Kiss of the Spider Woman

Who is the “spider woman” referred to in the title? Why might Puig have chosen this title?

Molina tells stories throughout the novel, using movie plots as a form of escapism. How do the movie plots reflect Molina and Valentin’s situation? Discuss at least one movie plot in your analysis.

Argentina in 1975 was undergoing a “dirty war,” in which civilians were rallying together against the government. According to Valentin, what does it mean to be a part of such a political movement? What are Valentin’s political motivations, and how do they affect his choices?

What is the relationship between political repression and the psychological repression that many of the novel’s footnotes deal with? Why does the novel juxtapose these kinds of repression?

Consider the resolutions of Molina and Valentin’s stories. Is Molina simply a narrative device to facilitate Valentin’s character development? Why or why not?

Molina and Valentin’s conversations often center heavily on the women they’ve left behind in the outside world—both their mothers, Marta, etc. How do these absent female figures contribute to the novel’s exploration of gender (specifically, femininity)?

Puig relies on dialogue and stream-of-consciousness to tell this story. What is the point of revealing the characters’ internal thoughts in this way? How does the novel’s style relate to its thematic interests?

In the movies Molina describes, characters make drastic and sometimes fatal sacrifices. How does the novel portray sacrifice? What are Valentin’s views on sacrifice, and how does it relate to the political revolution and Valentin’s role as a political revolutionary?