Fornes makes many strong dramaturgical choices, the most
powerful being the meaning behind action. This means that most of her most
powerful scenes are when little to no dialogue is being said. A perfect example
of this is scene 5, where no dialogue is said, however you can feel more angst
and fear from Nena in that scene than any other. In fact, the silence and the
idea of hiding for your life improves the tension build up in that scene.
Another flawless example is scene 7. There is minimalistic speech. The words
are only there to reinforce the lies that Orlando will use to cohere Nena into
being a “good girl” and not putting up too much of a fight. However, the thing
that makes this scene terrifying is the descriptive stage notes. The fact that
Fornes tells us every touch, every breath, even how they should feel gives the
audience a horrifying look into the life that Nena is being subjected to.
When it comes to the title, The Conduct of Life, I take it relatively literally. Conduct means the
manner in which a person behaves, esp. on a particular occasion or in a
particular context. For all of our characters, this is the norm. The violence,
the hatred, the rape, the belief that you deserve what’s happening is normal
everyday life. The only difference that comes is when Letica kills Orlando.
Finally, the audience believes there will be a break of this vicious cycle, and
then the cycle continues as Letica asks Nena to take the fall for her murder,
and Nena agrees. As upsetting as this is, the play couldn’t end another way. It
would breath their conduct of life, making the play’s title worthless.
I enjoy that you talk about how with so much space Fornes has to write her story she still doesn't use all of it for background or dialogue, instead she makes some scene, as you said, with little to no dialogue. It's good in the sense that that is where a lot of the most powerful moments in the play come from. Also, she replaces dialogue with stage directions, and, as you say, "every touch, every breath, even how they should feel" is brought up. This i believe is important since obviously with such short quick scenes they must be condensed to be very powerful, and therefor gives us an intense and direct look into this play.
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