Disgrace

“He has a shrewd idea of how prostitutes speak among themselves about the men who frequent them, the older men in particular.”

David is self-conscious about his age, but he convinces himself that sex workers like Soraya are beneath him and that their opinions don’t matter. David is egotistical and conjures up intellectual justifications for his physical urges, thus elevating himself and his ego above the judgement of others.

“He has become a teacher again, man of the book, guardian of the culture-hoard.”

David tries to seduce Melanie by citing lines from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1. He immediately regrets his decision, however, as this only affirms the power dynamic between them, reminding them that he is her teacher and she is his student. Clearly, he is aware from the start of the imbalance in power between them, but nevertheless coerces her into a relationship.

“She opens the door wearing a crumpled T-shirt, cycling shorts, slippers in the shape of comic-book gophers which he finds silly, tasteless.”

David resents Melanie’s slippers because they seem childish to him. These childish slippers remind him of the inappropriateness of their relationship: He cannot deny her youth. Still, David couches this inappropriateness in intellectualism, masking his self-loathing by assuring himself that the slippers are silly and tasteless rather than childish. This subtle shift in thinking allows David to perceive the slippers as a product of Melanie’s flaws—her silliness, her lack of taste—rather than admit his own exploitative behavior.