Tragic Reason Within The Quotation Marks

3 Pages 782 Words

Have you ever discovered an interesting character in a play or story that you thought didn’t know what they were doing? Some would be baffled by discovering that concept within the pages of a Neo-Classical play, Phaedra, by Racine. This work of literature would be considered by many to be nothing but a triadic play with little or no reasoning. Sometimes the reasons behind one’s actions can be foretold by what you read in-between the quotations marks. Examination will be complete over three interesting quotes from three exceedingly different characters from within this saga. Phaedra with her obsessive nature dealing with controlling her passions; Oenone showing that she understood how important her mistress’s honor was; and then Theseus complete with uncontrolled jealousy and blinded by his rage condemns his son to death.
To start with we will observe a women beaten down and plagued by her own desires, and does not know how to handle her emotions. The main character of the play and a title role as well, Phaedra, was overcome with passion for her step-son and expresses her burning desire to expire in order to save not only her name, but her children and Theseus’s as well. In Act III, Scene 3, line 35 is where Phaedra shows how affected she is by the feelings she craves with every fiber of her being for her stepson, but yet is not afraid to die rather then give into them. “Death is not fearful to a suffering mind.” Its philosophical meaning proves that Phaedra was not afraid to die, but to was more distressed about her letting herself give into temptation with Hippolytus. She has an honorable grasp to what she must have to do in order to keep the family name respected among the people. Phaedra lets no one know of her mania except her maidservant Oenone, which will lead us to our second analysis.
When one thinks of a servant, Oenone is the perfect example. One might suggest that she takes the job a bit too far at times, and t...