Kiss of the Spider Woman

Molina is still ill but refuses to go to the infirmary. Valentin is studying, so Molina imagines a film. The story takes place in a US countryside home occupied by an unmarried woman. When a maid arrives to work there, she discovers that the house was one the woman and her fiancé planned to move into after marrying; however, her fiancé was sent off to war before the wedding and died in World War I. With no tenants, the woman and the maid have nothing to do. Molina interrupts her thoughts to engage with Valentin, but Valentin is studying, so Molina returns to her fantasies.

In the movie, a young soldier arrives wanting to rent the home. As Molina thinks of the soldier, who has a facial scar, she also thinks about lovely faces and what it’s like to kiss them. Molina then gets angry with Valentin: “[J]ust because I ask a question he gives me that black look […] they condemned me for eight years for fooling around with a minor but mom never gave me that black look” (105). Molina’s mother was present in court when they convicted her, but she assured Molina that time would go fast: “[W]ill