Monday, June 6, 2011

Interpretive lens of Greek tragedy

The following are some insights borrowed from Greek Tragedy by Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz

Chapter 5 : Family Romance and Revenge in the House of Atreus
* Though the Greeks sometimes imagined marriage as the death of a maiden, or compared the premature death of a maiden to marriage to Hades (e.g., Iphigenia at Aulis and Antigone), for Elektra marriage beneath her station is a form of death.
In what ways is this true of Ellen, Rosa and Judith?* Elektra presents herself as a victim; she enters singing of her lineage. She is in mourning for her wretched life...and her father's fate, slain by his wife and Aigisthos...She mourns not only the dead but also her absent brother, who should come to free her and avenge his father. At the same time , she is impatient and angry at his delay. Her pain is increased by the contrast with her mother. Clytemnestra's children are in exile, whilethe mother lies in a bloody bed with her new husband
Is this also in part Judith's dramatic trajectory?
*On a psychological level, the play reveals that we can sink ourselves in our own mourning, condemning ourselves to living death by attachment to the past
*The role of the children in the family is strongly distinguished by gender. Orestes has been brought up as the avenger, while Elektra has been treated asa servant; dressed in rags, fed crumbs from the family table, unmarried and childless, she must wait for Orestes to begin her life.
Is there a similar dynamic between Judith and Henry?

Chapter 6: Victims and Victimizers
As an imitation woman, Medea is complex and dangerous. She is not simply the sympathetic betrayed woman. From the beginning the Nurse directs us to fear for the children. Medea presents the murder or sacrifice of the children as inevitable, but it is only inevitable because she has chosen to use them as bearers of the gifts, and even then, if she can get away, why can'y she take them with her?...The only way to destrpy Jason completely is to kill the children, not because he loves them so dearly (she loves them more) but because it was very important for a Greek man to leave progeny...She will take revenge by destroying the future of his house.
Are there hints of Medea in the portrait of Rosa that Faulkner paints?

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