Vengeance in Electra, The Bacchae and Frankenstein
In today's world, vengeance is still in existence, bubbling below our calm facade, waiting for the catalyst it needs to break loose. Evidence can be seen right now in the reactions of the American people towards Bin Laden. He destroyed so many lives, and now, there is probably not one American that would not love to get their minute alone with him. The American people want to hurt him the way he and his followers hurt their fellow Americans, their family. This hunger for vengeance is completely Dionysian and is found in more than one written work.
Electra is saturated with the Dionysian quest for vengeance that prevails also in The Bacchae. It is found again in Frankenstein, a work bubbling over with vengeful deaths. This Dionysian pursuit for vengeance is carried out on family offenders, whether they are of the family in question or not. Dionysus, a member of Cadmus' family, causes the death of his cousin Pentheus. Pentheus commits a deadly mistake when he denies Dionysus as a god and attempts to capture him, thus invoking the wrath of Dionysus. This is the same type of vengeance found in Electra's family. In Electra's family, if one commits a family offense, an unending cycle of the Dionysian principle of vengeance ensues: vengeance takes precedent over family ties, thus forsaking them. With Victor Frankenstein and his monster, the principle is also at work, though it exists for each of them in response to the other.
This principle is born into Electra's family long before her own tragedies transpire. It begins with the sons of Pelops and all of the adultery and murder a la mode that occur in that branch of Electra's family history. However, this...
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...al, is to strike out at those who seek or have harmed us, and to destroy them in any means possible. Rest assured that if any Americans are involved in the Bin Laden affair, that the thirst for vengeance on them will be overpowering. The Dionysian principle of vengeance is still very much alive, lurking below the surface, waiting for the justification it needs to break free.
Works Cited
C.K. Williams,The Bacchae Of Euripides (New Version)New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000
Sophocles Electra New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1995
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1994
"Bush Speaks From Oval Office" http://multimedia.belointeractive.com/attack/news/text0911.html
"Bin Laden Has Nowhere To Run - Nowhere To Hide", madblast.com
The House of Atreus http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa110497.htm
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