“Death and the Maiden”
is a play about a young woman named Paulina who is raped and tortured by a
doctor. The woman never finds out who the man is, but years later, she believes
it is her husband’s guest (Roberto) by the sound of his voice. She traps
Roberto in a room to interrogate him and he is never freed until he confesses
that he did indeed rape her. While this seems like pure justice, the truth
behind the Roberto’s confession is questionable to say the least. The husband,
acting as Roberto’s lawyer, seemingly helps him craft a false confession in
order for him to go home and to help his wife reach some closure, but Paulina
believes the confession is true because it supposedly includes details that she
has never relayed to her husband. The ambiguity behind the truth of Roberto’s
confession is what is most disturbing yet entertaining about the play. While I
was reading this, I felt like there was enough closure to the play just because
he confessed and was freed, not because his confession was actually real or
not. I didn’t quite care whether or not he did it since it wouldn’t change
Paulina’s history, but it would most likely soothe her need to know who her
torturer was and thus a need for a confession (not even an apology.) Even after
the confession, she does not attempt to press charges or punish him. This made
me wonder about why we desire confessions: it doesn’t really right a wrong, but
it still gives us a sense of justice simply from being in control over the
supposed criminal.
I definitely agree that the ambiguity is an engaging part of the play because as a reader we decide how we would like to interpret the ending. For me, I think Paulina didn't exactly get the true justice she wanted and deserved. Miranda did not suffer the repeated physical and psychological pain she endured and that's why I think she wouldn't be able to get full closure.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a confession gives us a sense of justice. I really enjoyed reading your opinion the play having enough of a closure because she had the confession she needed to free herself from her past. I actually felt the opposite though. The play did bring a closure to Paulina and allowed her to move on, but I personally really want to know what was the truth and what was the lies. For me it left me wanting more because I want to know if he truly is the one that raped her.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your conclusion that she received justice from the confession. Although I may not go as far as to call it "justice." In the end,I believe she received closure and I think that's exactly what she was looking for. I think her husband also recognizes that's what she needed and that is why he chose to help Miranda. As a person who has gone through as much as she had and has had to deal with so much psychological damage because of this haunting past, I do believe she deserved more from this encounter but can recognize that the bare minimum she did receive was enough for her.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that ambiguity is a major theme in this play. However, I did not get any sense of closure from the confession because the validity of the confession was ambiguous as well. As a very curious person, I felt as if the play ended with a cliffhanger with the ending left to the reader's interpretation. I also believe that Paulina will never get her full sense of justice from the reader's perspective because in a judicial system, a guilty person is given some sort of punishment, yet in Paulina's case, all she really received was a (false) confession from a suspect who we don't know is the real killer.
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