In the central sequence of Eyes Wide Shut, a masked Bill attends a secret soirée organised with mathematical precision: a closed circle within which the "organiser" of the ceremony moves, one of the figures of order of which Kubrick was fond. Several circular tracking shots reveal the ritual unfolding at the centre of the red carpet, a movement that reveals naked women exchanging a kiss through their masks with perfect regularity.
Shortly thereafter, Bill is unmasked and finds himself at the centre of the ceremonial circle. When the naked masked woman offers herself to "redeem" him, a high-angle shot presents the gathering of spectators as a huge eye. Kubrick visually infers symmetries and oppositions: collective/singular; male/female; dress/nudity.
Eyes Wide Shut questions and stages the gaze. The characters are split in two, screen and mask themselves or reveal themselves, especially through reflections in mirrors. The double (splitting in two, redoubling) is one of the film's preferred visual motifs. In the course of his roamings, Bill encounters several alter egos: Nick Nightingale, the pianist, or Carl, Marion Nathanson's fiancé. Similarly, the women he runs into are doubles of Alice: Mandy, Domino the prostitute. Bill goes twice to the castle, twice to Ziegler's, twice to Domino's, twice to Milich's, the costume hire shop.
Symmetry and parallelism are found in the film's narrative organisation, which establishes a connection between scenes taking place at different moments (Alice's confession precedes Marion's avowal) or in different spaces within the same temporality (in Ziegler's house, Bill is confronted with the beauty of a naked woman on the first floor, while Alice is charmed by the handsome Hungarian in the ballroom on the ground floor).