The house of strength
The house of strength is a tragic play written by the Spanish poet, stage director, actress, playwright and author Angélica Liddell. It was released for the first time in 2009. In 2010, the author presented it at the Avignon Festival. Two years later, she was awarded the National Prize for Dramatic Literature. The performance was received with the audience on its feet and a lot of applause.
Later, it was performed at the Odeon Theater in Paris, where it was also acclaimed. In 2011, after all the accumulated success, the work was edited in book format and published by the publishing house La uña rota. This volume is complemented by two other texts: Anfaegtelse y I will make you invincible with my defeat, which are also available in the same house of letters.
Synopsis of The house of strength
There is no hill, no jungle, no desert that frees us from the harm that others prepare for us.
The play —which is divided into three parts— begins with the phrase cited in the statement of this paragraph. The first section It begins with a dialogue between three women, including the author. These ladies They talk about sexual violence perpetrated by men suffered by women and girls. Even today, in a world that is open to human rights more than ever, it is a behavior that persists.
This not only affects women, but also decent men who pay for dishes that others broke, and who are subjected to scrutiny simply because of their gender. The confessions unite the three protagonists, since the shared sorrows weigh less. At the same time, the speech is accompanied by mariachis and displays of experiential machismo.
To love so much to die so alone
The second part is a personal diary of the author herself. It is there where they express their fears and frustrations, as well as their traumatic experiences and the triggers for their self-harm. At this point in the story, the protagonist explains: “I started cutting myself for love.” Throughout the work, you can see how the female characters suffer physical wear and tear.
In their efforts to eliminate all evil from their lives, they use physical force to overwork themselves or harm themselves. This clashes with the ideal of the empowered lady of the 21st century, but does not escape the reality of abused women in the world. Abuse leads to trauma, and the latter leads to violence, the imbalance or abandonment of one's aspirations and goals.
The consequences of a patriarchal culture
The third part of The house of strength refers to the patriarchal culture existing in Mexico, which is exercised against women and girls in the region to a greater or lesser extent. In this section it is possible to find stories about rape, murder and mutilation, often in that specific order. For example: in Ciudad Juárez, many women are eradicated because of their sex.
En este sentido, Angélica Liddell becomes a spokesperson for those who are no longer here, for those who cannot defend their honor. It is like this, through brilliant and disturbing words that do not offer concessions. The house of strength It is a book about heartbreak, gender domination, pain, suicide, resistance and madness, it is a tough letter about resilience.
The most iconic phrases from The House of Strength
This work is full of song lyrics, short poems and phrases that, in addition to the stories, make up a succession of feelings in favor of women's rights. Regarding this, specialized critics have declared that The house of strength es a book: “Avant-garde and political, full of meaning, absolutely necessary.”
On the other hand, algunos Ordinary readers have not been able to connect with the title. Despite this, painful and true phrases overflow the pages, underlining to the point of absurdity in an environment soaked in fury where violence is fought with more violence. To exemplify them, here are some quotes from The house of strength.
Phrases
- “Love fails, intelligence fails, and we destroy each other, out of cowardice, and we humiliate and are humiliated until the end”;
- “I will destroy the strong men without digging a single grave, simply by disobeying”;
- “Why did you burden us with suffering if you did not give us the strength to endure it? Why will I tear off my flesh with my own teeth and still love you?
- «I've been thinking something, Pau. I have thought that I hope the weak survive, because if the strong survive we are lost”;
- «We monsters of love want to be loved without pause, without descent. We love monsters are incredibly naive. We believe in peaks and life on peaks. And that is impossible. At the top you freeze, you get eaten by vultures or you die of hunger.”
About the author
Angélica González, better known as Angélica Liddell, was born in 1966, in Figueras, Spain. A curiosity about her life is that she was baptized in the same font as the painter Salvador Dalí. When she was a child, She used to write tragic stories to kill time as the only child of a military father. He studied at the Madrid Conservatory, but abandoned it some time later.
Later, he graduated in Psychology and Dramatic Arts. Subsequently, She began to gain notoriety as a playwright after releasing her first work in 1988.; it was about the piece Greta wants to commit suicide, which earned her her first prize. This was the beginning of an illustrious career in theater, making Angélica Liddell one of the most influential Spanish creators of the 21st century.
Other works by Angélica Liddell
Theater
- Leda (1992);
- Haemorrhosis (2002);
- Injuries incompatible with life (2003);
- Triptych of affliction (2004);
- My relationship with food (2005);
- The year of Ricardo (2006);
- Trilogy. Acts of resistance against death (2007);
- Tongue sings the mystery of the glorious body (2008);
- Disobedience, let it be done in my womb (2008);
- Dead dog in dry cleaning: the strong (2009);
- Frankenstein and history is the tamer of suffering (2009);
- Monologue necessary for the extinction of Nubila Wahlheim and extinction (2009);
- Cursed be the man who trusts in man (2011);
- The center of the world (2014);
- Cycle of resurrections (2015);
- Sacrifice as a poetic act (2014);
- Via Lucis (2015);
- What will I do with this sword? (2016);
- Infinity Trilogy (2016);
- internal war (2020);
- You just need to die in the square (2021);
- Kuxmmannsanta (2022);
- Inspectors of old linoleums (2023);
- Voodoo (2024)
Poetry
- Wishes in Amherst (2008);
- A rib on the table (2018);
- I see an almond tree, I see a boiling pot (2021);
- The sunken ships that visit you (2023)