Paulina's feelings

In the play Death and the Maiden, Paulina is a victim of rape and the many actions that she has during the play definitely are derived from the rape incident. I did some research and tried to find out what victims life's are like after a rape incident, and what they are feeling. I found that many victims face post-tramuatic stress disorder. This is very relatable to the other stories that we have read. Many of the soldiers faced this, and its very common for someone to feel this way after and life crisis. Paulina seemed very stressed and uneasy in the very first scene when her husband was dropped of by another man. At first she didn't realize that it was her husband and fear came upon her. I found a website that gives information on how rape victims feel and ways to tell someone that you have been a victim yourself. This website listed three stages that a victim goes through, and they are, shock, denial and integration. I can definitely see how Paulina went through all of these stages in this play. She points out the denial stage when she talks about faking sexual activities with her husband. She wants them to feel different and real, but all she can think about is her past. I think its so important for rape victims to reach out and tell someone what they are going through because it is a very traumatic situation, and no one can go through it alone.

http://www.domesticviolenceservices.com/rape.html