Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Quotation for Death and the Maiden & Bloody Chamber - Coggle Diagram

- - - - "This commission you're named to. Doesn't it only investigate cases that end in death?" Implies how justice systems are flawed or performative as they don't actually provide justice for those who are alive, as it may expose people of power who were involved in the government, it depicts a system that claims to serve justice but in reality it prioritizes protecting government officials and people in power.
    - - POWER: - METAPHORE
        Paulina is holding a loaded gun for most of the play in order to maintain control over Gerardo and Roberto. Although she fires the gun once in warning, we never see her use it to actually harm Roberto or Gerardo. Thus the gun serves as a metaphor for Paulina’s anger and her potential to commit violence, a visual reminder of the threat that her rage poses to the rest of the cast.
    - - Change from dictatorship to democracy
        
        After being tortured, Paulina was forever changed; she could no longer listen to Schubert, go out with Gerardo and enjoy herself.
    - - 'the truth and I'll let you go'; all Paulina wants is the truth from Roberto. however both Roberto and Gerardo are lying to her so she must pursue the truth on her own
        
        '-small lies, small variations' ; ironically, because everyone is trying to trick her instead of helping her get the truth, Paulina must lie to them to get the truth by changing the story Gerardo then told Roberto.
  - - - Foreshadowing: "his wedding gift, clasped round my throat" - violent imagery and foreshadowing for the way the marquis plans to kill her. a symbol of ownership, like a band? BC
    - - “one hand on the reins of the rearing horse, the other clasped my father’s service revolver” (The bloody chamber 1st story)
      - "The Bloody Chamber," the heroine stands up to her husband and his malevolent mother, refusing to be a victim and taking control of her own fate. In "The Company of Wolves," the young girl does not wait for the woodsman to rescue her from the wolf, but instead takes matters into her own hands and transforms into a wolf herself, becoming a powerful force of justice.
      - "My little nun has found her own way to justify herself. And, afterwards, of course, I have found mine. How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?" - The Marquis, "The Bloody Chamber"
        This quote speaks to the Marquis' twisted sense of justice, as he believes that inflicting pain and suffering on others is necessary for spiritual enlightenment. It also highlights the power dynamic between the Marquis and his wife, as he sees himself as a godlike figure who can control and manipulate her.
    - - In the Lady of the house of Love: The countess dies after falling in love with the man. Carters use of characters depicts the notion of love being a liability towards eliminating power.
    - - "I was only a little girl" - Shows the gender inequality in the relationship. - Bloody Chamber
      - The Heroine believes that the maquis "owns” her completely. She admires herself in the mirrors and she compares herself to an "artichoke" or a "lamb chop." ready to be eaten. (The Bloody Chamber 1st story)
    - - "She raised my fathers gun" - Gun symbolises an element of power which the mother must use to seek justice for all the brides in the Bloody Chamber.
      - Justice:
        The Marquis dies " irreproachable bullet through my husband's head" - This quote explains how the Mother seeks vengeance for all the injustice the Brides has to go through.
- - - - As a symbol of the thousands of other victims of the dictatorship, the message Paulina is sending is clear: the country's current solution to this crisis of justice is inadequate, and the new government must work harder to satisfy the needs of this particular group.
    - - Roberto, the third member of the trio, symbolizes all of the country's accused. Similar to Chile after the fall of Pinochet, the world of Death and the Maiden contains thousands of citizens who supported or participated in the injustices of the fallen dictatorship. Like Roberto, many of these guilty parties are upstanding and seemingly admirable contributors to society, making it difficult to identify them.
    - - As a newly appointed member of the Investigating Commission, Gerardo is the voice of the new democratic government. His position between Paulina and Roberto symbolizes the new president's challenge in pursuing justice for the victims of the dictatorship without ostracizing the perpetrators, who are in many cases still prominent members of society. Gerardo's energy and optimism for the future speak to the hope of the new government; his frustration at being 'stuck in the middle' of Paulina and Roberto speaks to its transitional struggles.
- - - - "And such a one she felt herself to be, Miss Lamb, spotless, sacrificial"- The courtship of Mr.Lyon
      - "I seemed reborn in his unreflective eyes, reborn in unfamiliar shapes"- the bloody chamber
  - - - After hearing Schubert played repeatedly during her torture, Paulina is now unable to listen to the composer's music without becoming physically ill. The music, although beautiful, has become inextricably associated with violence and suffering for her. Ironically, the only way she believes she can restore Schubert for herself and break this association is by committing another act of violence - by seeking physical justice against her torturer.
    - - Authority: Gerardo does this once again when he asks Roberto to stay the night without first consulting Paulina. He tells her “He’s a friend. So don’t be scared. Tomorrow you can make us a nice breakfast...” . It is evident that he treats Paulina almost like a “Silly. Silly girl, [his] baby” (Dorfman, 1990) and expects her only to perform domestic duties- and Paulina never questions his authority.
    - - In Death and the Maiden, the change in Paulina’s character from weak to strong and independent is representative of the feminism theme that exists within the play. In the beginning, Paulina’s depicted as paranoid, weak and defenceless. This is emphasised through her relationship with Gerardo. It is clear that, in her relationship with Gerardo, Gerardo is the dominant one of the couple at the start of the play. This is evident when Gerardo does not ask Paulina’s opinion before accepting the Commission.
    - - "She isn't the voice of civilization, you are." - Gerardo represents "the voice of civilization" because he is a man and he is a member of the Investigating Commission that will formally determine the innocence or guilt of many people on behalf of the government. For Roberto, Paulina is nobody - she holds no power in society and her feelings about his guilt are easily dismissible, but Gerardo's verdict is one he respects and thus covets.
    - - DATM: "They tortured me", "They raped you", "I thought all I want is to have him raped"
        Bloody Chamber: Choker of rubies likened to "an extraordinarily precious slit throat", Most love interests being represented as beasts
    - - DATM: At first Paulina is not in power but when she acquires the gun she is the one in control
        Bloody Chamber:
        Protagonists in Carter's stories except LOHOL are all powerless initially but gain power at the end. e.g BC mum rescues girl
        BC- "In his hands, my body became an instrument of pleasure, an object he owned and played, time and time again." - The narrator describing the Marquis's power and control over her body.