Shifting Power in Venus in Fur

As the play begins, modern- day Vanda does not seem to have much in common with her Pagan, Greek Goddess - like literary predecessor. She is frazzled, fires of "likes" ineloquently, and begs Thomas to let her audition. The lead-up to her reading is riddled with Vanda's displays of ignorance about the play and context informing the story. As the conversation proceeds, Thomas falls into the role of educator, Vanda playing the  ill-informed student. She proceeds to audition, acknowledging she is at Thomas' mercy and may very well be cut off and sent home at any moment.  The completeness of her submission to her prospective director is highlighted within the line  "Well can't I just show it to you, how I look? Please, God, please, pretty please?"(9).

Vanda's initial performance fits the mold Dunayev constructs for woman's place in society in her reflection  "In our society, a woman's only power is through men. Her character is her lack of character. She's a blank, to be filled in by creatures who at heart despise her"(27).  She performs a version of intellectual blankness to earn her audition. Though Thomas seems to regard her with disdain, he does allow her to audition, begging the question of whether he is attracted to this personae.

As the acting begins,  it becomes clear Vanda is by no means  "man's slave"(27). Her interrogation of his usage of the phrasing professed principles rather than principles shows she is observant and fully able to understand the themes of the play, despite their "ambiguous" or even "ambivalent" nature. Similarly, her reference to comments Thomas made in an interview show she has done her homework, her initial display of ignorance about his work having been an act.  Thomas is not in full control of her perception of the play or even her perception of himself - she is not a blank "to be filled in." Vanda's choice to only reveal certain aspects of self is reminiscent of the self-representations of Shen Teh and Song, and I imagine her selective exposure will also function as a means to access power as the play progresses.