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Death and the Maiden (Themes (lies vs. truth (Motif (the moonlight or…

- - - - the universal metaphor "lifetime is a day"
        
        movement of sun corresponds to progress of life
        
        new day dawning > Paulina's future is dawning
  - - - lies protect us
        
        Roberto tries protecting himself by lying to Paulina
        
        Gerardo protects Paulina with a lie at the beginning
    - - the moonlight or light and darkness
      - light is the truth and darkness lies and secrecy
  - - - By refusing to reveal if Roberto was to blame, Dorfman asks the audience to consider whether or not knowing the truth of Roberto would justify killing him? #
    - - as if they were talking to the audience
      - when put in the same situation would one act as Paulina or as Gerardo?
      - in the final scene, Paulina and Gerardo are part of the audience, further making it impossible for the audience to distance themselves
    - - the trial is used as a framework in the play
        
        crimes of wrongdoers are trialed
        
        Paulina trials Roberto
        
        mirrors the way in which the dictatorship did this
        
        the use of trial emphasises the way in which morality is discussed in the play
        
        the use of trial also highlights the theme of taking justice into your own hands when there is no judicial system in place
- - - - headlights
      - moonlight
      - Paulina hides in the darkness, representing her hiding in the darkness of her past, and she can only move to the light, the future, once she's dealt with the darkness
        
        her hiding represents that she is hiding things
  - - - foreshadows that Paulina is the one holding the reigns of the plot
    - - represents their marriage: needs work but neither will commit
- - - - Dorfman's work often deals with the horrors of tyranny and, in later works, the trials of exile. In an interview in BOMB Magazine, Dorfman said, "I'm constantly trying to figure out how you can be true to an experience which in fact very few people in the world would understand, such as having most of your friends disappear or be tortured, and at the same time finding a way of telling that story so other people in other places can read their own lives into that."
- - - - large groups of people summarised into one person
  - - - wants to shine light of the crimes of the past
- - - - moonlight only as a reflection of sunlight - ‘false’ light
        
        → moonlight tied to female cycle → feminism, victim with strength - Paulina’s is the
      - only women, and has dominance
      - Rebirth
        
        dictatorship to democracy and Paulina moving on (individualistic and societal level)
      - Roberto’s character - false image - is introduced in the night
      - Illumination
      - Moonlight reveals truth?
      - EX. ‘Cloud passes over the moon’
        as Paulina knocks out and ties up Roberto
    - - moonlight and light represent the truth
      - darkness represents the lies
    - - soft glow to represent calmness in Paulina
- - - - Quotes
        ‘The headlights light up the living room’
        ‘Only the moonlight, weaker than before’
        ‘The real real truth’ - 1st roberto pg 10/11→ why he came to the house
    - - Monologue
        → Content; his actions alienated her from society, tore down her future
        → Medical studies, medicine, doctors - these are emphasized -
        → Paulina, shows dominance - overcoming trauma?
        → Schubert comes up for the first time
        → conditioning, corrupt
        → Things that loved no longer
        → She wants to be heard
        → Face her trauma
        → Is she really this confident??
        → Off the rocker
        → Audience still doesn’t know the full extent
        → both sides
        → Question, whether is there is an act that is unforgivable?
        → Verge of mental breakdown
      - Dialogue
        → short and fast-paced, creates contrast with very slow-paced monologue
        → Dominance of Gerardo
        → Much more defensive
        → LOTS of repetition
        → The doctor
        → You’re sick
    - - Imagery:
        → sea and curtains blowing: calm, peaceful, omnious and eerie
        → Paulina is alone: isolation
        → Moonlight
        → Headlights blasting: "deer in the headlights", shows Paulina as victim
        → Bright lights, 'screaming', 'blasting'
        → What kind of embrace??
      - Dialogue
        → Between Gerardo and Paulina
        → "poor little love" and "Paulie", pet names vs. actual name, shows Gerardo's dominance
        → Fast paced arguing
        → short and interrupting lines, talking over one another
        → juxtaposition of calm to arguing
        → Paulina Passive aggressive
        → both repeating phrases; transition not 'smooth'
        → "Yes, yes, yes" - consent, connecting to her rape
        → is Gerardo manipulative?
        
        EX.
        "I never complain"
        → Paulina
        → foreshadows her trauma and Gerardo's cheating
        → emphasis on mental stability
        "You always manage to fix things up so that everything turns out right for you”
        → emphasis on 'you'
        → resentment
        → he was fine while she wasn't; now and during kidnapping
        "I can't imagine why"
        → passive aggressive
        → democracy supposed to 'fix' everything
        "We're not fighting darling"
        → denial
        → he has power
        'not everyone's a son of a bitch'
        → irony
        → in lines about Miranda
        
        Gerardo is condescending; trying to 'calm' her down, pushes her fears and anger away, his unfaithful and dishonest nature is revealed
      - Quotes
        ‘The Escobar’s beach house’ - Gerardo’s dominant position, Paulina’s last name is Salas
        ‘Sounds of the sea. After midnight (...) curtains blowing in the wind’
        ‘The car brakes, the motor still running, the lights blasting her’
        ‘Paulie? Paulina?’, ‘Poor little love’ ‘Silly. Silly girl, my baby’- the way Gerardo addresses her
        Parenthesis - ‘(trying not to seem agitated)’ - Paulina’s trauma and the image she tries to uphold - the lies
        ‘I never complain’ - abruptly ends heated argument - at least for a second
        ‘I need the truth, Gerardo.’