Death And The Maiden Play And Loyalty

Responsibility and loyalty are major aspects of life and can have detrimental effects on people’s lives. Although the concepts are fairly simple, the act of being responsible and being loyal are far more complicated. In the play, “Death and the Maiden” by Ariel Dorfman, responsibility and loyalty will collide for one man. Gerardo is the husband of the protagonist, Paulina. The couple has an interesting relationship due to the horrifying situation that Paulina endured while protecting her husband. Gerardo is appointed by the president to investigate war crimes. During the dictatorship, Gerardo played a prominent role in fighting for democracy and against war crimes. Due to his paramount role, Paulina was captured, tortured, and raped,

He allows Paulina to conduct a “fair” trial. The trial is righteous to any degree because Paulina is the judge, jury, and prosecutor. However, Paulina promises to not kill Roberto if he admits to his despicable actions. Gerardo agrees to the trial in hope that she will not kill Roberto or to delay the further torture and killing of Roberto. Gerardo shows his loyalty to his wife because he allows her to conduct this trial. If Gerardo prioritized his responsibilities to the country ahead of his wife, he would have never let the trial occur. The situation is not nearly that simple because if he were completely loyal to Paulina, he would support her in her decisions to torture and kill Roberto. Due to his arbitration to allow the trial to occur, the potential for his job and the country to suffer detrimental ramifications are prodigious. If the public received news that the investigator of war crimes assisted in the torture of a man, the new government would fall apart. In addition, the ethics and principals that the new regime stands for are all broken by Gerardo’s actions. Gerardo attempts to stay loyal to the principals of the new government. He tries to prevent the excessive torture of Roberto. He wants to hinder the torture because he does not know that Roberto is guilty. If Gerardo knew from the outset that Roberto is the man who raped his

In our society, a married couple has a responsibility to be loyal to each other regardless of the situation. The vows that two people take ethically bind them together. If Gerardo fully supported his wife and her actions she chose to take, he would have been ethically correct. On the other hand, if Gerardo chose to abide by the newfound principles of the country, in that society, he would have been ethically correct. The ethical dilemma of whether to support his wife or the principles his country is nearly a “win win” situation with regards to ethics. Supporting his wife would have been ethically correct and supporting his country would have been ethically correct. Gerardo chooses to balance the two by not choosing sides until he had all the information. Paulina had a reputation of freaking out when someone she did not know drove into her driveway or when someone merely touched her on a bus. Gerardo wanted to believe his wife immediately, but he knew for two reasons he had to wait. Due to Paulina’s history she could be acting schizophrenic and harming an innocent man. The second reason is that Gerardo is a man of high stature and has strong ethics. Personally he did not feel comfortable harming a man that was not definitely guilty. Gerardo wanted to make sure that Roberto was undoubtedly guilty before he sided with his wife. Ethically, Gerardo made the correct decision by maintaining his responsibility for the