" And while Marianne was looking at herself with all those staring eyes of ice, all original feelings insider her died.
She was lying there, pretending to be sick; she was lying there, pretending to be unhappy, pretending to be in love, pretending to be vengeful.
She was all of that, and yet it was only pretend. Everything turned to pretense and unreality under the eyes of ice that were watching her, while they in turn were watched by a pair behind them, who were watched by another pair in an infinite perspective. "

― Selma Lagerlöf , Gösta Berling's Saga