Madame
Approaching the script
1) Given circumstances
Madame is a character who is brought into the safe house as the mistress of the Generallismo. Bryony Lavery has portrayed her as a lover of shoes, which are almost like her safe haven, and very high status, with other characters being subordinate to her and carrying out her commands. She is incredibly materialistic, domineering and self righteous with no care for anyone else apart from herself or the Generallismo. Lapin seems to be her next in command, who assists her and looks after her but also comes across as quite patronising towards Madame. Madame doesn't seem to be affected by the environment of war around her and is very in love with the Generallismo, constantly asking for him and preparing for his arrival at the safe house anxiously. The Generallismo is the only person whom the Madame seems to care about and when Madame is on edge, Lapin is her next in line who will help validate her feelings by comforting her with thoughts of the Generallismo or presenting Madame with her own shoes. At the end of the play, Madame is raped and attacked by other characters and her shoes are also taken away by the shoemaker. It appears that at this point her facade of being perfect and unaffected by the war rubs away and she admits that she no longer loves the Generallismo, becoming vulnerable. She has a scene at the end of the play with the rest of the maids where they discuss the hope and reunification of Illyria and there is a sense of hope, Madame and the maids are united and she is empowered once again in a more down to earth sense, with the maids being her equals.
2) Who is Madame?
Madame is the mistress of The Generallismo, who is not in the play.
My own interpretation is that Madame has always been from a very rich family however was installed into the Generallismo's circle of ladies when she was a teenager and the military dictatorship was established. She has been indoctrinated by the Generallismo and the higher establishment by believing that the war does not exist. She was tempted and engrained into only valueing materialistic possessions and that's how she acquired her love and need for expensive shoes and clothing as it's almost like an object which helps make her feel safe in the midst of war and corruption (this is a bit like Imelda Marcos' shoe collection). Therefore, Madame has developed a facade of being self absorbed and completely unaware of the war around her, seeing everyone who is lower status as inferior and treating them that way. However, I think underneath it all, Madame is incredibly vulnerable and she is so damaged by the effects of being so brainwashed by the dictatorship that she is desensitised to all the effects of war: death, poverty, rape and emotion and her only way to survive in the world of Illyria is to conform to the dictatorship.
Madame's Objectives and Needs
Madame's inner needs are attention, validation and materialism to be safe in the world that she is in and to keep up her facade of being self absorbed and not caring of everything.
Her super objective is to be safe which stems back to how she was groomed by the Generallismo and how she continues to be a 'hostage' like figure. She has acquiesced to the indoctrination that she has been put through all to be safe, however now, in the time of the play, has become so consumed in it she believes her real purpose is to to dominate everyone and live a superficial life with shoes and class status. Therefore, throughout the play, she carries out the objectives of 'to control', 'to order', 'to intimidate', 'to show off', 'to dominate' etc to live up to these needs.
3) Imelda Marcos
Imelda Marcos was the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, the 10th President of the Philippines from 30 December 1965 – 25 February 1986. She is one of the richest politicians in the world and has abundant collections of clothing, jewellery, artwork, jewellery and she also has offshore accounts. She owns more than three thousand pairs of shoes and she is often referred to as 'The Steel Butterfly'.
I believe that Imelda Marcos has some similarities compared to Madame because her and Madame both have a very similar love for shoes and have similar values, therefore I thought it would be interesting to get a real life context of people like Imelda Marcos who are in positions of powers and value materialism, to help give my portrayal of Madame a lot more depth and to be able to engage with her story a lot more when applied to real life context.
Here are some of Imelda Marcos' famous quotes:
Imelda Marcos's shoe collection gathers mould after years of neglect - this article reminds me of how at the end of the play, a revolution occurs and everyone attacks Madame's shoes, leaving them neglected and almost left to rot - a metaphor for how Madame's sense of safety becomes violated and she is left alone and extremely vulnerable.
4) Ana Paula dos Santos
Ana Paulo dos Santos is a former fashion model and is the current wife of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
diplomat once described the president and first lady as "a handsome couple, elegantly and expensively dressed, looking for all the world as though they're living in southern California."
She is very active in her support for victims of landmines. Despite this, her husband, Jose Eduardo dos Santos has been criticised as to having let countless atrocities occur under his watch, including torture and mass murders, occur under a 27 year civil war.
5) Chantal Biya
Biya is a very social First Lady who is known as trendsetter and has met Michelle Obama, Paris Hilton and Pope Francis. She has been quoted expressing that her favourite designer brands are Chanel and Dior and many of her pieces in a wardrobe are custom made.
Her husband has been in office for more than 30 years and in 2008, he removed restrictions on term limits so he could run for office indefinitely. His state security forces have been accused of executing protestors and using violence and oppression to eliminate political opponents.
Ri Sol-ju is the wife of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un's life is very secretive, however there has been many sightings of her stood next to him and the higher establishment has previously stated that she is his wife. There are many rumours suggesting that she had a very promiscuous lifestyle.
7) Grace Mugabe
Grace Mugabe is the wife of the Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe and is known for her lavish and elaborate lifestyle. In 2003, she was reported to have spent £75,000 in a short shopping spree in Paris and in the years leading up to 2004, she retrieved over 5 million pounds from the Central Bank of Zimbabwe.The President's opponents have branded her a 'Disgrace' for her spending habits but she refers to herself as 'the mother of a nation'.
Robert Mugabe has been accused of being extremely corrupt by vote rigging and setting up 'torture camps' for political opponents. c
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