"Death and the Maiden"

Paper Summary:

This paper shows how Ariel Dorfman's play and Roman Polanski's movie, "Death and the Maiden", strongly indicate that Paulina's accusations that the man in her house is the same man who tortured and raped her twenty years earlier. The writer points out that the use of sound and isolation create an atmosphere where the audience must use its imagination, thus encouraging audience members to accept the man as Paulina's accuser. While there clearly is some room for the audience to consider Paulina's actions as invalid, both the clearly sympathetic portrayal of Paulina and the dramatic movement of the play and movie ultimately lead the audience to believe her accusations.

From the Paper:

"Dorfman's play and Roman Polanski's movie share a common plot. They are set in a South American country as a democratic regime takes over from a brutal dictatorship. Paulina is a woman who was repeatedly raped and tortured during the regime, who comes to believe that a man who stumbles onto her home is the man who tortured her in the past. While the general details of the plot remain true between the play and movie, there are important differences as well."

More papers on "Death and the Maiden":

• Essay # 33612 : "Death and the Maiden"
• Book Review # 111273 : "Ariel Dorfman's "Death and the Maiden"
• Poem Review # 28662 : "The Raven"

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