The Conduct of Life Response

A dramaturgical choice that stood out to me was the way Fornes chose to end every scene. I felt like the ending of every scene was a cliff hanger, with room for something to pop off. It was effective; tension was built due to the length and amount of scenes and then when they came to an end, I never knew what was going to happen next. For example, after Orlando forces himself on Nena, we don’t know what happens because the next scene cuts to Leticia and Olimpia discussing daily tasks and meals. Another example is when Alejo and Orlando discuss what happened with their “assignment”, and Orlando claims the man “died of fear.” The next scene cuts to Olimpia and Nena playing patty-cake (with Alejo) and the scene after that, Leticia claims she knows someone is down in the cellar. Even the final scene doesn’t really end! It jumps from one place to another, leaving the audience/reader gaps to fill at their desire. Every scene ended with lights fading to black too, which I thought was a good choice. It’s like a portrait. I believe the play is titled The Conduct of Life because of Nena’s perspective on it. Conduct is behavior and her behavior is supreme from what we can tell, but somehow she’s been punished all her life, from her mom dying to losing her Grand Pa to being raped. While Nena tells Olimpia about Orlando’s actions, she states “I want to conduct each day of my life in the best possible way.” She believes she’s blessed for what she has and that when someone treats her unfairly, she should understand because they may be worse off than her. The fact that someone like that, a child, is living through those circumstances and can still hold her head up high with hope is both inspiring and depressing. She sort of accepts people for who they are and moves on because as long as she makes it to the next day, it’s a win and another opportunity.