Symbolism

Of the five characters, three bear the title of their profession. Lawyer, Miss Alice's lawyer, represents civil law, and Cardinal, a cardinal in the Catholic Church, represents divine law. Instead of standing for justice and God's love, respectively, each man symbolizes the perversion of power and hypocrisy. Cardinal acts as Julian's pimp, willingly selling his secretary to Miss Alice and her cohorts. The papers transferring the money are signed on the day of the wedding. "[T]he grant is accomplished;" Cardinal tells Julian, "through your marriage .. . your service." Lawyer arranges for this transaction, obtaining a human under the guise of making a donation. As Cardinal points out, though, Lawyer was a "cheat in your examinations, a liar in all things of any matter." Further, the two men are made increasingly powerful through Miss Alice's money, a symbol here of corruption. Butler, whose actual name signifies his position, is...