The Sense of Self and Muting the Voice:Aida in the “Symphony of the Dead”

The Sense of Self and Muting the Voice:Aida in the “Symphony of the Dead”

This paper seeks to analyse the character of “Aida” in Abbas Maroufi’s greatest work “Symphony of the Dead” according to Carol Gilligan’s feminist theory of self. Gilligan, the contemporary American psychoanalyst, carried out research concentrating on the women’s sense of self in connection with the others. It is, in fact, based on the argument that the development of women’s patterns of morality is related to their feelings of care for and the relationships with others. Known as the “ethics of care”, the theory illuminates how the women define themselves in a patriarchal beyond the prescribed perspective of the essentialism. Within the binary force of genders which keeps the women in the Freudian continuous envy and weakness leading to their voicelessness, Gilligan shows that girls and women possess a transformative faculty which empowers them in dealing with the false messages of the male dominant society. Women’s ability and capacity to connect to others in terms of sympathizing, empathizing, supporting and providing etc., which generally means caring, is contributing to their development of morality. Observing Maroufi’s female character in “Symphony of the Dead” and analysing her development from a young girl at her parents’ home to her marriage and living with her husband challenge the existing perspective toward women and their voice.