Summary
More people, still invisible, arrive at the door and the man and woman begin to seem overwhelmed. They meet a small child and they sit with him. They attempt to talk to everyone but seem mostly unable to do so. The doorbell rings once more, signaling that there are more guests.
The man and woman frantically attempt to accommodate a flood of new guests, who continue to be invisible to the audience. They become exhausted from moving things around and trying to corral people. There is more noise from the boats as well as from the doorbell. They both speak quickly to guests as they try to manage the overwhelming circumstances. Some time goes by in which no one is speaking and the man and woman move chairs around, occasionally bumping into one another.
In the next scene, they run out of chairs and the man gets mad at the woman. In turn, the woman shifts into becoming something of an usher to the guests, claiming to be handing out programs. She also offers various snacks while the man tells people that the seats are being snapped up quickly. They both appear to be caught in a large crush of invisible people.
They become overwhelmed by the large number of people, while the woman continues to direct them. Both of them signal to people to keep things moving in an orderly fashion. They repeatedly tell people not to push or rush the crowd. The old man and woman take up opposite sides of the dais where the orator will speak from.
The couple says that they can no longer see one another. They call out each other's names and speak to various people, now seeming to be entirely panicked by the immensity of this situation they've created. They talk about the weather and the nature of progress with their guests. Both the man and woman make various strange claims.
The woman says her husband has never been properly understood, while the man urges people to be patient and await the delivery of his message. The woman adds that his message will save humankind and he will finally be given the respect she believes he rightfully deserves. They continue on in this vein until they hear the fanfare of trumpets.
The emperor arrives and the man and woman speak to him with intense deference. He is also invisible, like all of the other guests. They pledge their loyalty to him, going so far as to say that they are his dogs. The man describes him with admiration and tries to offer him the best seat in the space.
Analysis
Theatricality appears again a major concern in the play. In this section, the woman takes on the role of a kind of usher, as she directs people to their seats, offers them snacks, and generally attempts to direct the traffic in their space. This moment shifts the perception of the event from a regular gathering or party into a very clear performance or spectacle. Whatever social pretense there may have been before has clearly become flatly theatrical, as the invisible crowd and apparent high demand for seats make apparent.
These moments also mark the play's escalation into even further absurdity. The couple is overwhelmed by an ocean of unseen people, so much so that they run out of seating and can't even reach one another. In the same way, the couple shows their devotion to the invisible emperor by offering words of praise and showing their complete deference to him. They compare themselves to dogs in his presence. The strangeness of the moments is cinched by the fact that they are in an empty room filled with guests that the audience cannot see. They seem to feel as if they are in a situation of intense pressure, but the audience of the play sees no physical evidence of it.
The man's comments to the emperor also add to his earlier focus on stature and posterity. He views the emperor as the pinnacle of importance in their social order and, as such, treats him with the most respect. He attempts to give him the best seat available and talks about him in an extremely reverential tone. His obsequious behavior shows, once again, how much emphasis he has placed on being given the respect he feels he deserves. Paradoxically, his attempts to gain the respect of the emperor are indicated by his acting in a way that is humiliating.
The emperor's entrance also represents the final escalation of the event itself. Whereas before the man was mostly talking to guests who he saw as close to peers, or less than that, he has now come across someone he desperately wants to impress. In fact, he believes that the emperor's approval is actually the most essential endorsement of his supposed genius. The emperor's appearance is the centerpiece of the event itself, the thing the old man has been waiting for all along.
This section literally sets the stage for the play's dramatic finish. With his audience assembled, the man now just awaits the arrival of the orator. It is a scene that somewhat mirrors the opening night of a show, with its appearance of being crowded and busy.
