Kiss of the Spider Woman (novel)
Encyclopedia
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Spanish: El beso de la mujer araña) is a novel by the Argentine
writer Manuel Puig
. It is considered his most successful.
The novel's form is unusual in that there is no traditional narrative voice, one of the primary features of fiction. It is written in large part as dialogue, without any indication of who is speaking, except for a dash (-) to show a change of speaker. There are also parts of stream of consciousness. What is not written as dialogue or stream of consciousness is written as metafictional government documentation. The conversations between the characters, when not focused on the moment at hand, are recountings of films that Molina has seen, which act as a form of escape from their environment. Thus there are a main plot, several subplots, and five additional stories that comprise the novel.
The author includes a long series of footnotes on the psychoanalytic theory
of homosexuality
. The footnotes act largely as a representation of Puig's political intention in writing the novel: to present an objective view of homosexuality. The footnotes include both factual information and that given by the fictional Anelli Taub. The footnotes tend to appear at points of the greatest misunderstanding between Molina and Valentin.
The novel can be read as an indictment of a disengaged aesthetic perspective in the context of a world where people have to take sides. Valentin, the Marxist protagonist, has risked his life and willingly endured torture for a political cause, and his example helps transform his cell-mate into a citizen, someone who will enter the world. Likewise, Molina's love of aesthetics and cultural life teaches Valentin that escapism can have a powerfully utopian purpose in life: escapism can be just as subversive and meaningful as overt political activity.
The novel was adapted into a stage play
by Puig in 1983 (English translation by Allan Baker). It was also made into a film (1985) and a Broadway musical
(1993).
At first the only country that would publish the novel was Spain. Upon publication it was included on a list of novels that could not be consumed by the population of Buenos Aires, along with novels such as "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" by Mario Vargas Llosa. Puig feared the publication of the novel would affect his family negatively. Despite this it was entered in the Frankfurt Book Fair. It remained banned until 1983 when the Raúl Alfonsín
government took control.
The English translation of the book was started even before its official publication in Spanish in 1976. Some of the translation proved problematic for Puig including Molina's speech which he could not get to get the proper sentimental aspects of the voice through. The English translation appeared in 1979.
The French translation also proved problematic as the publisher edited out some scenes for their explicit nature.
In 1981 "Kiss of the Spider Woman" won the best Latin American novel of the year from Istituto Italo latino Americano in Italy.
Toward the middle of the novel the reader finds out that Molina is actually a spy that is sent to Valentin's jail to befriend him and try to extract information about his organization. Molina gets provisions from the outside for his cooperation with the officials with the hopes of keeping up appearances that his mother comes to visit him (thus making a reason for him to leave the cell when he reports to the warden). It is through his general acts of kindness to Valentin that the two fall into a romance and become lovers however briefly. For his cooperation Molina is parolled. On the day he leaves, Valentin has him take a message to his revolutionary group outside. Little does he know that he is also being followed by government agents, trying to find the location of the group.
Molina dies in a shootout between the police and Valentin's group. In the end of the novel we are left in Valentin's stream of consciousness after he has been given an anesthetic by a doctor following a brutal torture, in which he imagines himself sailing away with his beloved Marta.
.
Molina tells a long story of an old Nazi film, a French woman falls in love with a noble Aryan officer and then dies in his arms after being shot by the French resistance. The film is a clear piece of Nazi propaganda, but Molina's inability to see past its superficial charm
s is a symptom of his alienation from society, or at least his choice to disengage from the world that has rejected him.
One important note to make here is that the way the father dies is very similar to Molina's own ending in which he dies in a shootout between cops and Valentin's comrades.
" by Jacques Torneur, the fourth story concerns a rich man who marries a woman and brings her to his island. On the island she finds out that a witch doctor has the ability to turn people into zombies. As it progresses we find out that her husband's original wife was seduced by the witch doctor and turned into a zombie. He ends up telling his ex wife he loves her, but is ultimately killed by the witch doctor. In the end the main character sails away from the island.
The way that Valentin chooses to have the story end is very similar to what happens in his stream of consciousness narrative in the end.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
writer Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig was an Argentine author...
. It is considered his most successful.
The novel's form is unusual in that there is no traditional narrative voice, one of the primary features of fiction. It is written in large part as dialogue, without any indication of who is speaking, except for a dash (-) to show a change of speaker. There are also parts of stream of consciousness. What is not written as dialogue or stream of consciousness is written as metafictional government documentation. The conversations between the characters, when not focused on the moment at hand, are recountings of films that Molina has seen, which act as a form of escape from their environment. Thus there are a main plot, several subplots, and five additional stories that comprise the novel.
The author includes a long series of footnotes on the psychoanalytic theory
Psychoanalytic theory
Psychoanalytic theory refers to the definition and dynamics of personality development which underlie and guide psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy. First laid out by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory has undergone many refinements since his work...
of homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. The footnotes act largely as a representation of Puig's political intention in writing the novel: to present an objective view of homosexuality. The footnotes include both factual information and that given by the fictional Anelli Taub. The footnotes tend to appear at points of the greatest misunderstanding between Molina and Valentin.
The novel can be read as an indictment of a disengaged aesthetic perspective in the context of a world where people have to take sides. Valentin, the Marxist protagonist, has risked his life and willingly endured torture for a political cause, and his example helps transform his cell-mate into a citizen, someone who will enter the world. Likewise, Molina's love of aesthetics and cultural life teaches Valentin that escapism can have a powerfully utopian purpose in life: escapism can be just as subversive and meaningful as overt political activity.
The novel was adapted into a stage play
Kiss of the Spider Woman (play)
The 1983 stage play Kiss of the Spider Woman is an adaptation of Manuel Puig's same title novel by the author himself.Novelist, screenwriter and playwright Manuel Puig wrote two plays while living in exile...
by Puig in 1983 (English translation by Allan Baker). It was also made into a film (1985) and a Broadway musical
Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña...
(1993).
Historical background
Puig started Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1974 starting with Molina, who was an experiment in imagining a romantic female. From there the rest of the notes sprouted into the novel.At first the only country that would publish the novel was Spain. Upon publication it was included on a list of novels that could not be consumed by the population of Buenos Aires, along with novels such as "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" by Mario Vargas Llosa. Puig feared the publication of the novel would affect his family negatively. Despite this it was entered in the Frankfurt Book Fair. It remained banned until 1983 when the Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
government took control.
The English translation of the book was started even before its official publication in Spanish in 1976. Some of the translation proved problematic for Puig including Molina's speech which he could not get to get the proper sentimental aspects of the voice through. The English translation appeared in 1979.
The French translation also proved problematic as the publisher edited out some scenes for their explicit nature.
In 1981 "Kiss of the Spider Woman" won the best Latin American novel of the year from Istituto Italo latino Americano in Italy.
Plot
Two prisoners, Luis Molina and Valentín Arregui, share a cell in a Buenos Aires Prison. It is estimated that the timeframe in which the story takes place is between September 9, 1975 through October 8, 1975. Molina, an effeminate and openly homosexual window-dresser, is in jail for "corruption of a minor," while Valentín is a political prisoner who is part of a revolutionary group trying to overthrow the government. The two men, seemingly opposites in every way, form an intimate bond in their cell, and their relationship changes both of them in profound ways. Molina recounts various films he has seen to Valentin in order for them both to forget their situation.Toward the middle of the novel the reader finds out that Molina is actually a spy that is sent to Valentin's jail to befriend him and try to extract information about his organization. Molina gets provisions from the outside for his cooperation with the officials with the hopes of keeping up appearances that his mother comes to visit him (thus making a reason for him to leave the cell when he reports to the warden). It is through his general acts of kindness to Valentin that the two fall into a romance and become lovers however briefly. For his cooperation Molina is parolled. On the day he leaves, Valentin has him take a message to his revolutionary group outside. Little does he know that he is also being followed by government agents, trying to find the location of the group.
Molina dies in a shootout between the police and Valentin's group. In the end of the novel we are left in Valentin's stream of consciousness after he has been given an anesthetic by a doctor following a brutal torture, in which he imagines himself sailing away with his beloved Marta.
The First Film
The first story is based on a movie that Molina recounts and opens the novel with. It is based on film called Cat People (1942 film). During the narration the reader finds out that Valentin sympathizes with the secretary because of his long lost love, Marta.The Second Film
The second story that is recounted by Molina is based on a Nazi propaganda film. Unlike the first subplot, it is unclear whether or not this is an actual movie. It is believed to be a composite of multiple Nazi films and an American film called "Paris Underground"Paris Underground (film)
Paris Underground is a 1945 film directed by Gregory Ratoff and based on the book by Etta Shiber.It starred Constance Bennett and Gracie Fields as an American and an Englishwoman trapped in Paris when Nazi Germany invades in 1940, who rescue British airmen shot down in France and help them escape...
.
Molina tells a long story of an old Nazi film, a French woman falls in love with a noble Aryan officer and then dies in his arms after being shot by the French resistance. The film is a clear piece of Nazi propaganda, but Molina's inability to see past its superficial charm
Superficial charm
Superficial charm is "the tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick, and verbally facile."The phrase often appears in lists of attributes of psychopathic personalities, such as in Hervey Cleckley's The Mask of Sanity and Robert Hare's Hare Psychopathy Checklist.Associated expressions are...
s is a symptom of his alienation from society, or at least his choice to disengage from the world that has rejected him.
The Third Film
The third film is about a young revolutionary with a penchant for racing cars. He meets a sultry older woman and they get to know each other. The kid's father gets kidnapped by some guerrillas and the kid goes to save him, with the aid of the sultry older woman. The father ends up dying in a shootout with some police. The kid ends up staying with the guerrillas.One important note to make here is that the way the father dies is very similar to Molina's own ending in which he dies in a shootout between cops and Valentin's comrades.
The Fourth Film
Based on the 1943 film "I Walked with a ZombieI Walked with a Zombie
I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur. It was the second horror film from producer Val Lewton for RKO Pictures; the first was the very successful Cat People, also directed by Tourneur...
" by Jacques Torneur, the fourth story concerns a rich man who marries a woman and brings her to his island. On the island she finds out that a witch doctor has the ability to turn people into zombies. As it progresses we find out that her husband's original wife was seduced by the witch doctor and turned into a zombie. He ends up telling his ex wife he loves her, but is ultimately killed by the witch doctor. In the end the main character sails away from the island.
The Fifth Film
The fifth story is a recounting of a love story in which a newspaper man falls in love with the wife of a Mafia boss. Love struck, he stops his newspaper from running a potentially damaging story about the woman. They run away together, but can find no work. She prostitutes herself when he becomes too ill. Valentin is forced to finish the story despite Molina recounting it. In the end the man dies and the woman ends up sailing away.The way that Valentin chooses to have the story end is very similar to what happens in his stream of consciousness narrative in the end.
Characters
- Molina- One of the protagonists and the prime story teller. He is a gay window dresser put into prison for having "sex with a minor".
- Valentin- The other protagonist, and main implied listener. He is a revolutionary who is put into prison for belonging to a leftist organization that is trying to overthrow the government.
- The Warden- The warden is one of the antagonists in the novel. He sets up Molina to spy and retrieve information from Valentin and gets regular reports about it.
- Gabriel- The waiter that Molina befriends and acts as Molina's main love interest throughout the novel.
- Marta- Marta is the love interest of Valentin that he lost in order to remain serious about his organization. She only appears in memories and streams of consciousness in the novel, but never physically.