Discriminatory Social Expectations In “Marilena’S Secret” From There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor’S Baby

“Marilena’s Secret” by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s creates a commentary on how predetermined judgment shapes how people allow others to be treated. By showcasing how people’s opinions can actively affect the lives of those who have been placed at the disadvantage, the story highlights the negative aspects seen in the modern entertainment industry. Current issues such as justifications of abusive, and critical standards for people with high influence in theater and popular modern platforms depicts the unethical conformality that is expected from any society. The entertainment industry has many problematic issues at the base of its system and many recent issues are centered around sexism and the unbalanced level of power often seen between men and women.

The main driving force in “Marilena’s Secret” is based around the fact that the two female main characters, Maria and Lena, who are dominating figures in the theatre industry, are unjustly abused by a magician who believes he is naturally owed something from them just because he has some form of power over them. The comparison between the inciting actions from the story and the controversies often seen in the media makes “Marilena’s Secret” a relevant parallel to the realities of the entertainment industry. The magician’s actions represent the behavior that the industry is willing to excuse. His expectations of women and their place in relation to him, “wives like this are even worse than teakettles. . . you can’t do anything about a boiling woman,” could reflect the public’s attitude toward how women should act(158).

By expecting the main characters to have no opposing opinions to his own, it enforces the idea that women should not have objections to the violence that threatens their careers. The magician is willing to jeopardize Maria and Lena’s entire lives as a retaliation to a rejection proving that he treats his toxic mindset too casually, which is representative of how seriously the industry takes it. Since the story ends without the magician ever getting any form of justice, “Marilena’s Secret” acknowledges how the entertainment industry defends those who are least deserving of justice while ignoring those most in need of it. Celebrities typically represent the ideals of the culture in any given society, but when the ideals often center around greed and self-fulfillment without the consideration of others, the topic of how that affects each influential person isn’t as discussed. The idea that people have something to gain, physically or emotionally, by valuing their own wellbeing over others relates to many of the characters seen in “Marilena’s Secret”. This characterization can be associated with the magician, but it is best illustrated by Marilena and her husband, Vladimir. While they both have self-interests that harm others, it’s represented in very different ways. Marilena represents the internal neglect and the loss of original identity that celebrities described happening in their careers, “She’d begun to forget that inside of her were two souls, and these souls kept quiet and cried” (164).

As Marilena refuses to acknowledge Maria and Lena and believes that they no longer hold any form of importance in her life. She actively participates in projects that solely revolve around her new identity while destroying the one that Maria and Lena had if it means she could gain more popularity. The other character that values this kind of behavior would be Vladimir, Marilena’s husband, as he represents the external manipulations that involve using celebrities for personal gain. His main goal in the story is to use Marilena as access for involvement and benefits he can gain in the industry. He finds his own happiness more important than the happiness of his wife: “He’d taken over Marilena’s whole life he’d thrown very loud tantrums”(165). The relevance of Vladimir’s behavior to the setting embodies the total disregard of comfort that entertainers often experience in their careers. “Marilena’s Secret” uses these elements to capture the lack of trust and compassion in the entertainment industry. While entertainers have unique and difficult challenges in the entertainment industry, the prejudice of those who do not meet very specific beauty standards remains a discriminatory topic for those pursuing a career. The stigma against overweight people places an unfair expectation of purpose on them. It creates the image that overweight people must have some sort of talent or give people amusement in order to deserve a place in common society. “Marilena’s Secret” highlights this by showing the initial difficulty Marilena has immediately after being cursed: “Our fat girl was immediately kicked out of the theater.

She had no right to be there”(161). It is only after she proves herself as an act in the circus that she starts to gain recognition from her peers. The significance of her placement in the circus plays into the comparison of her previous involvement in theater. While the theater can be considered a more formal type of entertainment, the circus could be viewed as more of a casual spectacle. The shift in setting could be representative of the lack of respect she initially receives. The apathy to Marilena’s struggle reveals how greatly many hold their image as an important feature. Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s “Marilena’s Secret” illustrates how anyone can be easily influenced to disregard other’s welfare for his or her own convenience. The difficulties faced by the main characters in this story parallel to the real issues seen in the entertainment industry. The negative experiences help shape the specific cultural stigmas that need to be addressed. This story highlights the significance of empathy and consideration of others.