Glass attributes his story-telling prowess to a close study of Roland Barthes S/Z, so we got hold of it and found these remarkable lines at the end:
(531) Sarrasine sat down before the terrified singer. Two huge tears welled from his dry eyes, rolled down his manly cheeks, and fell to the ground: two tears of rage, two bitter and burning tears. * REF. Code of Tears. The code of the hero allows a man to cry within the very strict limits of a certain ritual, itself strongly historical: Michelet complimented and envied St. Louis for having had the "gift of tears," audiences cried abundantly at Racine's tragedies, etc., whereas in Japan, in the Bushido, a code inherited from the Samurai, any physical sign of emotion is forbidden. Sarrasine has the right to cry for four reasons (or on four conditions):
- because his dream as an artist, a lover, has been destroyed;
- because he is about to die (it would not be fitting for him to survive his tears);
- because he is alone (the castrato being nothing);
- because the very contrast between virility and tears inspires pathos. Further, his tears are few (two) and burning (they do not participate in the unworthy humidity associated with femininity, but in fire, dryness, virility).
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