There are several mythological characters named Pallas, two of them particularly appropriate to this part of the novel. One Pallas was a Titan who married Styx (of underworld fame) and fathered four children: Victory, Power, Force and Rivalry. That would be the most directly sarcastic reference to the material interests. A more subtle one would be the Pallas who was the childhood friend of Athena. Athena accidentally killed Pallas during war games, and in contrition built a wooden statue of her and took her name to become Pallas Athena, goddess of war and crafts. War and crafts certainly evoke the material interests, as does the quality of acting in the name of an artificial ideal after accidentally killing the original living one.