When any sort of terrible act has been posed on someone, emotions can become the leading factor in that person’s decision making process. What exactly does someone do after enduring excruciating abuse from the hand of another individual? What are the options for a person who, say, has been tortured and raped repeatedly during the time of governmental strife in their country? Ariel Dorfman ties in the current struggles within Paulina Salas’s country and its conversion to democracy from a former period of dictatorship with the personal battle that the woman encounters. On the more personal level, our protagonist ultimately had to make a decision: was she after revenge or was she willing to forgive? To some victims, this question is in fact not even a question at all. The first thought of a victim would be revenge. This idea is presented when Paulina admits to Gerardo that she initially wanted to find a way to rape her rapist in order to force him to truly understand what struggles she had to suffer. The other extreme action she could take would be complete and total forgiveness. It is unclear what exactly happens at the end and whether or not Paulina does indeed let Roberto go. It is especially open for interpretation when reading the lines about Roberto’s appearance at the concert hall some months later: “He could be real or he could be an illusion in Paulina’s head”. The openness of the conclusion of this play leaves thinking room for readers or audience members. It forces us to think about what we would do in Paulina’s situation. We can also consider the effectiveness of violence as a response to violence; is it really the solution?
For more interpretations of violence and society, read this short review from a spectator of a London showing of Death and the Maiden:
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/blog/2011_10_24_deathandthemaiden/
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
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
Justice in a Democracy
Ariel Dorfman wrote in the afterword about Chile's transition from fascism into democracy and how this influenced him greatly while writing Death and The Maiden, mainly in the creation of the character of Geraldo. Proper justice and the search for the truth are main themes of the play and while Paulina is convinced that Roberto is the doctor that was responsible for her trauma and torture, Geraldo is conflicted by helping his wife achieve justice and his values of the proper way to do it.
America has one of the fairest ideals in law: the concept of making the prosecution prove to a jury that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Paulina is clearly damaged emotionally and this cripples the reliablity of her accusation of Roberto. She makes it clear that she wants to try Roberto and prove him guilty but only on her own twisted terms. This is the main conflict and Geraldo is caught in between Paulina's weak evidence and Roberto's pleas for release.
For further information of legal concepts mentioned, this article explains it much more clearly.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Beyond+a+Reasonable+Doubt
Genre of Death and the Maiden
Throughout our in class discussions we have talked about genres and where we would place our readings. Ariel Dorfman's book, Death and the Maiden could have faced the same criticisms as Jerzy Kosinski's piece, The Painted Bird. Criticisms regarding the truthfulness of the story and if the author's story regards their own experience or someone else's. Death and the Maiden is setting is explained , "The time is present and the place, a country that is probably Chile but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship" (Dorfman). Upon doing some research on Dorfman, I found that he was exiled from Chile during a time of General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. Paulina, a main character, also had direct ties to a dictatorship; it could have also been Pinochet's dictatorship. She was a survivor of torture and destruction set on by the dictator. "Approximately 3,000 Chilean residents are known to have been executed or "disappeared", more than 27,000 were incarcerated and tortured. Many were exiled and received abroad" (PBWorks).
Both the author and main character have possible relations with the time period of dictatorship. We could ask ourselves if Paulina is a real person related to Dorfman. I believe that this book could be set in the genre of realistic fiction. The events that tie the main character and the author are very similar, just like in The Painted Bird.
http://sbmstagemanagement.pbworks.com/w/page/5387000/History
Historical Context
I was interested in the historical context from the play after reading the first sentence, "The time is the present and the place, a country that is probably Chile but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship." I did a report on Augusto Pinochet for my spanish class a couple years ago. His human rights violations are both horrific and fascinating. I included an article about the dictatorship of Pinochet, which includes some reports of the deaths and torture that took part during his reign that the character Paulina most likely suffered through.
http://www.enotes.com/genocide-encyclopedia/pinochet-augusto
Gerardo's Dilemma
I watched the trailer for the movie "Death and the Maiden" right after I read the play, and it shocked me to see how different my perception of who is telling the truth switches after I watched the characters on the screen. While reading, I saw Dr. Miranda to be the honest and truthful one. I thought it was near impossible for Paulina to recognize him solely by his voice, this being fifteen years later. I pictured Dr. Miranda as a genuine, nice, old man who was truly innocent and caught in a predicament that was completely out of his control. Paulina was portrayed as an insane, jealous woman stuck in the past and cannot seem to let go. Even when she caught the doctor in a lie, I still was convinced that she has a psychological disorder and that he was innocent.
However, when I watched the trailer, my mind completely changed. Something about the mannerisms of the man who played Dr. Miranda struck me as guilty and trying to hide something. The sound of his voice, the way he quoted Nietzsche, everything made him look guilty. It was odd to me that a two minute trailer could put me on such an opposite side of the spectrum.
This put it in perspective for me, then, how difficult it was for Geraldo to side with one of them. On one hand, his wife, the one he clearly loves more, is telling him this man tortured and raped her. He should believe his wife, however, she is obviously mentally disturbed even after fifteen years and would probably be hard to believe. On the other hand, this man just helped him out, he was a Good Samaritan and he has no reason to believe that this man is Schubert, "the doctor." But he can't not believe his own wife. Geraldo is in a pickle, as the reader is at the end of the story. I believe an important aspect of "Death and the Maiden" is the struggle between reason and loyalty when there are huge risks at hand.
This link is an essay that talks about soldiers being torn between loyalty to their country, and the internal conflicts they face in war.
Forgiveness in Death and the Maiden
Forgiveness is a huge theme in Death and the Maiden, Gerardo is perhaps the most forgiving of them all, and manages to forgive Roberto, for the things that he may or may not have done to Paulina, but more importantly he forgives Paulina, for shooting Roberto, for her mental lapse and holding both men captive. Paulina doesn't seem capable of forgiveness, as she says to Gerardo that she will let Roberto go if he confesses, but after this she is still not satisfied. She wants revenge, not forgiveness. If a message can be found in this play, it would be that forgiveness is not something to dole out too readily like Gerardo, but should be something we are capable of unlike Paulina.
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