at the possibility of being fulfilled as a woman having already relinquished the hope of romance and with the impending loss of her sister.

The Exhibit
Context
Images of Lydia
The Prints
The Loge
At the Opera Revisited
Works Cited
About the Author

The Gallery
The Opera House
Renoir
Degas
Gonzales
Morisot
Toulouse-Lautrec

Image

Cassatt, Mary. At the Opera. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.