Clytemnestra in Sophocles' Electra
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The figure of Clytemnestra in Sophocles' tragic play Electra seems ready-made for a feminist critique, or for a critique from any school which seeks to advance a cause based on morality or integrity. Clytemnestra appears to embody every human sin, every human weakness, every human evil imaginable. As Meyer Reinhold writes, "Clytemnestra's character has been completely blackened by Sophocles in this play" (57). Reinhold adds that Clytemnestra is "delineated as completely evil" (59). Clytemnestra has taken part in the murder of her husband Agamemnon, has married Aegisthus, the other murdering conspirator, has mocked and made life hell for her daughter Electra because Electra will not let her mother forget her horrible crimes, and shows nothing but delight when she is tricked into believing that her son Orestes is dead. Clytemnestra believes that Orestes was the last real threat to expose her and Aegisthus and punish them for their crimes. In fact, Orestes is alive and does indeed deliver punishment in the form of death to both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Should Clytemnestra be seen as an evil person rather than an evil woman? If so, then she would not be especially vulnerable to feminist criticism. What makes such criticism appropriate, however, is the fact that there are three women in the play who represent three entirely different responses to life, and the role of a woman in life. Clytemnestra is thoroughly evil, self-centered, ruthless, unscrupulous, and without any disc
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g else, again, not a sign of self-determination. Orestes does indeed return to exact revenge, but he has delayed interminably, and even now, at the crucial moment of arrival in the beginning of the play, he has to be pushed by his servant and friend. The third and final child, Chrysothemis, is a thoroughgoing coward who goes along to get along.
If there is a feminist lesson to this family, it is that there need to be two good, strong parents to produce good, strong children. From the play, the reader does not know Agamemnon, except through others. However, the reader knows Clytemnestra all too well, and, knowing her, it is a testament to the murdered Agamemnon that any of these three children turned out sane, much less good or even heroic. That the passive Chrysothemis is shown to be the worst of the lot is a testament to the same, for she is hardly the most despicable character in the history of theater.
On the other hand, Clytemnestra certainly qualifies for at least consideration for such a dishonorable position. She is everything a woman, wife and mother should not be. At the same time, to critique her as the embodiment of all a woman should not be is a little like shooting fish in a barrel. Sophocles has created her to be
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Approximate Word count = 2223
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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