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 discernible redeeming quality as a woman or a human being. Her weak daughter Chrysothemis is a woman who knows what is right but is unable or unwilling to put her knowledge into action. She consistently agrees with Clytemnestra as the nature of their predicament, of the need for justice, but when the time comes to act, she always warns her bolder sister to be cautious, not to do anything rash. In fact, Chrysothemis is a coward who wants the easier, softer path. She ...