Dorfman, Ariel. “Death and the Maiden”

“Death and the Maiden” is set in “a beach house in the present day in a country that is probably Chile but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship.” The three-act play tells the story of traumatised torture and rape victim Paulina Salas. She is married to Gerardo Escobar, who has been asked to serve in a Truth Finding Commission in the new democracy. When Paulina encounters Roberto Miranda, whom she suspects is her torturer, she decides to take a gun and force Roberto to confess.
In this way, the play highlights themes of memory and suppressed trauma, and questions the notions of guilt and remorse, as well as the validity of both personal and institutional retribution. Moreover, “Death and the Maiden” complicates the boundaries between victim and perpetrator, but in the conflict also foregrounds the complicated role of the bystander, a position that has recently become more prominent in Perpetrator Studies. “Death and the Maiden” is fit for teaching about perpetrators to a wide variety of students, as it is relatively short, has a simple plot, and uses accessible language. Violence is only depicted through speech, and the play’s ambiguity renders it useful for many contexts. Moreover, the play’s ending invites a self-reflexive attitude about the reader’s own investments in such conflicts.

Author of this entry: Lisanne van Rossum

Ariel Dorfman, “Death and the Maiden,” Penguin (1991).