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Death and the Maiden (La muerte y la doncella ) Ariel Dorfman , 1990. Setting, Historical Context: A nameless country in Latin America that has only recently returned to democracy ( i.e. Post-Pinochet Chile). Augusto Pinochet: 1915-2006 . The Aftermath of Tyranny.
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Death and the Maiden (La muerte y la doncella) Ariel Dorfman, 1990
Setting, Historical Context:A nameless country in LatinAmericathat has onlyrecentlyreturnedtodemocracy(i.e. Post-Pinochet Chile) Augusto Pinochet: 1915-2006
Ariel Dorfman: 1942 – Born Buenos Aires, 1942 U.S., 1943 – 1954 Chile, 1954 – 1973 U.S., 1973 – 1990 A political refugee during the Pinochet regime, Dorfman now divides his time between the U.S. and Chile. He has been a professor at Duke University since 1985.
Dorfmann’s work: varied and prolific • The Last Song of Manuel Sendero(1988):“futuristic exploits of a politically asphyxiated dictatorship.” • Blake’s Therapy (2001): “the conditions of reality in contemporary capitalist culture.” • Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of Augusto Pinochet (2002) • Americanos: Los pasos de Murieta (2009): ”narrating California, the incorporation of part of the Mexican territory to the U.S., from the Latin American perspective.”
Death and the Maiden • Motif in Renaissance painting • Originated with the Medieval Dance of Death, but with an added erotic subtext • Dance of Death: an allegory about the universality of death, and its unifying power • Later revived in the Romantic period (“Christabel”?)
“Death and the Maiden” by Franz Schubert quartet / lied – “death knell accompanying a song about the terror & comfort of death”The song details “a woman’s subjection to a death figure in musical form.”
The play: • A drama in three acts, with three characters: • Paulina Salas: a woman around 40, formerly a political activist who was taken captive and tortured twenty years earlier during a hostile military regime • Gerardo Escobar: her husband, a lawyer who has just been offered a position on a commission to investigate the crimes of the previous regime • Dr. Roberto Miranda: a medical doctor who helps Gerardo when his car gets a flat tire near his home • Setting: A remote Chilean beach house, 1990’s
Citations • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Baldung_006.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Death_and_the_Maiden.jpg • http://sakenaveen.blogspot.com/ • http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/worldviews/category?cat=1025 • http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,,1970170,00.html • http://bombsite.com/issues/50/articles/1833 • http://blog.moviefone.com/2007/09/12/tiff-review-a-promise-to-the-dead-the-exile-journey-of-ariel-d/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Dorfman • http://www.sevenstories.com/book/?GCOI=58322100832030