Act 3 Scene 2 - Katherine Dinh

1) Where are Gerardo and Paulina at the beginning of this scene? What importance does this have?

At the end of Act 3 Scene 1, a mirror is dropped down in front of the audience and at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 2 when Gerardo and Paulina are there the audience. This creates the effect of the audience thinking that the story of Gerardo and Paulina is not just a play that they have watched but it refers to the audience as well. When Gerardo and Paulina appear and seem like they are part of the audience it shows that the feelings and emotions of Gerardo and Paulina can apply to the audience to. The importance of this is that it makes the audience reflect and think if they are similar or different with the thoughts and feelings of Gerardo and Paulina. In this case, Paulina has been fighting for justice and lived under fear of not knowing who her tormentor was since she was blindfolded. So going about her life, she has the fear that anyone around her could possibly be her tormentor, this gives the moral that not everyone can be trusted. That even though all these people are around us, we don't know the stories that go on behind everything. Not only that but with Paulina and Gerardo, Paulina cannot even trust her loved one as he cheated on her. The significance of how traumatic his infidelity is, is due to the fact that his infidelity was during the time she was raped. This cases her more pain and suffering from his infidelity. So with Gerardo and Paulina appearing in the audience with the audience, the members of the audience are then able to think that they can relate and reflect on what they've just watched but in their own lives.

2) “It was the first time anyone had ever asked her to sit down” – Gerardo tells this anecdote as though it is proof of success. Do you agree that, if this is what the Commission achieves, it has been a success?

Gerardo speaks of it as if it is a proof of success as it shows this woman who has suffered so much and spent many years petitioning and waiting, feeling grateful for being treated with decency. It is a very emotional anecdote that shows that this woman has suffered so much. And Gerardo's motive is to express that now these people who have suffered can finally relax and settle down thanks to the Commission.
In my own opinion, I don't believe it is a success as people being able to feel safe and in calm is only a bit of the release of suffering. The bigger picture is for the pain to be released, only in doing this will it be a success in my eyes. This can be acheived by personal vendettas, although wrong or it could be acheived from the Commission avenging for the people that have suffered. This means having the truth out from the sufferers and punishing the tormentors. This anecdote does not reflect any of this therefore in my opinion this is not a proof of success.

3) How do you think the audience would understand Roberto entering lighted by a “phantasmagoric” light?

Phantasmagoric implying that the light seems like some sort of illusion/optical illusion would make it seem to the audience that Roberto is just a figment of Paulina's imagination. This would then push the audience to be more curious to whether Roberto is dead or alive. In the sense that Roberto is dead, this is a ghost in Paulina's mind as the phantasmagoric light would make it seem like Roberto is not real and is an illusion. This could mean that Paulina is still traumatised by what Roberto had done or by her personal vendetta of killing Roberto. However even if Roberto is actually alive, and Paulina actually didn't shoot him this means that Paulina is almost haunted by Roberto and what he has done to her. Either way, the audience is encouraged to question what had actually happened to Roberto and what Paulina feels. In Death and the Maiden, the use of light is also used to represent truth and with this 'faint phantasmagoric moonlight quality', this can be viewed as a faint truth and more like an illusion than a real truth of Roberto's presence.

4) The play ends with Roberto “always looking at Paulina” whereas Paulina turns slowly, looks at him and then, after their eyes “interlock”, turns away. What do you feel this implies?

I feel that this implies that Roberto is haunting Paulina in her mind, he is a figment of her imagination that follows her wherever she goes. And with Paulina turning slowly to look at him, I believe this implies that she is still afraid of him or afraid of what he has done or what she had done to him. Roberto's eyes being fixed on Paulina makes it seem as if he is only relevant to her, as in she is the only one he can see which implies that he is part of her imagination. And when their eyes 'interlock', it gives the scene a mysterious and eerie atmosphere. The audience will find this scene particularly intense and be pressingly curious as to whether Roberto is actually there or not. However in my opinion, with their eyes interlocking, it gives the sense that whether Paulina goes this fear in Roberto will always follow her.