Unlike 'Death and the Maiden' theme of revenge and justice is not the main motif of 'House of the Spirits’, however we see events of revenge in several points throughout the novel. The significance of revenge can be seen in 'House of the Spirits' quite vividly as Allende even titled the sixth chapter of the novel ‘Revenge’. After learning of Blanca’s pregnancy, Esteban seeks revenge on Pedro Tercero. This revenge of esteban Trueba on Pedro Tercero is the most obvious source of the chapter’s title. Nevertheless, this chapter has a shrouded revenge to be taken in the future too. The revenge that Esteban Garcia exacts on Alba for his grandmother, Pancha’s mistreatment. In this chapter Garcia is depicted as a small child, about ten years old. He knows that he is the illegitimate grandson of Esteban Trueba. Pancha, his grandmother before she died told esteban Garcia of his heritage. As Esteban Trueba does not acknowledge Garcia as his son, Garcia hates him and wishes desperately that there were some ways in which he could kill him and inherit Tres Marias.
He hated Esteban Trueba, his seduced grandmother, his bastard father, and his own inexorable peasant fate… the child would lie awake at night imagining all sorts of dreadful illnesses and accidents that could put and end to the life of the patron and his children so that he could inherit his property. 1
The main idea coming out the excerpt is that Esteban Garcia’s revenge did not come all of sudden in the fourteenth chapter of the novel but it started building up from the third chapter itself. The same sort of feeling is obvious with Paulina Escobar of 'Death and the Maiden'. But the notable aspect of Dorfman here is the way he presented it. As with 'House of the Spirits' it took a couple of pages to present the building of the revenge but in the 'Death and the Maiden' the same message is made clear in just few lines.
It’s his voice. I recognised it as soon as he came in here last night. The way he laughs. Certain phrases he uses.2
She always had the bitterness and longing for revenge or justice in a latent corner of her heart. When she hears the voice of Dr. Miranda, her victimizer, all the memories of the terrible event storms in her mind. She addresses Dr. Miranda as Roberto, which she believes is the actual name of Dr. Miranda, who tortured her in the past. Once a victim Paulina becomes the victimizer. Even after fifteen years of the horrifying event she has not been able to recuperate. The bitterness, which she has been hiding for all these years, punches out easily in her deed of obtaining justice: A justice that the investigating committee headed by her husband is unable to give her. Initially she wants Roberto to be raped and fucked by someone so that he knows what it is actually like. But later on it is made clear that Paulina does not want an exact revenge of what Roberto did to her.
1 - 'House of the Spirits' page no. 220
2 - 'Death and the Maiden' page no. 16
This is not vengeance. I’m giving him all the guarantees he ever gave me, not one, him and his – colleagues.1
Justice for Paulina is confession from Roberto. Her concept of justice is presented clearly in this the following lines:
I want him to confess. I want him to sit in front of that cassette recorder and tell me what he did – not just to me, everything, to everybody – and then have him write it out in his own handwriting and sign it and I would keep a copy forever – with all the information, the names and data, all the details. That’s what I want. 2
Contrary to Paulina’s concept of justice Esteban Garcia’s concept of justice is a true revenge. He is truly determined to take vengeance of his grandmother, Pancha’s mistreatment. His deeds make it clear that he cravingly waited for his opportunity. He never let a day go by without seeing Alba when she was his prisoner. She is tortured physically, sexually and emotionally by Esteban Garcia and other guards. Alba understands that Esteban was not trying to learn Miguel’s true whereabouts but to ‘avenge himself for injuries that had been inflicted on him from birth’,3 and nothing she could confess would have any effect on her fate as the private prisoner of colonel Garcia. As there is contrast in the image of justice in 'Death and the Maiden' and 'House of the Spirits', we find difference in the after affects too. In 'House of the Spirits' Alba first tries to kill herself, but Clara appears to her and explains to her that she must try to survive. Clara suggests Alba to write her testimony in her mind, in order to keep herself sane and to testify to her experiences. Alba follows Clara’s advice and becomes involved in her mental writing. After she returns to her home she with her grandfather Esteban Trueba write the story of their family, with the help of Clara’s notebooks. In the process, both Alba and Esteban are able to let go of their anger and their desire for revenge. Alba realizes and understands the cyclical life. She understands that every deed in this world is compensated, if not in the present then it will reciprocate in the future. Instead of taking revenge and creating another chain to the events she decides to break ‘that terrible chain’4. She realizes that her mission is not to prolong hatred but to write the story of her family and wait for Miguel.
1 - 'Death and the Maiden' page no. 22
2 - 'Death and the Maiden' page no. 28
3 – 'House of the Spirits’ page no. 467
4 – 'House of the Spirits' page no. 490
Despite being different from Esteban Garcia’s way of gaining justice Paulina’s own way brought her justice. After Dr. Miranda corrects minor mistakes in Paulina’s story, she is completely sure that Dr. Miranda is Roberto. After Dr. Miranda’s confession, Paulina’s wishes are fulfilled. The last scene of the play is a demonstration of everything reaching at a point of conciliation and everything starting all afresh. Paulina is again the loyal wife, Gerardo a well-admired judge and Miranda is again Dr. Miranda, not Roberto. The main difference between the two literary works here is the time taken for the justice to be achieved. It took just two nights for Paulina to gain her justice for the injuries suffered fifteen years ago. On the other hand for Esteban Garcia it took almost a lifetime to take his revenge and gain justice.
We see that both the works belong to different genres. But the importance is not of the different genres; it is about the message that they want to put forward. The main collateral motif between the novel and play is to delineate the history of a nation. Ariel Dorfman clearly mentions the country to be Chile but in 'House of the Spirits' it is not mentioned but the military regime resembles perfectly those of the South America’s southern cone. The history is about the political upheaval in the nation, an uneasy transition to democracy. Several atrocities, revenges and processes of bringing justice accompany the transition. These two books portray the scenario of that uneasy era. Isabel Allende and Ariel Dorfman exhibit the situation in outstanding ways.
[Word count: 1484]
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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Dorfman A. (1995), Death and the Maiden, London: Nick Hern Books
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Allende, I. (1985), The House of the Spirit. Berkshire: Cox and Wyman Ltd., Reading
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URL: > [Access date: 25th October, 2005]