I like OpinionHead's comments. But I think perhaps not so much about when she's not around, since her apartment is where her friends all meet. I think she defines herself by the items she's collected. She's showing who she believes herself to be "illuminating/simulating the obvious" through the esthetics of the decorations around her. Cups and saucers sit unused in cabinets for show, books she may never have read arranged expertly to show she's literate. While others live in their homes, hers is a museum to her own conceit, which is obvious every time she unlocks the door to enter.
I like OpinionHead's comments. But I think perhaps not so much about when she's not around, since her apartment is where her friends all meet. I think she defines herself by the items she's collected. She's showing who she believes herself to be "illuminating/simulating the obvious" through the esthetics of the decorations around her. Cups and saucers sit unused in cabinets for show, books she may never have read arranged expertly to show she's literate. While others live in their homes, hers is a museum to her own conceit, which is obvious every time she unlocks the door to enter.