neighborhood tolerance, it was de rigueur in the deluxe house. The experts usually considered 29 the average brothel worker uninterested in (or even incapable of) showing any emotion on the In the job. Gustave Mace, an old hand of the service des moeurs, described "normative" brothel pros- Brothel titutes like this in 1888: "These mercenaries of official prostitution, despite the absence of physical desire, are in constant contact with men, and having only the joy of others to live on, 9 they subject themselves to an absolutely mechanical job." Likewise, the style and dress of the "average" brothel prostitute were apparently quite plain compared to those of the deluxe whore: "Contrary to similar establishments that are more chic where the women are dressed only in a peignoir or chemise, the pensioners in the cheapest houses are more dressed." 10 Popular houses had distinctive architectural features as well, in the form of a ground-floor tavern (called an estaminet), while the best houses had a salon.11 The contrasting layouts of the establishments reflected their different relationships with the outside world: the estaminet opened to the street, whereas the grande tolerance was completely closed off and shuttered.12 As we shall see, a broad gulf separates Degas's brothel monotypes from his contempo- raneous drawings of downstairs life in the maison populaire (figs. 11 and 12). The differences demonstrate that the artist was conversant with the architectural and social contrasts between upper and lower categories of brothel. The sketchbook drawings are closely related to passages of Edmond de Goncourt's 1877 novel, La Fille Elisa, and were probably done at the time of its 13 publication. In the sketchbook drawings of young pensionnaires (residents of the brothel) in- teracting with their potential customers in the estaminet, socializing appears intimate, friendly, and gender-balanced, not much like commercial sexual relations at all. There is a social inter- change - talking, drinking, playing cards - and the sexes are not segregated into buyers and sellers. Unlike the fragmented monotype compositions that we shall examine closely, a com- pletely narrative unit appears on the page of each of these drawings, which helps to knit to- gether and equalize the men and women shown relaxing congenially. The milieu of these pic- tures is the estaminet of a popular house near a military school or caserne. All of the men in the drawings wear their military uniforms but, perhaps out of respect for the women, have removed their hats. And the room is shown to have been decorated to please the clientele, complete with a picture of a Napoleonic soldier and his cannon on the wall. The rather primly dressed prosti- tutes wear what was customary in such circumstances (chemiselike garments that left the arms bare), altogether modest costumes by comparison with the outfits of the monotype sex workers. These unassuming sketchbook drawings correspond to the scene set in a brothel near the 14 Ecole Militaire in Goncourt's novel. Goncourt's energetic indecorousness is a far cry from the low-key, demure camaraderie represented in Degas's drawings. Some of Goncourt's pension- naires yell and bat their eyes, while others take awkward poses against the wall, attempting to stave off a longing to nap. The final line of the scene — atmospheric rather than descriptive — emphasizes the rudeness of the goings-on: "Noisier and wilder, the orgy continued, despite the somnolence of the women."15 Whether or not there is an exact narrative match between the drawings and this scene in the novel is not the important question. Within the conventions of representation available to the two artists, each has produced an imagery of mutualized fellowship, of extroverted, emo- tionally credible interaction. Goncourt uses the language of noise and ongoing action, while Degas invests his scenes with warmth and equality by momentarily capturing the actions and