Fantasy And Escapisim In Kiss Of The Spider Woman

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Escapism and Fantasy in Kiss of the Spider Woman Kiss of the Spider Woman is a novel written by Manuel Puig. The novel focuses on two Prisoners, Molina, an extremely Feminine window dresser who is openly homosexual. Molina is in prison for 'corruption of a minor'. And Valentin, who is a political prisoner in prison for his role in a revolutionary gang trying to overthrow the government. The two men who are complete opposites are forced to share a cell, and they develop a very strong bond brought about by their mutual desire of escapism through fantasy, which is a major theme throughout the novel. Molina throughout the novel uses his memories of classical movies as a form of escapism as he recites the movies to Valentin. The movies are usually histrionic and over-dramatic with an overall romantic theme. The retelling of these movies serve a purpose of escapism in two levels. The first being a form of entertainment to the two as they fantasize through the movies while they are stuck in their prison cell, as they try to escape from the hardship and the tediousness of their imprisonment. But on a deeper level the movies serve as a method for Molina to escape from the social oppression he faces as an homosexual as he fantasizes about the movies. Furthermore one notices that Molina identifies himself with the female characters of his stories, which is a way for Molina to escape from his forced sex as a male as he prefers to be thought of as a female. Molina reinforces this notion through his name, which is actually Molino, he has changed this to a more feminine sounding name Molina. Again this is done in order for Molina to escape from himself as a man as he fantasizes about being a woman. Valentin on the other hand is the complete opposite of his cellmate at first. He does approve of Molina's lifestyle and is disdainful to Molina's escapist stories. He

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