How is life after Pinochet and Chiles military government reflected through the eyes of Paulina Salas in Death and the Maiden?

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Sean Okundaye

English

Miss Payne

How is life after Pinochet and Chile’s military government reflected through the eyes of Paulina Salas in Death and the Maiden?

The play Death and the Maiden, written by Ariel Dorfman in 1990, is one which touches on themes of a harrowing yet important nature. Death and the Maiden introduces us to Paulina Salas, a 40 year old woman who has been left emotionally and psychologically scarred by the torture and rape which she endured whilst held as a political prisoner in an unnamed country. It has been a few years since the demise of the repressive regime, which also remains unnamed, and she lives in an isolated beach house with her husband Gerardo Escobar. Paulina never saw her captors but a major breakthrough occurs when a doctor who assisted a stranded Gerardo, Dr Miranda, calls at their beach house. Indeed, although Paulina never saw the face of her tormentor, she claims to recognise her voice and in order to seek moral justice, holds him captive, despite protestations from her husband. Throughout the play we are never certain of Miranda's guilt and the ambiguous ending leaves the audience to make their own mind up about the guilt of Dr Miranda. However, for one to really comprehend the themes of this moralistic drama, one must dissect the mind of the author and explore the roots of the play.

Indeed, though the identity of the country and government is anonymous, perhaps to make the play more accessible to the audience, one only need look at the background of Dorfman to see that this play is a microcosm of Chile under General Augusto Pinochet during 1973-1990. Life under Pinochet was one which was repressed at any given opportunity under the totalitarian rule of the military junta. Severe human rights violations formed the backbone of the junta until 1990 and left scars of perpetual damage. Therefore, Paulina Salas’ story could probably be seen as one of many, despite the somewhat histrionic search for justice which one sees in the play. Death and the Maiden creates a contrast in Paulina’s and Gerardo’s concepts of justice and for best part of Acts One and Two, is something which is presented to the audience. Gerardo believes that retribution is best left in the hands of the commission which he heads and feels that justice will be served by investigating the human rights abuses and then presenting them to a court. Paulina is however cynical describing the court as being “the same judges who never intervened to save one life in seventeen years of dictatorship”. Paulina believes that it is her right to take the law into her own hands; a stance which undeniably justified by the fact that she was made to suffer in an inhumane manner. Indeed Gerardo implores her to be reasonable, causing her to retort “You be reasonable. They never did anything to you.” 

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Notwithstanding, whilst justice is a theme in the book, revenge is not on Paulina's mind, so long as Miranda confesses that he did rape and torture her. Indeed Miranda does give a confession though he was disingenuous in his intent as he and Gerardo had together orchestrated a scene of remorse in order to appease Paulina. Though we do not ever know what becomes of the doctor, this scene highlights the unfortunate reality for the people who lived under Pinochet. Whilst the victims will forever live with the scars of oppression and inhumanity, nothing can lead to the full ...

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