Andrea is a man who has made a spectacle of his life, and seems to model his everyday ventures after some form on art. Rooms in his home seem to be set up as if they are the backdrop to a play that he has scripted out and is planning on performing sometime in the future. Could his anxiety, for example, about Elena not showing up simply be reflecting his worries that the show will not go on? Andrea is trying to fill some void in himself with superfluous activities, perhaps left by his father. Andrea's father was a man who valued art over reality, and may not have given his son the affection he required, instead view him as simply another piece of art that he had created. Andrea's tendency to view his life as a work of art stemmed, obviously, from his father, and his obsession with finding new sources of pleasure came from the lack of pleasure in his relationship with his father.

Andrea appeared upset when the women he loved did not reciprocate his feelings, but did he ever truly love them? He fell in love quickly, and did so with a relentless fury in which he would do anything to gain their affection. At the beginning of his relationship with Elena, he spent a ridiculous sum of money on an ivory skull which had no real use, but since she suggested he purchase it, he bid on the item as if his life depended on it. His lengthy declarations of love with both Elena and Maria were like the monologues of some drama. Andrea reveled in feeling passion, obsession, misery, and jealousy. However, when the women left his sight, he seemed to go back to his normal self. I don't believe that any of his declarations signify true love, but simply an act going on in his mind.

Analyzing Andrea's personality, it seems that he has a narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissists demonstrate grandiosity in their belief and behavior, something that Andrea often does. For example, he almost loses his life to simply take the lover of another man, who also happened to be married. Did he love this woman? I would say that no, he did not. Andrea simply enjoys being the center of attention, and succeeding in his ventures, especially when they are outlandish, gives him a high degree of pleasure. Narcissists also have a strong need for admiration yet lack empathy. We see over and over again in the book that Andrea worried about whether or not a woman loves him, or yearns for the approval of others but rarely does he express any sorrow on the behalf of someone else. When does Andrea think of the agonizing that must being going on in the minds of the women who are cheating on their husbands with him, or those who he is hurting? Never. He is always focused on his own triumphs or failures and does not think about anyone except for himself. I could go on and on with this point, but I will only address one more narcissist trait, which include the seeking of power. Andrea, while a man of high standing, does not view himself as being a powerful man unless he has manipulated others to act as he wants. When he does not have a woman to love, or loses a woman that he has invested a lot of time in, Andrea feels as if he is losing control over his life. The more women he has at one time, the more joy he seems to have, and the more powerful he feels. I wouldn't say that he is heartless, but I do believe that Andrea's obsession with love and order (the "props" in his home, and the artistic control of his life) have a lot to do with his desire to have power over as many things as he can.