However , Clausson also suggests that Brigid ’ s acting goes beyond Miss Wonderly and perhaps beyond even the “ schoolgirl act ” ( Hammett 1974 , 183 ):
They are all trying to penetrate one another ’ s masks to discern what lies beneath . So , they are all scrutinizing one another for signs revealing that hidden reality — and it is ( in Spade ’ s words ) “ chiefly the eyes ” that are likely to reveal what a character is trying to hide . […] As the novel progresses , it becomes increasingly questionable whether the characters actually have an inner essence they are concealing . They are their performances ( Clausson 2017 , 20 ).
Not only does Clausson suggest that everyone is acting here , he suggests that there is a question behind their assumed inner essence . This then questions the novels assumption that the femme is Brigid ’ s true essence and creates the possibility that we can read Brigid ’ s femme fatale as an act of performativity in the same way that her angel in the house ‘ act ’ is a performance . Therefore , both gender roles equally contribute to Brigid ’ s inner essence , and allow her to utilise them both at will , causing her to be undefined within these dichotomous roles which creates some ambiguity about her interior essence . It is this very ambiguity which causes her to be undefinable .
Butler discusses the importance of “ stylised repetition of acts ” ( Butler 1999 , 191 ) in relation to the sustainability of performativity . Throughout the novel there are multiple examples of Brigid correlating to both the angel and the femme suggesting that if one can be regarded as performativity , so too can the other . Firstly , even when Sam has told her that he knows Miss Wonderly is a lie , she still insists that she “ want [ s ] him to save [ her ]” ( Hammett 1974 , 31 ) to which Spade replies “ You ’ re good . You ’ re very good ” ( Hammett 1974 , 32 ), showing her that he knows this is an act . Brigid ’ s insistency on keeping up the good girl act even after being found out , suggests she is not merely performing but is enacting performativity – and that she does correlate herself , in some degree , to this gender role . She later confesses that “ I ’ ve been bad – worse than you can know ” ( Hammett 1974 , 32 ). However , she repeats the exact wording fifteen pages later , she doesn ’ t just repeat the sentiment . Spade comments on this , “ That ’ s what I mean … you told me that this afternoon in the same words , same tone . It ’ s a speech you ’ ve practised .” ( Hammett 1974 , 49 ). This suggests that the femme , too , is an act that has lines , in a similar manner to the Miss Wonderly act . Her response to being caught ‘ acting ’ once again , this time in a different role suggests she does not expect Sam to consider her to be acting in the femme role . Hammett writes : “ After a moment in which she seemed confused almost to the point of tears …” ( Hammett 1974 , 49 ). Brigid is confused because Spade is not supposed to be able to conclude that both ‘ acts ’ are performative parts of her interior gendered self , resulting in her belonging to neither role .