Death and the Maiden, by Essay

Total Length: 1818 words ( 6 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

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The story investigates justice from different standpoints. Gerardo and Paulina have similar perceptions on how the military rule in the past had treated their society wrongly. However their perspectives vary in terms of how justice should be served. According to Gerardo, the efficiency of the commission he led was the best way to proceed. This would involve assessing all related human rights and letting the courts decide on a solution. Paulina was unsure of judges and their decisions considering their lack of support in the past seventeen years under a dictator. According to her, the pre-existing foundations of justice are not trustworthy enough. Making the final decision herself made more sense to her. The severity of what happened to her, guided her opinions. At one point when Gerardo tries to act reasonably rather than violently, she emphasizes how someone who did not experience any abuse himself does not have the authority to make others see reason.


Memory plays an important role in how the storyline develops. The author translates his obsession with memory as the character Paulina whose past experiences have made a permanent mark in her memory is haunted by the pain associated with it. Her future actions are guided by how those memories direct her towards taking a serious stand against her offenders. This can conflict with the views of critics who revise history while ignoring any such happenings. One possible solution for this would be to assimilate the history of all such victims and present them.

"Death and the Maiden" investigates the political foundations of the situations described, which can be considered absurd in some regards. This was mostly because the dictator rule eliminated the chances of letting individuals control their fortune. Dorfman's work can however be considered significantly more pragmatic than playwrights like Samuel Beckett or Eugene Ionesco (named absurdists)......

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