 Ciocia writes that with half the novel taking place in theatrical settings , Nan may be playing a role as character in her own life or a play on a stage set in a theatre or the streets of London . She starts as a spectator watching Kitty onstage , and later with Kitty , watching how men move and behave to improve their act . She becomes a performer , with Kitty , as a renter and again for the predatory Diana and her friends . Finally she takes the role of director as she assists and impels Ralph to perform his speech . At this point , she is able to reconcile her identity and the story ends . Waters consciously chose to create a complicated plot , and was impressed with Iris Murdoch 's claim that she herself had entire stories worked out well in advance of writing them , a method Waters used with Tipping the Velvet . 
