The house of illusions : a study in genet's the balcony

Abstract EN

The definition of "prostitute" and prostitution is a difficult one and a question over which the legislators of many lands and nations differed.

A notable feature of prostitution is its epidemic increase at times of war, revolution and armed commotion, on account of economic, social and psychological factors generated by such conditions of mortal conflicts.

Wars invariably deprive young wives and lovers of their men folk, resulting in financial , sexual and emotional frustrations .

At no time is the natural balance between the sexes more seriously disturbed than during wars, when thousands of men are thrown into one sector of the country and hundreds of towns and villages are left to women and children only.

Loaded with booty provisions and fat salary, the warrior finds in the starving and displaced woman an easy target.

To the enemy, she is just another victim of war .

The permanent threat of death and the cheapened price of life diminish the sanctity of human values and at the same time engender a burning desire to ensure the survival of human life by a crude response to the sex instinct.

Jean Genet's The Balcony , throws light on the world of whoredom where Madame Irma and her service carries out her clients' outrageous fantasies in her "House of Illusions".

Finally, the study attempts to diagnose the basic reasons that push women for harlotry.