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
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”?)
Michael Wolgemut, Germany, 1943: “Dance of Death”
“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.”
Original German – Der Tod und das Mädchen English: Death and the Maiden
Das Mädchen:
Vorüber! Ach, vorüber!
Geh, wilder Knochenmann!
Ich bin noch jung! Geh, lieber,
Und rühre mich nicht an.
Und rühre mich nicht an.
The Maiden:
Pass me by! Oh, pass me by!
Go, fierce man of bones!
I am still young! Go, rather,
And do not touch me.
And do not touch me.
Der Tod:
Gib deine Hand, du schön und zart Gebild!
Bin Freund, und komme nicht, zu strafen.
Sei gutes Muts! ich bin nicht wild,
Sollst sanft in meinen Armen schlafen!
Death:
Give me your hand, you beautiful and
tender form!
I am a friend, and come not to punish.
Be of good cheer! I am not fierce,
Softly shall you sleep in my arms!
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
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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/cgibin/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-tothe-dead-the-exile-journey-of-ariel-d/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Dorfman
http://www.sevenstories.com/book/?GCOI=58322100832030