A BRIEF COMPARATIVE APPROACH ON THE FEMALE FIGURE IN THE DRAMATURGY OF LUCIAN BLAGA AND VALERIU ANANIA

The aim of this paper is to explore, from a comparative mytho-symbolic perspective, the ways in which the feminine figure is configured in the dramatic texts of Lucian Blaga and Valeriu Anania. The foundation of this approach lies in the classical symbolic opposition between angel and demon, as it highlights two distinct yet complementary faces of femininity: the angelic woman, a variation of the Eternal Feminine, and the demonic woman, perpetually dark, whose erotic fascination spills into the realm of destructive lunar power, reminiscent of malevolent mermaids. In this regard, the angelic figure of femininity will inevitably be associated with Mira from Lucian Blaga’s dramatic text Master Manole (1927). As an archetypal variation of the saviour woman, Mira, through her own death, manages to fulfil the creative destiny of the man, while also facilitating the re-signification of all existence by transforming the profane space into a sacred one once with the raising of the monastery in which she is embedded. In contrast, Iovanca from Valeriu Anania’s dramatic poem Master Manole (1968) embodies the demonic face of femininity. Resembling the mermaids who disturb a man’s peace, Iovanca succeeds in destabilizing the existence of the devout painter Safirin, becoming a death-bringing temptation. At the same time, the paper will also focus on Simina, the young wife whom Iovanca manages to inoculate, in the spirit of a Mephistophelian reminiscence, a sense of rebellion. This transformation will symbolically turn her into one of the “demonic women” which Manole believes demolish the walls of the monastery during the night.