El Beso De La Mujer Araña Flashcards
Author
Manuel Puig
published in
1976, la editorial seix barral de Barcelona
It was banned by the argentinian dictatorship
1970
Premis
Two prisoners share their solitude and their fear of torture in a jail cell in Buenos Aires
There is no traditional narrative voice!
This is one of the principle characteristics of fiction; But this novel is written mostly in dialogue, without any indication of who is speaking, other than a dash to demonstrate a change in speaker.
This contributes to the magical real element of the novel
stream of consciousness
The other key part of the narrative voice; sometimes it is unclear if it is spoken out loud or thought
What isn’t recorded as dialogue or stream of consciousness
is written as metaphysical governmental documentation
When conversations are not happening in that moment between people; are retellings of films that Molina has seen, which provide a form of escape from their environment.
Molina and Valentin
Very different people!
Molina: homosexual, transgender woman? which at the time was very illegal. The main narrator as he talks the most and tells the stories of films he has watched. He was arrested for “corromper a un menor”
- depicted as the nice guy, in some ways more easy to identify with than valentin! But he gets carried away with his expression.
- He acts more on nature than education
- his motivations are not as innocent as they seem
- stream of consciousness.
Valentin: The listener to Molina’s stories, a revolutionary, imprisoned for his relation to a left wing organisation which intended to overthrow the government
-Lacking in sense of humour, very serious and educated; often referring to texts he is educated in.
they have opposing points of views on most things
The mayor / el alcalde
Antagonist: He places Molina in the cell to spy on and obtain information from Valentín.
Gabriel
The waiter that makes friends with Molina. He is Molina’s principal love interest for most of the novel.
Marta
Valentín’s love interest, he lost her as a result of a serious compromise with his revolutionary organisation.
She only appears in his memories and the streams of consciousness in the novel.
Molina
Open and communicative
Valentín
Studious and stern,
The 1st film which Molina tells Valentín about
woman’s fears are confirmed when she finds out her husband is seeing another woman
Throughout the story Valentín intervenes with his own opinions. He is generally cynical about what Molina says of the characters and their motivations.
Later Molina tells another story
Valentín finds it offensive due to its obvious elements of propaganda.
A young french girl in nazi occupied germany (during ww2) falls in love with a Nazi Lieutenant.
Valentín expresses that he is only interested in the story as an example of propaganda; it is clear that he is interested in discovering if the protagonist succeeds!
Molina gets ill after dinner
he continues with the story in order to distract himself from the pain.
The woman demonstrates incredible bravery in her attempt to help her lover capture rebel forces who intend to extort her in order to obtain secret information. But she is mortally injured in the shooting that followed
At the end of the story the two men sleep
The following day (1) Molina is already feeling unwell.
Valentín says that he needs to study and ignores him.
3rd story; Molina tells himself
A story about a young person who accompanies his fiancee to a house in the forest where they would like to live, where they find an ugly maid.
The man becomes injured and disfigured in the war and so he decides to live there alone. With time, he falls in love with the maid, and the two, thanks to the power of love, are transformed and become beautiful in the eyes of the other, although the outside world still sees them as physically unattractive.
The following day (2) the bad feeling between Molina and Valentín has passed
but now Valentín is ill with the same symptoms as Molina. To distract him, Molina tells him another story;
A young person supports the revolution of a latinamerican country but lives in europe. His dad is kidnapped by the guerrillas that the son supports. In an attempt to rescue him his father is assassinated.
Valentín refuses to ask to use the bathroom out of fear of being sent to the infirmary
He has an accident in the cell. Molina Helps to clean him without worrying about him.
Valentín confesses that the woman he had described before as his girlfriend is in fact, Marta; a woman which he had been in love with for years but now they are not in contact.
Valentín recieves a letter from his actual partner, who is also involved in the rebel cause, in which she tells him of the death of one of their comrades.
2) Valentín does not make it to the bathroom once again,
Molina helps to clean him again.
Valentín crumbles and and admits his despair about the death of his friend and rebel soldier companion. After, he sleeps.
Molina finishes the story 3) in hi own interior monologue
The son discovers that his mother played a decisive roll in the plan to assassinate his dad.
He goes crazy, killing her and her lover, and later trying to kill the same guerrillas that he was recently united with.
Next (4) A conversation between the prison guard and Molina
Reveals that Molina is working as a double agent, trying to get information from Valentín about his comrades and plans. The food has been poisoned which is why they are both sick.
Molina convinces the Mayor to give him food to save them? which he returns to share with Valentín who is already ill.
Molina begins another story (5)
A woman discovers that her new husband, the owner of a plantation. uses zombies to work in his fields.
Valentín throws a tantrum, destroys some of the food and belongings of Molina in the process.
