Are living as the guests of others. A psychological setting where story unfolds in narrator's mind. Time is as it happens, emphasized by language, ex. Shows that the real thing can be purchased. Makes Monarchs look rigid, hard to adapt to art world.
Professional successes depend on pleasing others.
Polished exterior with no core. Narrator manipulates characters for both the story and the canvas. He does it through the others' willingness to conform and their need. Mrs. Monarch upset by the rain coincides with her fear of becoming Miss Churm. The line between the social and the art is blurred because the social world is artificial, kind of like the artwork.