Death and the Maiden
Essay Question: Dramatic structure is not random or arbitory it imposes recognisable order to human behaviour and events. In what ways has the structure of Death and the Maiden imposed some order on the human events of the play?
Dramatic and literary structure are not random or arbitory, they are specifically designed by the playwright to fulfill specific purposes and aims. Dramatic and literary structure can be used to convey central themes and messages, enhance the viewing experience or to emphasize mood, atmosphere and characterization all of which are vital parts of any play. Consequently as these dramatic and literary techniques are structured they do in fact impose a recognizable order on human behaviour and events however this is an unavoidable part of theatre as plays are a story and a story must have structure to give it meaning and make it entertaining. Ariel Dorfmans Death and the Maiden is a brilliant example of modern literary which demonstrates the many ways in which dramatic and literary structure impose order on the human events and behaviour of the play and the purpose the playwright has in imposing this order.
All plays are essentially a dramatic performance of a series of events that link together to tell a story to the audience in a manner that is entertaining, therefore all plays follow one of the many formats of a story. Ariel Dorfmans Death and the Maiden follows the most commonly know story structure of introduction, complication, climax and conclusion which consequently imposes order on the human events and behavior within the text. This order is clearly visible within the dialogue of the novel with all main events and human behavior following the above structure and thus imposing order on the characters and events, removing the chaotic and random factors of human life. All basic human events within the play have been constructed to meet the requirements of the plays structure. For example the first few pages of the play contain basic human dialogue that has been manipulated and structured to contain information, which fulfills the requirements of an introduction. Furthermore consider the following quote from Paulina and Robertos fight on page44.
Paulina: And why does it always have to be people like me who have to sacrifice, why are we always the ones who have to make concessions when something has to be conceded, why always me who has to bite her tongue, why? Well, not this time. This time Im going to think about myself, about what I need. If only to do justice in just one case, just one. What do we lose? What do we lose by killing one of them? What do we lose? What do we lose?
They freeze in their positions as the lights begin to go down slowly.
This quote clearly demonstrates how basic human events and behaviour have been ordered to become the climax within the literary structure. This imposed order is found throughout the entire novel, structuring all human behavior and events to conform to the basic structure of the play in a method that is clearly recognizable and basic.
Ariel Dorfman purposely imposes this basic structure and order upon his characters and events for a number of reasons. Firstly this basic structure provides all the necessary components of a play that ensure that the audience will not only be entertained but will also be able to easily follow the play and understand its content. Furthermore this simple structure forms the skeleton of the script upon which Dorfman is able to construct the complex themes, atmosphere and issues of this play. Ariel Dorfman doesnt attempt to hide the easily recognizable order of the play as this could easily distract the audience from the complex debate of the dialogue; instead he uses the simply structured human behaviour to support the dialogue, which allows the audience to easily follow the complex issues and opinions of this play.
Literary techniques such as the use of metaphors and symbolism also structure and order the human behaviour within this novel removing the realistic random component of life. The three characters of this script are symbolic metaphors for different fractions within Chile at the time the play was written. As a result of this the behavior of the characters has been recognizably structured to fit the characteristics of the fraction they represent. The character of Paulina is a metaphor for the victims of Chile and as a result her behavior is governed by the behaviour of that which she represents. And why does it always have to be people like me who have to sacrifice, why are we always the ones who have to make concessions when something has to be conceded, why always me who has to bite her tongue, why?. The characters of Roberto and Gerardo are exactly the same and demonstrate behaviour that is clearly structure to comply with the characters metaphoric significance, as can be seen in the following example.
Roberto. I need to know what it is I did, youve got to understand that I dont know what I have to confess. If I were that man, Id know every- detail, but I dont know anything, right, soif I make a mistake, shell think Im- Ill need your help, youd have to tell me so I can-invent, invent, based on what you tell me.
Gerardo. Youre asking me to lie to my wife?
Roberto. Im asking you to save an innocent man
Within this quote Gerardo is been asked by Roberto to deceive his wife Paulina which is a metaphor for the actions of the Chile government. The Chile government betrayed the trust of its people and conspired with the victimizers to ensure they avoided all prosecution, a fact that Ariel Dorfman expressed through his use of these characters as metaphors. However as previously stated the human behavior has been structured to fulfill this function. Therefore Ariel Dorfmans use of literary techniques imposes a recognizable structure on the characters especially through his use of characters as metaphors.
Structure has also clearly been imposed on the three characters of this script through Ariel Dorfmans use of theme, characterization and dialogue. Theme and characterization greatly limit the actors ability to react in a more human or unstructured manner through the use of improvisation due to Ariel Dorfmans complex formation of this play. Every event, stage direction and piece of dialogue has been specifically designed to enhance the central themes of the play which means that actors are unable to change the originally intended theme or characterization as the play is too specific in its opinions and purpose. Furthermore the plays dialogue and lengthy monologues are clearly structured as an intellectual debate that presents clear and concise arguments, which are clearly not the product of spontaneous human behavior as they too carefully constructed and appear premeditated and contain opinions, which are clearly those of the playwright.
Roberto. What more do you want? You have more then all the victims in this country will ever get. What more do you want?
Paulina. The truth, Doctor. The truth and Ill let you go. Repent and Ill let you go. You have ten seconds. One , two, three, four, five, six. Time is running out. Seven. Say it!
Roberto. No. I wont. Because even if I confess, youll never be satisfied. Youre going to kill me anyway. So go ahead and kill me. Im not going to let any sick woman treat me like this. If you want to kill me do it. But youre killing an innocent man.
Paulina. Eight
So someone did terrible things to you and now youre doing terrible things to me and tomorrow someone else is going to on and on and on. I have children, two boys and a girl. Are they supposed to spend the next fifteen years looking for you until they find you? And then -
Paulina. Nine
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