On the female feminist subject, or: from ‘she-self’ to ‘she- other’

The story takes place at the top of a top building in one of the many metropolises that pollute our planet. The event itself occurs in the furthermost room of this spacious apartment, which is also the humblest, being the maid’s quarters. The spatial metaphor is all-pervading in the text; as Jessica Benjamin suggests, it can be seen as the representation of the woman’s desire. The character sees her dwelling as her bodily self, defining the maid’s room as ‘le ventre de mon immeuble’.3 This space is compared to the top of a mountain, or the tip of a minaret: it is a microcosm endowed with a heightened level of intensity, of depth.