Betty Lambert’’s Under the Skin dramatizes the abduction and abuse of
a twelve-year-old girl, based loosely on an actual child abduction in British
Columbia. Renee eventually comes to discover that her husband John has
abducted their neighbour’s daughter. Although we never see the abductee,
John’s on-stage abuse of Renee provides a shadow-play of the unseen off-stage
violence. Renee’s explicit discovery comes late in the play, at the same
time that the audience becomes aware. Although it is still some time before
Renee acts on this knowledge, most interpretations of this play assume
her ignorance of John’s abduction until very close to the end. However,
certain details earlier in the play make it possible to conclude that Renee
had knowledge of the abduction much earlier. Herself a victim, Renee’s
inaction (despite her knowledge) can best be understood by an examination
of the limited modes of resistance available to her, and the silences that
often surround abuse. This paper will seek to explicate the issue of Renee’’s
knowledge of the abduction, and failure to act.
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