Death and the Maiden Ariel Dorfman

In Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman each of the three characters is extended to serve as a an allegorical concept that Dorfman uses to comment on the relation of past, present and truth in Chile and anywhere that a grave injustice that has occurred in the past still affects the present. The communication and interaction of these characters relates Dorfman’s views about healing past injustice and what role truth plays in this process.

One way to view Death and the Maiden is as an allegory for the situation in Dorfman’s home country, Chile, after the displacement of the dictator Pinochet. The situation presented in the story of a victim and her husband trying to deal with her torture and rape under a previous dictatorship unsure of where the guilty lie is one that would be common in Chile at the time that the story was written. This situation can be extended to include the struggles that the characters undergo throughout the story as they reflect the struggles that Chile itself is undergoing: trying to acknowledge and come to terms with the past, while trying to work to a good future, unsure where the guilty lie, unsure how past hurts can be healed. Each of the chara

Gerardo: If I were to accept, I must know that I can count on you, that you don’t feel… if you were to have a relapse, it could leave me…

As I watched with fascination how the [Rettig] commission carried out its difficult task it slowly dawned on me that here might be the key to the unresolved story that had been buzzing inside my head for so many years: the fictitious kidnapping and trial should occur, not in a nation under the boot of a dictator, but in one that was in transition to democracy, where so many Chileans were grappling with the hidden traumas of what had been done to them while other Chileans wondered if their crimes would now be revealed. (72)

This dialogue reveals how conversations between Paulina and Gerardo are a constant battle, with Gerardo trying to suppress the past and live in the present, and Paulina trying to show him how the past still lives for her. In general in their conversation, Paulina keeps trying to shift the conversation in context to the past, while Gerardo tries to keep it in the present, it is a constant war. Through this conflict, Paulina is presented as a characterization of the past, and Gerardo becomes a representation of the Chilean people trying to deal with it.

Paulina’s interaction with Roberto identifies him as a symbol for Truth, the best tool to heal the past. Through this interaction Dorfman comments on the nature of truth. Roberto symbolizes truth because he is the holder of the truth in the situation. He is the only one who truly knows whether he was guilty or innocent, he is the only one who can resolve the past. Most of the play is a quest to find truth through him. Although Paulina seems sure of Roberto’s guilt, his fervent denial gives doubt of his guilt to both Gerardo and the audience. Although she does not show it, Paulina is questioning too. Near the end of the play, she states that she was not sure of Roberto’s guilt until the confession. It stands to reason that Paulina is never truly sure of Roberto’s guilt at all. The mystery that shrouds Roberto and certain aspects of his character are tools that Dorfman uses to comment on how truth is hard to find. One of the most fundamental aspects of Gerardo is that his personality seems indefinable. A passage that demonstrates this well occurs in Act I, Scene 2 when he is talking to Gerardo about the commission. Several times Roberto shifts his position to agree with Gerardo, or to sound more and more vehemently against Pinochet’s regime. For example, ove

Some topics in this essay:
Death Maiden, Act Scene, Paulina Gerardo, Chile Dorfman, Gerardo Paulina’s, Paulina Roberto’s, Silly Silly, Ariel Dorfman, Chile Victim, Stripped You’d, past gerardo, death maiden, past alive, paulina gerardo, past chile, roberto’s guilt, gerardo treats paulina, corrupt judges, guilty lie, unsure guilty, trying deal, unsure guilty lie,