Charity and Blasphemy

Charity, which inevitably is ended by blasphemy, moves the plot of Buñuel ‘s Viridiana. In the exposition of the film, we meet the main character, Viridiana, a few weeks before she is about to take her vows to become a nun. Her mother superior convinces her to go visit her estranged uncle, explaining that it is a necessary act of charity because he has paid her education since her mother’s death.

As the action rises, we see Viridiana perform many acts of charity for her uncle, Don Jaime, while he staying on his farm for a few days.

There is then a small climax in which Don Jaime ruins her charity work by with the blasphemous act of almost raping her. Brent Plate describes blasphemy as crossing, or juxtaposing, the sacred with the profane. In his attempted rape of Viridiana, Don Jaime crosses the sacred vow of celibacy taken by nuns with the profane act of sexual abuse.

The falling action, which occurs after the blasphemous acts, involves Viridiana forgetting about being charitable towards her uncle and simply trying to leave. However, once her uncle hangs himself, she is forced to return and care for his property along with Don Jaime’s son, Jorge. This begins another steady exposition, as Viridiana takes in some beggars from town and lets them live in the spare house of the estate. Here Viridiana is still doing what she has been taught is right, to be charitable and make herself available to those in need.

During the final climax of the film, her charity is once again returned with blasphemy. When she and Jorge are out of town, the beggars break into the big house and have a huge party in which many things get broken or otherwise ruined. This concludes with one beggar attacking both Jorge and Viridiana. The scenes comprising this major climax are filled with blasphemous images. Such as the crucifix (a sacred object) inside which a knife (a profane object) was hidden. One of the most iconic images from the film involves the beggars taking a group picture. The formation in which they pose for the picture is almost a perfect replica of DaVinci’s famous The Last Supper. This picture has definitely developed a sacred status over the years, and to have the iconography mixed with the profane life of the beggars would definitely be considered blasphemous according to Plate. There is also the juxtaposition of the iconography of a very sacred event in history, with the very profane event of this dinner party.

In the final falling action, Viridiana seems to be done with charity work. She has left behind all the symbols of her sacred life, such as her head scarf, and settles in to play cards with her cousin and Ramona, the maid. There is no indication that she will attempt charity work again.

Using these series of charity and blasphemy to drive the plot of Viridiana reveals Buñuel’s own feelings on charity. Buñuel clearly views charity as somewhat of a waste of time, or perhaps needs to be done differently.  He almost implies that there is so much that needs to be fixed, and it is just not possible to fix it all, unless it is done properly. The scene I found most telling about his viewpoint, was the scene in which Jorge “saves” a dog from having to run under the cart. Jorge sees the dog tied to the cart, and in an act of charity Jorge buys the dog so that it can rest. As the first cart is pulling away, a second cart drives by with another dog in the same situation; however, Jorge neither notices nor tries to help this dog. Buñuel is sending a clear message about charity here. It is possible it is a critique on the methods by which charity happens. If a person helps one or two people in a particular situation, the underlying problem of their situation will still remain unsolved. In a way, Viridiana does the same thing to her paupers as Jorge has done with the dog. She is trying to help a group of outcasts, which is a good charitable act, but Buñuel believes her time is better spent finding them jobs or helping them in a larger way. I saw Buñuel’s view of charity in Viridiana as a basic “teach a man to fish” story.