At the beginning of the film we have what would probably be considered a true heroine figure in Viridiana--she has a solid moral foundation; she is both veritable and altruistic. Despite her original displeasure, she does what she is told and visits her uncle, Don Jaime, before it is time to take her vows. This visit, something Viridiana believed was the moral thing to do, goes terribly wrong. Her uncle's behavior truly tests Viridiana's religious convictions--not only does she have to deal with his sexual advances, but his suicide as well. Her guilt over her uncle's death results in her abandonment of the convent. It is in this decision that hints of Viridiana's blasphemy become known.
Plate defines blasphemy as "fundamentally about transgression, about crossing the lines between the sacred and the profane in seemingly improper ways"(41.) Viridiana is this seemingly sacred, devoutly religious and morally sound character who is confronted with the profanity of her uncle. While her original characterization has not been destroyed, it has been tainted by Don Jaime's suicide, which results in her decision to leave the convent. She tries to reaffirm her holiness by finding altruism and taking in the beggars, but they too are profane characters who use and abuse Viridiana just as Don Jaime did, further destroying Viridiana's moral resolve.
Viridiana's characterization is not particularly realistic, as I'm sure Buñuel was looking to create more of a social allegory than a true portrayal of an individual. The consequences of her changing characterization are important. In the final scene of the movie, Don Jaime's illegitimate son Jorge is able to draw Viridiana into "playing cards" with him and Ramona, Don Jaime's former servant. This conscious decision of Viridiana's finalizes her transformation--she could not find catharsis in her religious convictions, so she finds solace in a trinity that is much less holy. As Plate says, "blasphemy is about impure crossings from one side of the sacred-profane divide to the other, about juxtaposing the sacred and the profane in times and places where they are expected to be kept separate; of twisting the profane so that it appears sacred; or making the sacred appear profane" (60.) Viridiana's weak character resolve suggests that she was never truly sacred, she only appeared to be. The progression of the film succeeds in pulling back the layers and layers of characterization, until we're finally left with a wholly different Viridiana than the one we started out with.
Haley,
ReplyDeleteI like your assertions about Viridiana's sacredness and the profanity of Don Jamie, Jorge, and the beggars. I agree that Viridiana's encounter with Don Jamie was a blasphemy, but I believe that you left out another very important blasphemy in your analysis. When Viridiana is raped by one of the beggars, the last bit of dignity and sacredness is torn from her. Much like Karin in The Virgin Spring, Viridiana is irreversibly tainted. Would you agree that this significant encounter is what eventually leads her to submit fully to the sinful lifestyle that Jorge has been encouraging her to indulge in with him all along? Her rape seems to be the absolute breaking point that sends her over the edge into a life much different from the pure living she experienced while in the convent at the beginning of the film.
I definitely agree with you Emily! The attempted rape was probably the absolute breaking point for her--I feel like this particular moment really pushed her to the point of no return. She just did not have the character resolve to stay true to what she originally projected her moral convictions were. This is one reason why I believe Viridiana can be characterized as blasphemous--she ultimately is not capable of maintaining a boundary between herself and the profanity she is surrounded by. But she isn't just blasphemous because she happened to fall into a sea of profanity, she had the choice to return back to the convent and rid herself of the profane--but she didn't, and I also think that is a critical point in Viridiana's characterization.
DeleteI agree with your assertion that the attempted rape by the beggar turns out to be Viridiana's breaking point, but I also wonder if Viridiana would consider herself to be sacred and worthy of returning to the convent. After being drugged by her uncle, she's set up to think that he had taken full advantage of her, thus losing her vow of chastity that is required to become a nun. We the audience still saw Viridiana as sacred because we knew what happened that night, Viridiana thought otherwise and chose to continue to serve outside of the sisterhood.
DeleteHaley,
ReplyDeleteYou’ve made some good points, but I think it is important to recognize that her guilt over her uncle’s death seems to be intermingled with her understanding that he actually took advantage of her. Though you say she only appeared to be sacred, I don’t think the initial incident with her uncle and all of the “blasphemous” events that followed would have as much significance if she was not completely pure at the beginning of the film. It is interesting to think of the interaction between Viridiana and the beggars and her uncle as blasphemous; I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it fits well with Plate’s definition.
Hannah,
DeleteYou too make some valid points! For one, you're definitely right about Viridiana's guilt stemming from Don Jaime taking advantage of her. However, I think the validity of Viridiana's "sacredness" is open to lots of interpretation. Going back to Eliade's writing, though, things are generally profane until otherwise proven sacred. At some point, what is sacred generally transcends the profane, through the process of hierophany, which Eliade also discusses. I feel that that "eruption" of sacredness is absent from this film. I also feel that there was a lacking of sacred space--Viridiana could have found a sacred space in the convent by taking her vows, but she consciously chooses not to. As Plate said, one aspect of blasphemy is making the profane appear sacred, and I think Viridiana is a solid example of that.