Ariel Dorfman's explosively provocative, award-winning drama is set in a country that has only recently returned to democracy. Gerardo Escobar has just been chosen to head the commission that will investigate the crimes of the old regime when his car breaks down and he is picked up by the humane doctor Roberto Miranda. But in the voice of this good Samaritan, Gerardo's wife, Paulina Salas, thinks she recognizes another man—the one who raped and tortured her as she lay blindfolded in a military detention center years before.
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From Library Journal
This powerful political drama and psychological thriller by the noted Chilean writer premiered in London last summer, where it won the Time Out Award for Best Play. In March it opened in the United States on Broadway, with direction by Mike Nichols and starring Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfuss, and Gene Hackman. The play focuses on a woman who finds herself in the position to exact revenge upon a man whom she believes to have been her torturer 15 years earlier. In telling this story, the author also addresses the dilemmas which touch all our lives: innocence and evil, truth and lies, forgiveness, and revenge. This is a worthwhile addition to modern drama collections.
- Howard E. Miller, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Missouri Lib., St. Louis
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Howard E. Miller, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Missouri Lib., St. Louis
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Original Language: Spanish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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50 of 52 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Thousands of Chilean citizens are said to have "disappeared" during the regime of General Augusto Pinochet, who reigned from 1973-1990. Though not specifically set in Chile, DEATH AND THE MAIDEN is about learning to live again in the aftermath of such an era.
Gerardo Escobar has just been named to a commission that will investigate human rights cases against the old government that ended in death (or the presumption of death). His wife, Paulina, was victimized herself fifteen years earlier, and still has not recovered from the trauma. Now she believes Roberto Miranda, the good Samaritan who came to Gerardo's aid on the road when he had a flat tire, is the same doctor who oversaw her torture years ago, and since there is no hope of gaining justice from the courts, she decides to put Dr. Miranda "on trial" herself.
Playwright Ariel Dorfman pits his characters' heads against their hearts, and the result is a play that is as exciting intellectually as it is emotionally. They are forced to try to answer the kinds of questions with which human beings prefer never to be faced.
How can we be sure of our own ideals? How can we escape our demons when they surround us every day? How can there be justice if the criminal is never punished?
How can we ever learn to forgive, and NEVER learn to forget?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By H2Steacher
Format:Paperback
I recently re-read this play after watching the DVD (which, though very good, does not do the book justice IMO). Upon my second reading, I re-discovered what had made this book so appealing to me in the first place: Dorfman does not let the Reader have any easy answers. Throughout the course of the play, the Reader grapples with questions of power, of justice, of redemption, of truth. Each individual Reader must determine for him/herself the answers to the questions which Dorfman's characters posit. It's precisely this ambiguity and involvement of the Reader that make this little book a masterpiece, a work of literature which one won't soon forget.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ariel Dorfman was a Chilean exile who feared that he might "disappear" if he attempted to live and work under the Pinochet dictatorship. "Death and the Maiden" is a sort of autobiography for Dorfman. The play centers around the character of Paulina, a woman who ultimately kidnaps the man she suspects of holding her prisoner and presiding over her torture and rape many years ago. It's a suspenseful play that tackles the issues of justice and retribution, but it also has elements of suspense and mystery: is Dr. Miranda really the person that Paulina thinks he is? This is an excellent play that's fairly well-known, yet it's hardly ever staged for some reason, which is a shame. (Note: Never, EVER subject yourself to the Sigourney Weaver/Ben Kingsley movie version. It is so awful.)
By Rebecca Maxa
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had to get this book for an online World Literature course on African, South American and Asian country- based authors. Definitely a must-read, and I suggest reading this before seeing any other adaptation like the Sigourney Weaver performance or Glenn Close performance.
By live wire 7
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this for my English class. Didn't really understand it very well at first, but as a few different assignments where devoted to it, I grasped it bit by bit. Quite thought provoking to say the least.
Format:Audible Audio Edition
I was so fortunate to see this play when it was on Broadway in the 90's. Though I wish the script was available for Kindle, I am appreciative that it is available in this format. A truly haunting and thought provoking play that delves deep into the human psyche.
By J. Chase
Format:Paperback
In the play Death and the Maiden there is a question of guilty or not guilty? Should we have excessive truth and knowledge, or should we be shielded from knowing too much??? The play doesn't ever answer these questions, but it does make us think about them. It's a wonderful book that places you in the supposed position of judge and jury. You only know what the characters tell you, so you have no real answer to is he guilty of the crime or is Paulina over the edge???
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Death and the Maiden is a biographical work by Ariel Dorfman. At the time it was written Chile was in the middle of a dictatorship and the people suffered from constant fear. Was the person lurking outside their house someone coming to capture them? The people of Chile were constantly kidnapped and tortured, which is portrayed through Pauline. She represents the Chilean people who were victimized and the rights which were 'raped'. Pauline finally meets up with the doctor she believes did this to her, and whether or not he did, she creates her retribution around him. Until the people could attack Chile and gain a confession from the ones who were supposed to protect them (the police) they could never live in comfort or be satisfied. As is Pauline who demands a confession from the doctor in order to have a face to blame. In the end it is a mystery to whether or not she killed the doctor, but when she sees his face in the end, while listening to the song he played while raping her, she can merely stare and look away. No longer is their hatred because she has finally been able to accept the past and move on, which was the message Dorfman was trying to portray. The fear of living was in the past and the people, though they would always remember the past injustices, should allow themselves to forgive and move on.
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