The Power of Guilt and Shame in Phaedra
In neo-classical works of literature, the themes are often based on reason and passion. The two factors of influence collide in a struggle that an individual character or group of characters must overcome and decide which to follow, and this conflict usually leads to suffering, guilt, and shame. In Racine's classic, Phaedra, the title character is influenced by her overwhelming passion, which leads to her commit her crimes by the power of guilt and shame.
As the tale unfolds, it becomes clear that Phaedra is aware that her love for Hippolytus can never be fulfilled, and the shame that she feels from this passion is true. After confessing her love to Hippolytus in Act 2, scene 5, she curses the Gods for torturing her soul by making her love someone against her will, and she even goes as far as to ask for death. The power of shame has overcome her, and she feels that if she can not be with the man that she loves then she wishes to die by his sword as if she were a "monster". When Theseus returns home, her shame is heightened by the presence of him, and by the thought that her incestuous love will be made aware to all. However, this shame quickly turns to the offensive when she allows Oenome to plot a reverse of guilt and accuse Hippolytus of loving Phaedra. The power of shame is no more evident then at this point in the story, because Phaedra, feeling the height of shame after admitting her love to Hippolytus, must face both her husband Theseus, the man she should love, and Hippolytus, the forbidden love. Feeling confused and helpless, Phaedra allows Oenome to place the blame on Hippolytus, and this begins her change from feelings of shame to guilt.
After Oenome convinces Theseus that his son has been trying to steal the love of his wife, Hippolytus is banished by his father and Neptune is sent to kill him. At this point, Phaedra learns that Hippolytus was capable of loving someone, and the guilt that she feels is from her denying another woman the love of Hippolytus. She has caused the suffering of another woman, Aricia, and now she has also caused a father to banish and kill his own son. Finally, after the death of Oenome, Aricia, and Hippolytus, the power of her guilt has engulfed her and she can no longer live in the absence of truth or with the deeds she has done.
In the story, the supreme ruler of Athens, Thesius ends up marrying Hippolyta, the Queen of the Jungle. However, during the whole story, Hippolyta never throughly discusses her feelings and ideas about the marriage. She acts as if she has no choice but to marry Thesius. This can be proven by examining Hippolyta's position in the relationship between herself and Thesius. Hippolyta was captured by Thesius during battle and Thesius intimidates Hippolyta into marrying him since he is a supreme ruler and she was defeated by him. Thesius reveals that he capture Hippolyta in battle in the following quote, "I wood thee by my sword/ And won thy love doing thee injuries" (Act I, Pg 7). The above quote and the fact that Hippolyta never discusses her feelings about the wedding leads the re...
The views on women in this play are shown through Hermia’s recklessness, Helena’s desperation, and Hippolyta’s hypocritical behavior. The women in this era of when Shakespeare wrote this play were subservient to men and had no will and choice of their own. This included marriages that were usually arranged by a powerful male relative instead of giving the woman the opportunity of choosing a husband that she loved. First, Helena was a woman who chased after men. She contradicts her gender by breaking society’s rules. Helena even says, “We cannot fight for love, as men may do; we should be woo’d and were not made to woo” (Rogers, 1998, Act 2, Scene 1, 241-242). Second, Hermia disobeys her father and cannot decide on marriage. She is disrespectful towards her father’s commands. Hermia goes on to say, “I do entreat your grace to pardon me. I know not by what power I am bold” (Rogers, 1998, Act 1, Scene 1, 58-59). Lastly, we have Hippolyta who pretends to love King Theseus and is a liar. She stands by through the oppression of different women in the play. Although, Hippolyta shows dominance in her words. “Four days will quickly steep themselves in night; four nights will quickly dream away time” (Rogers, 1998, Act 1, Scene 1, 6). We see the King’s impatience at having Hippolyta, but Hippolyta has the control and patience. “Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, And won thy love,
Throughout the play love is used by Euripides as a key plot factor and in many ways sets the outcome of the play. This love was definitely based on a physical attraction between a male and a female, thus making it “Common” love. The fact that Euripides uses “Common” love lends credibility to Pausanias’ philosophical ideas. The appearance of this idea suggests that it had realistic roots. . The events that took place in the play, such as the relationship between Phaedra and Hippolytus, must have been realistic so a Greek audience would believe the story. Even though Hippolytus is a fictional play the events that take place must have their roots in realistic events. This allows us to believe that Pausanias’ philosophical ideal was in fact a real life issue that Athenians dealt with in day-to-day life.
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
Oedipus’s tale of patricide and incest is fixed in the public consciousness, having been immortalized in the present era by Freud’s concept of the Oedipus Complex. Before Freud, however, much of the fame of Oedipus was due to a series of plays by the great Greek tragedian Sophocles. Instead of capturing the public’s attention with a salacious psychoanalytical concept, Sophocles enthralled theater audiences with the story of a man and his fight and ultimate failure to avoid fate. In Oedipus the King, according to Rudnytsky, the question of free will versus determinism plays a central role but is ultimately left up to the audience as the play shows both sides (108). Sophocles
Infatuation causes Helena to lose all sense of dignity, as can be seen when in the woods, she desperately pleads with Demetrius to ?but treat me as your spaniel?. Here, Helena also becomes irrational, obsessed with pursuing Demetrius, though it is obvious that Demetrius is fixated on winning Hermia?s hand in marriage. Helena?s infatuation also causes her to see things from a skewed perspective, for she falsely believes that when she divulges Hermia?s plans for eloping with Lysander, Demetrius? love for Helena will rekindle. As the audience, we know that the most probable course of action for Demetrius upon hearing such news is to pursue Lysander and Hermia, or to report them to Theseus or Egeus. Clearly, infatuation has clouded Helena?s ability to think clearly, and she sees things in her own idealistic way.
In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus learns things that make him realize that he is not who he thinks he is. His past is slowly unavailing throughout the play from where he came from to why it happened and he is determined to learn the truth. This play is based on tragedy and some say that Oedipus himself is to be held responsible for what happens to him towards the end. As Oedipus seeks out the truth behind the prophecy going on about killing his father and marrying his mother, Jocasta realizes the truth before Oedipus does and tries to prevent him from pursuing the knowledge.
In “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, Oedipus, the king of Thebes finds out that he kills his father and that his wife is his mother. Oedipus is very concerned for his kingdom and his people. He wants to “drive the corruption from the land” (Sophocles 109) by finding Laius’s murderer and killing him. Through his curiosity, Oedipus finds out that the man he kills long ago is Laius, who is his father, and that his wife is his mother—all in accordance with Oedipus’ prophecy. After coming on this realization as well, Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, commits suicide, and Oedipus gouges out his eyes as a result of this. In his search for the murderer, Oedipus strives to be a fair king. Ironically, he often is not fair to the people he sees or things that are essential to him. This play demonstrates the theme of justice through Oedipus’ denial of justice in three situations—Oedipus’ meeting with Tiresias, Oedipus’ gouging out of his eyes, and Creon’s asking of Oedipus to adjudicate fairly
Throughout the play, Oedipus is faced with the truth and fails to acknowledge it. He is first told by the drunk at the party, but he dismisses it as just something said by an ignorant drunk. He then visits the oracle and is told his fate determined by the gods and believes he can escape it by fleeing to Thebes. On his way he carries out the first part of the fate by killing his father. He then makes it to Thebes and marries Jocasta, unknowingly fulfilling the fate. Teiresias finally tells Oedipus the horrible truth, but Oedipus calls him a liar and fails to recognize the truth again. When Oedipus finally figures that what the oracle, drunk, and Teiresias was all true, he cannot handle it and blinds himself while Jocasta kills herself.
Continuing on his way, Oedipus found Thebes plagued by the Sphinx, who put a riddle to all passersby and destroyed those who could not answer. Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself. In reward, he received the throne of Thebes and the hand of the widowed queen, his mother, Jocasta. They had four children: Eteocles, Polyneices, Antigone, and Ismene. Later, when the truth became known, Jocasta committed suicide, and Oedipus, after blinding himself, went into exile, leaving his brother-in-law Creon as regent. The central theme in this work is that one cannot control his/her fate, whether the intentions are good or bad. Oedipus, the main character in this play is motivated to find the truth, and his intentions are good. The motivation is always followed by the intentions, just as the truth is followed by goodness. There are three critical parts to Oedipus's motivation. There is the prophecy, the realization, and the revelation. They will be discussed consecutively.
Desdemona is a victim of both Othello’s jealousy (the ‘green-eyed monster’) and Iago’s malevolence. However, as a literary construct, she is unable to prevent herself from falling victim to the hamartia of Othello and his hubris, an essential flaw in the tragic hero according to Aristotle. His pride is wounded by the idea that society would consider him emasculate due to having been cuckolded – in this sense, her fate was inevitable. Another of Aristotle’s theories purports that catharsis (often experienced following the death of the tragic victim) is a vital component of tragedy; as a great tragedy, catharsis must certainly be felt by the audience of Othello. However, the purging of emotions should surely only be felt towards characters which are genuinely liked, demonstrating the intricate link between pity and likability and highlighting the paradox in Auden’s statement: the audience must like Desdemona to some extent for her death to have a dramatic effect. Regardless of personal opinions on Desdemona, it is an upsetting final thought for the audience that there seems to be little hope for their own lives if evil can prevail over someone so good and taint something as beautiful as Othello and Desdemona’s love.
Oedipus is a story about a few basic human emotions. Among them are rage, passion, humility, and guilt. The Ancient Greeks understood these emotions well; their society was based upon the logical emotions, but always threatened by the violent ones. Oedipus was at first told that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Fearful of himself, he fled showing a lack of humility away from his home, thinking that his problems would be solved. Later on, he gets into a tumultuous fight with a passerby on the road to Thebes. Enraged, he kills the man and his servants; this turned out to be a big mistake. After saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx, he marries and then passionately sleeps with the queen. Towards the end of the play, he realizes that he has indeed killed his father and married his mother, thus echoing the lack of humility that first drove him away from his adopted parents.
... those phaeacians who have helped Odysseus to return home. And for Calypso, she tried to offer Odysseus the immortal life and promising him to be his eternal wife, but Odysseus’s love for his wife Penelope pushes him to fight for his return
But his wife Jocasta urges him not to go on further in fear that he will not be able to handle the truth. The chorus echoes his thoughts about his demand in finding out who he truly is. When Oedipus finds out the truth that he killed his father and married his mother everything goes downhill. The prophecy that he tried so hard to resist ended up coming true. Of course the concession is right there with him when he finds out this truth. They sing about disbelief and sadness over this tragedy that came upon their beloved king. To them their Oedipus is a perfect example of a bless-less man that will live in misery for the rest of his life (Sophocles 496). This shows the sorrow and anguish that the citizens have for the king upon knowing of this unfortunate
Just as Jocasta was, Oedipus is left in a confused state of mind and is quick to make the assumption that the oracles were false in their prophecies. "They led me to believe that I would kill my father. But he is dead and in his grave, while I stand here - never having touched a weapon" (Sophocles 22). At this time Oedipus is ignorant to the fact that Polybus was not his father. Although comforted in thinking that he was able to avoid the oracle because he did not kill his father, Oedipus still fears his union with his mother in bed. "But my fear is of her - as long as she lives" (Sophocles 22). If Merope was to have been Oedipus' mother, then he would not have been a sacrificial scapegoat, because one characteristic of the sacrificial scapegoat is the permission of the character to engage in sexual intercourse with a woman usually forbidden to him. It is not natural for a man to sleep with his mother, and Oedipus thinks he has managed to refrain from doing so. Later in this scene the messenger reveals information to Oedipus that contradicts everything that he had long believed. "Then you must realize that your fear is groundless. Because Polybus was no relative of yours" (Sophocles 23). The messenger proceeds in telling Oedipus about his childhood - that he gave Oedipus to Polybus as a gift after receiving him from another shepherd in the hills of Cithaeron. Because Oedipus wanted more information