University of Amsterdam
Phaedra in-yer-face:
From myth to politics
Danai Papadaki Student Number: 10847375 MA Thesis Comparative Cultural Analysis Supervisor: Murat Aydemir
Everything is politics. Thomas Mann
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction………4
1.1 Cause and object……….5
1.2 Methodology……….9
2. Establishing the stepmother stereotype: Seneca’s Phaedra……….10
2.1 Dramatis Personae………12
2.2 Plot……….14
2.3 The issue of gender……….16
2.4 The stereotype of the ‘false relative’……….18
3. The modern perspective of the myth: Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love……...24
3.1 Dramatis Personae………..26
3.2 Plot………...27
3.3 The impact of Nihilism……….29
3.4 Moral nihilism in Phaedra’s Love………...33
3.5 Political nihilism in Phaedra’s Love………35
4. Society, philosophy, politics and their relationship with theater………..38
4.1 Seneca’s social status……….41
4.2 Philosophy, politics and art: a ‘chain reaction’………....42
4.3 Loose Cannon: Phaedra’s Love, 2008………....43
4.4 In-yer-phase as contemporary (political) commentary……….47
5. Summing up………..54 Bibliography
1. Introduction
Performing arts have always been speaking to me in a more fierce way than visual arts. After years of thinking I realized this is happening because I find the latter very lonely. Meanwhile, in performing arts there is some sort of collectivity: even if it is a one-man-show, there is always an assistant, somebody to turn the lights on, somebody to check on the costume, and, of course, there is always the audience; otherwise there would be no performance. Perhaps this is why I found myself in theater studies, examining the different concepts of a tradition almost as old as 2,500 years.
During the first couple of months, my perspective on theater was very romantic: we need to do theater in order to express ourselves; we need to take advantage of this entire art and express feelings that are impossible to be
expressed on the paper’s two dimensions and we, as theater scholars, need to take the role of the enlightened ones and lead the rest of the people to the light1. But I became an adult right before the economic crisis stroke my country and I found myself facing the cruel reality: nothing is as romantic as I thought it was. Everything happens in order to serve somebody and their cause. Eventually everything is politics.
In the national -and personal- agitation following, I reassessed my theories on theater, and, as the society, my society, started collapsing, I realized what the artists’ cause should be: they should awaken the people, keep them moving forward, helping them understand the world we live in and help them identify
1 In Republic, Plato talks about the naturally talented people, who are responsible for explaining to the rest how the world is built on the idea of existence and that what they actually see is a projection of the real world; people live in a dark cave, while the real world is above the ground.
themselves within the entity. In addition, the artist should be up-to-date, especially when they are in theater.
Having been influenced deeply by both my initial studies and the current socio-economic state, I started looking deeper into the plays I was studying, trying to find the society’s reflection on them. I eventually embraced the idea of mimesis2 and it was soon enough into my research that I realized each play, no
matter the genre, country of origin or time of writing, has a political statement to make. Transiting from theater to cultural studies, another realization I made was that theater was not given the weight I think it should have been within the second field- a realization that troubled me for quite some time, as I strongly believe that if there is a complete cultural object, something that can be defined as the epitome of culture, that comes from theater. Thus I hope that with this paper I will contribute to bringing theater back in cultural studies.
1.1 My cause and object
Not being able to completely ignore where I come from and my heritage as a person born in Greece, I carry many references to ancient Greek culture. It is impossible for me to say whether there is a patriotic feeling lying in my interests, but I can surely say I find ancient Greek literature amazing for multiple reasons. Since a very young age, ancient Greek mythology3 has been one of the biggest influences in my life, which I have always found fascinating.
Once I got into university and I started approaching mythology in an academic manner, my interest in it only got higher. What charmed me, though, 2 According to Aristoteles acting (thus theater) is an instinct; more on that later in this paper.
3 It could have something to do with my (ancient Greek) name, or with my parents encouraging me and my brother to read about it- regardless, I try not to read too much into the pleasure I get by reading about mythology.
was the imperishability of the myth throughout the years: ancient Greek
mythology keeps inspiring artists and intellectuals up until today. Theater, poetry, visual arts, there are countless of examples of artworks in every artistic field inspired by it.
Affected by all these influences and having read some contemporary plays inspired by ancient Greek mythology, I decided, at some point, that my main academic interest would be this: tracing the political characteristics of plays that are based on ancient Greek myths. My motto is everything is politics, and I try to recognize influences from political theories and philosophy, as the two of them are interdependent.
What has drawn my attention in this case is the myth of Phaedra. As it happens with every myth, there is one main storyline and a few changing details; in the last version I read of it- and the one I used as my starting point for my research- the story goes like this:
When Theseus, King of Athens, married Phaedra, he sent his illegitimate son Hippolytus, whose mother was Amazon Antiope, to Pitheus, King of Troezen for adoption. After Theseus left to Thessaly, Phaedra was sent to Troezen too. While there, a secret flame started burning: she had started falling for Hippolytus. She initially tried to keep it secret, but her nurse soon realized Phaedra was not as healthy anymore and forced her into confessing her love for her stepson. Phaedra’s nurse was also the one talking her into writing a letter to Hippolytus, letting him know how she feels. In that letter of hers, Phaedra explained how the women of the Cretan Royal House are condemned to experience unnatural desires: she refers to her grandmother Europe, her mother Pasiphae and her sister
Ariadne4. When Hippolytus received the letter, he burnt it and in anger he tried to confront his stepmother, but the latter ran naked screaming she was raped. Phaedra, unable to live with Hippolytus’ rejection, hung herself. Upon the receiving of the news, Theseus cursed Hippolytus and asked from Poseidon to grant one of the promised three wishes that Hippolytus would die that very same day. And so it happened; Hippolytus’ had an accident with his chariot and died (Graves, 103-5).
Phaedra’s myth has inspired many artists throughout history: it is depicted on ancient pottery, in paintings (Alexandre Cabanel, 1880), in music (Jean- Phillipe Ramaeu- 1733, Nancy Sinatra- 1967, Hans Werner Henze- 2007) and, of course, in theater. There are fourteen theatrical versions of Phaedra, with four being the most notable ones: Euripides’ Hippolytus (428 BC), Seneca’s Phaedra (54~ AD), Racine’s Phèdre (1677) and Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love (1996). I chose to focus on two of them, Seneca and Kane’s version. My choice had to do with my personal interests (contemporary politics and theater- Kane) and Kane’s framework, as Seneca’s Phaedra was her basis.
My process in constructing the paper is the following:
a) In the first chapter I provide the dramaturgical analysis of Seneca’s Phaedra. I continue with talking about what the circumstances under which the Roman philosopher and poet wrote this tragedy were. I explain why Seneca’s capacity as a philosopher and the Emperor’s consultant cannot be ignored and why his commentary on stepmotherhood and genders’ social status at the time establish Phaedra a political play.
4 The first one mated with Zeus, while he had the form of a Taurus, the second one with a Taurus and Ariadne with Theseus, making her Phaedra’s husband’s first wife.
b) In the second chapter I analyze Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love, giving the play’s dramatis personae and plot. I proceed in researching the influences Kane was under; Cool Britannia, a movement occurring in the UK in the nineties led to the birth of a -theatrical, for the most part- movement, the so-called in-yer-face theatre5. Kane writes in a more personal tone, emphasizing on the
characters’ inner world rather than on their status within society. Despite that, the play has political influences, which derive from nihilism; additionally, there are some statements that can be analyzed as political and nihilistic.
c) In the final chapter, I explore the differences between the two plays and why they occurred. I explain how the chronological gap between the two has a major affect in the myth’s perception by the two playwrights. I also provide a brief analysis of a Phaedra’s Love production, ‘reading’ the staging through the same lenses: if the theatrical text has political figures, the staging of it should be influenced as well. I finally disclose the relationship between in-yer-face, Sarah Kane and the contemporary United Kingdom.
Before I begin, I would like to highlight this: my two objects are the two theatrical texts. I use the staging’s analysis as interstitial because of the theatrical dogma suggesting a play is complete only when it is staged. The reason I use a staging example too, is because I would like my research to be complete and, as I am researching two theater texts, this is the way to go.
1.2 Methodology
5 You will notice I write the word theater in both American and British English. As I prefer American writing, I use the American version of it when I casually use the word; although, when I quote or refer to the term in-yer-face theater I use the English writting of it, wanting to keep it original.
What I will prove with my paper is how philosophical, initially6, and then political theories affect playwriting throughout history. By using two plays with the same basis (Phaedra’s myth) but with so many differences in the way of approach, I will prove the perpetuation of the ancient Greek myth, how it was used in order to promote different political ideas through the course of western society and via a multidimensional medium: theater.
About methodology of research, I used an English translation of Seneca’s Phaedra and Sarah Kane’s original text in addition to books and articles coming from three fields: theater studies, sociology, philosophy and its sub-category
politics. While conducting my research, it was rather easy to find academic texts concerning Seneca, in all kinds of aspects. The hardest part was to retrieve
sources on in-yer-face theatre; as in-yer-face occurred twenty years ago and lasted for less than a decade, and in addition to its local, British character, not as many researchers were interested in it. As a result, Aleks Sierz’s In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today was my best companion when diving into Kane’s dark world. Sierz is the one defining in-yer-face theatre as the genre emerging in the UK during the nineties and as “any drama that takes the audience by the scruff of the neck and shakes it until it gets the message” (Sierz, 4). The way in-yer-face ‘shook’ the political scene in the UK will be further examined in the final chapter.
Another difference in approaching the two plays lies in the way I treat the two playwrights as personalities. Seneca’s public status is something I could not oversee and, apart from his philosophical works, there are no quotes, texts or interviews of his, in which he talks about his plays. On the other hand, this is a 6 As philosophy was representing, at first, every intellectual field, including politics.
luxury I enjoyed while studying Sarah Kane. Phaedra’s Love contemporaneity gave me the privilege of getting closer to its author’s mentality. However, it is my conscious decision to exclude Kane’s suicide from my analysis, as I think it would make it subjective. Additionally, Sarah Kane herself had asked for her private life to remain private and when people read through her plays to remain solely on them:
When people talk about me as a writer, that’s what I am, and that’s how I want my work to be judged- on its quality, not on the basis of my age, gender, class, sexuality or race. I am what I am- not what other people want me to be. (Kane/ Sierz, 121)
2. Establishing the stepmother stereotype: Seneca’s Phaedra
Greek Nobelist Georgios Seferis once said that there is no parthenogenesis in art7, a quote that could not be more suitable for theater. From the beginning of the
theater tradition, it has been a common tactic that poets would refer to mythology in research of their heroes. During the Hellenistic years, poets would go back to the Athenian Golden Age tragedies and re-write them, or use them as a point of reference. In combination with sources providing the Dionysia winners, we are currently able to make solid presumptions on what the -lost, now- early tragedies may have been
discussing. Such a tragedy is Seneca’s Phaedra (54~ AD). Scholars suggest that Seneca had read closely Euripides’ Hippolytus Unveiled, a Greek tragedy known to be
provocative and characterized as promoter of immorality, but which was lost and 7 Original: “Δεν υπάρχει παρθενογένεση στην τέχνη”, date unknown, source:
Euripides had written a second one on the same subject, in order to please his audience. There are very few similarities between Euripides’ second Hippolytus and Seneca’s Phaedra making us believe that the Roman poet and philosopher used the early Hippolytus simply as inspiration.
Sarah Kane, following in the steps of her ancient predecessors, went back to the years of the early Roman Empire looking for a myth that would stimulate her. Kane’s inspiration on Phaedra’s Love came when she was asked by the Gate Theatre to write a play based on a classic one. It was Seneca’s provocative heroine who influenced the young playwright to write a story of despair, unconditional love and immoral, as we will see, lust, a context on which Kane took and created one of her most cynical plays. Interestingly enough, she considered it to be one of her most optimistic plays (along with Cleansed and Blusted), while she labeled it my comedy8.
(Sierz, 2001).
In this chapter I will provide a description of Seneca’s Phaedra, as it is Kane’s first point of reference. Phaedra’s analysis is crucial to my research, since Kane used it as her foundation. I always try to keep in mind that I am trying to examine the political character of theater, I am focusing on the main political issue rising in the tragedy: gender. What is Phaedra’s position in society and what does this have to do with her being a royalty? How do stereotypes affect her place? Is she free to act as she wishes? For my analysis I will be using fragments from the tragedy’s second act, in which Hippolytus unleashes his hate towards women and, more
specifically, his stepmother.
2.1 Dramatis personae
The dramatis personae in order of appearance are:
Hippolytus: The illegitimate son of the Queen of the Amazons9 and Theseus’. After murdering his mother, Theseus took him and raised him as his legal child. In Seneca’s play there is no question on whether Hippolytus should be the one stepping into Theseus’ shoes while he is gone; he is treated as the legitimate heir to the throne of Athens. He is dedicated to goddess of the forests Diana, which adds a very prudish aspect to his character. As Diana’s devotee he is a sworn virgin, showing a rather misogynic face: But the leaders of wickedness are women. (Smith/ Seneca, 123)
Chorus of huntsmen10: they follow Hippolytus to his hunting trip, a trip dedicated to Diana.
Phaedra: Queen of Athens through her marriage to Theseus, mother of twins and Hippolytus’ stepmother. She comes from a cursed line: Venus cursed the Sun’s offspring to have unnatural sexual appetites. Her mother, Pasiphae, Sun’s
daughter and Minos’ wife, coupled with a bull, giving birth to monster Minotaur, who Theseus killed. Venus’ curse led to her lust for her stepson. Nurse: Phaedra’s companion and confidant. Her dedication to her mistress make
her want to help Phaedra, ignoring the gods’ wills. She pleads that her age grants her wisdom to manipulate Hippolytus, while she is the one coming up with disingenuous plan, framing Hippolytus: […] if your mind is obsessed with such reckless thoughts, then forget your reputation (Smith/ Seneca, 114).
Chorus of Athenian women: they help the Nurse treat Phaedra and carry out her plan, without knowing all the details.
9 According to Scott Smith, his mother was Antiope, yet researchers have not come to a solid
conclusion, as some sources suggest it may have been Hippolyte the Amazon Theseus had Hippolytus with, hence his name
10 I am afraid the distinction among the choruses is Smith’s founding; I have not encountered another researcher/ translator suggesting there are two of them, and even Smith does not make clear which is onstage when.
Theseus: King of Athens. He comes back after a long journey to the Underworld, only to find his house almost destroyed.
Messenger: He informs Theseus of Hippolytus’ death. The existence of a messenger is a common tactic in tragedies, which helps authors describe a violent scene without having to put it on stage, following the Aristotelian rules of tragedy (Aristoteles, XXVI).
Even though Seneca follows the rule of three actors at a time on stage, it is hard to make a distinction between protagonists and secondary characters. Phaedra, Hippolytus and the Nurse are the three main characters, as they share an equal part in both lyrics and in partaking in the plot; the Messenger is a secondary character, being the bearer of bad news and describing the traditionally off-stage violent scene, while Theseus should be considered a protagonist despite the small length of his appearance. In my point of view it is his presence leading to the solution and catharsis, and that gives him the same weight as the three other protagonists11.
As Scott Smith, whose translation of Phaedra in English I am using for the purposes of this paper, suggests, there are two choruses: one consisted of huntsmen following Hippolytus to the forest and that of the Athenian women, helping the Nurse treat Phaedra (Smith, 58).
2.2 Plot
Set in the court of the Athenian palace, the tragedy is prologued by Hippolytus, who is getting ready to leave society and his inherited royal tasks behind, and go into the forest, dedicating his life into worshipping the deity of woods and animals, Diana. 11 Seneca subverts the classical threesome of protagonists, yet a modern theory questions whether ancient Greek poets respected that rule of Aristoteles’.
He prays and proceeds to the woods along with his huntsmen. The first episode starts with Phaedra talking about Venus’ curse upon the Sun’s offspring and how she could not be an exception, as she is his granddaughter. She confesses her wicked lust for her stepson, Hippolytus to her Nurse. She considers herself victim of Venus’ hate and she initially implies that there is nothing she could do to escape that fate of hers. The Nurse rationalizes Phaedra’s confession by ignoring the divine element and blaming the queen for wanting to have unnatural relationships with her husband’s son. “Love holds the greatest authority over me12”, Phaedra claims and the Nurse promises to help her fulfil her wish and attempts to talk Hippolytus into giving into the
temptation of relations with his stepmother. In the following parode, the Chorus sings about the power of love, the Nurse pleads Diana to allow Hippolytus to fall in love and Phaedra is getting manic.
In the second episode, Hippolytus returns from hunting to find Phaedra ill. He asks the Nurse what happened, but instead of getting into the details the Nurse is working her plan of convincing him give into Phaedra’s will by asking him to think of his flowering youth and the years going by without return. Hippolytus does not hold back and expresses his hate towards all women and above all Phaedra herself. That is when his stepmother enters, weak, something that Hippolytus interprets as a result of his father’s long absence. He then promises Phaedra to step in and take over his royal duties, rule the country as the heir to the Athenian throne and be a role model for his half-siblings, Phaedra and Theseus’ twins. Phaedra, not being able to control herself, confesses her lust for him. Being the divinely inspired persona
Hippolytus is, he first pleads guilty for leading his step-mother into the terrible sin of unnatural desire, and then decides to cleanse his family by killing Phaedra. When he realizes this is what she wants, he swears to not fulfill any of her wishes, and flees to 12 Amoris in me maximum regnum reor, Seneca, Phaedra: 218
the forest. The Nurse, dedicated to her queen, decides to plot Hippolytus’s punishment. She calls in the chorus of Athenian women, blaming Hippolytus for trying to rape his father’s wife. In the following stasimon, the chorus praises the young man’s beauty; they also say it should not be his alibi in the eyes of the gods to the crime he committed.
In the third and last episode, Theseus returns from the underworld, arriving at the palace to find the women grieving, while the Nurse informs him of his wife’s decision to put an end to her life, although she denies providing further information. When Theseus orders her torment, she informs him of his son’s presumable, appalling act. Theseus calls Neptune for fulfilling one of his granted wishes: he asks for
Hippolytus death. The chorus sings of gods’ indifference towards justice.
A Messenger enters, introducing the tragedy’s last episode. He describes Hippolytus’s terrible death to Theseus, who is devastated in the hearing of the news. The chorus morns for the young man and Phaedra runs to his dead body, signaling the exodus of the play. She confesses to Theseus the actual facts and commits suicide. Catharsis comes when he orders a proper funeral for his son and for earth to weigh heavily over his wife’s wicked soul13: As for the woman, dig a grave and cover her body with soil- may the earth weigh heavily upon her wicked soul (Smith/ Seneca, 148)
2.3 The issue of gender
Besides being a poet, Seneca was also a philosopher associated with the Stoic school, which is an aspect of his that cannot be ignored as the Stoic school theories are incorporated in his literary theatrical work. Stoics were initially considered to be feminists by the first scholars to conduct research on their theories- a belief that started dissolving in the late 20th century. They wrote explicit theories on gender, and, 13 Istam terra defossam premat, grauisque tellus impio capiti incubet, Seneca, Phaedra : 1279/80
as they faced an era of flowering, they contributed to the formation of the early Roman Empire. Compared to Greek women of the same era, women in Rome enjoyed much more freedom: they were allowed to participate in feasts and ceremonies and attend public spectacles (Motto, 1972). According to the Stoics, a woman should be educated; she has the same right to philosophizing as a man. She should be well informed about what is happening in society, even though her participation in events such as the elections is not clear. Seneca seems to have been critical about her position in society, an opinion he points out in multiple of his Epistulae14.
Seneca linked the two genders with nature’s elements, distributing the unstable and soft ones15 to the female. As he writes to Marcia, he is convinced of the
inferiority of women and of its biological nature, meaning they are inferior as their bodies are too weak to carry out the hardest tasks. A general description of what Seneca thinks of women would be the following:
[…] women are irrational, unrealistic, angry, cowardly, childish, extravagant, unstable and immoral. At times they are occupied in a negative context with children, wild animals, barbarians and uneducated males. (Lavery, Public)
Taking advantage of his position as a poet, Seneca uses Hippolytus to plead over women’s immorality. Hippolytus does not miss a chance to declare his hate towards women, and especially towards Phaedra. When the Nurse tries in the second act to talk to him and convince him that he should enjoy his youth while it lasts, by seeking pleasure in women’s touch, Hippolytus disputes with her:
14 Seneca has written a great amount of letters addressed to important people in his mind, in which he writes about ethics. These letters are the main source of his theories on morality.
Hippolytus: I loathe them all. I shun them, spurn them, scorn them. I don’t know if it’s rational, just my nature, or some terrible madness, but I want nothing to do with them. […] This one comfort I derive from the death of my mother: now I can hate all women. (Smith/ Seneca, 123-4)
Hippolytus: (to Phaedra) […] You surpass the whole female race in wickedness! What nerve you have! Your sin is greater than that of your monster- bearing mother; you are worse than the one who bore you. (Smith/ Seneca 127)
It is hard to understand when Hippolytus’ purity ends and Seneca’s lecturing begins. He strongly believes that a woman should have equal opportunities in social life, but he is also very critical with his contemporary women, the wealthiest of whom count their husbands (Motto, 1997). It is very clear that Seneca’s ideas were heavily influenced by the stereotypes of the time.
2.4 The stereotype of the “ false relative16”
Both the Nurse and Hippolytus tend to stick to acknowledging Phaedra solely in her capacity as mother and stepmother. Hippolytus uses the term stepmother in a very demeaning way and once again it appears like it is Seneca the philosopher and not the poet writing these lines. As it is mentioned above, Seneca believes that women are unstable, manic and victims of their sentiments. He considers lust to be a major factor in their mentality, which brings out a vicious aspect of them and he is rather honest concerning his detest towards women enjoying changing men.
The influence of Seneca’s despise towards sexually liberated women is obvious in the way sexuality is interpreted for Phaedra and Hippolytus. Seneca uses the Nurse 16 The «false relative » is a term I came up with, in an effort to provide a brief characterization of the stepmother; there is no blood relation to her spouse’s children, yet she is expected to treat them as if she was their mother
to make that difference clear, providing two contrasting approaches on the subject: Phaedra, as a woman, has to think of the possibility of baring Hippolytus’ child after the union (outcome of the intercourse), while Hippolytus, as a young man, has to think of his youth, which he wastes by not experiencing the pleasures a male his age should. With those two given, the question rising would be this: was sexuality a prerogative or a right?
To begin with, Seneca sets a “trap” up for Phaedra: he uses the word
stepmother not to define her, but to characterize her, a word used by her, Hippolytus, the Nurse and the chorus and a word with a very specific meaning for the Roman society. Mairead McCauley writes an extensive and very informative article on the stepmother stereotype in the years of Seneca, relying on a comparison of two
tragedies: Medea and Phaedra, both written by Seneca. I will be focusing solely on her analysis of Phaedra.
McCauley explains in her paper that a stepmother was not a well-respected person in Rome. She was often considered to be a distressing source of evil. As McCauley explains, stepmothers were often much younger than their husbands and closer to the age of their stepchildren, which would eventually lead to them getting romantically involved, as it was easier for them to create a bond with their stepsons. That resulted to the creation of a common belief that stepmothers were bound to their sentiments, often overwhelmed by them, irrational and unwilling to take over the role of a mother- a description that suits Seneca’s image for women. As a result, the Latin word for stepmother, noverca, would be considered rather often to be an insult, while McCauley believes Seneca uses that exact word to highlight Phaedra’s position in the society and exclude every other aspect of her existence.
Phaedra herself seems to feel discomfort by the use of this word: when
Hippolytus numbers the reasons he cannot have respect for her in the second episode, she asks him to stop calling her mother, and call her sister instead:
Phaedra: Mother? That name is too lofty, too strong. A humbler one fits my disposition. Call me sister, Hippolytus17.
[Step]mother is by definition a word that implies a certain age difference, while sister indicates a younger person, a familial bond between two people with little age difference. As a ‘false relative’, the stepmother is expected to behave like a mother, namely to treat her husband’s children as if they were her own, as if they share the same blood relation. Phaedra’s will to be called sister instead leads us to the
hypothesis that she is around Hippolytus’ age, rather than that of Theseus’. How can a woman and a man at the same age have that relationship of a mother and a son? In this regard, what McCauley mentions- but does not wish to stress out- is the gender roles colliding within the tragedy. Only a woman could be a [step]mother, hence society would expect her to follow certain rules it constructed for this role. Phaedra, being the king’s wife, would be expected to behave in a certain way; she would be required to have a very specific personality, one that could be a paradigm to Athenian women to follow, stay loyal to an older husband she was forced to wed, while she would have to oppress her youth’s impulses and ignore the erotic call of nature.
The early Empire’s traditional gender structure is demonstrated by Phaedra and Hippolytus’ relationship. The myth of Phaedra, the Cretan princess damned to have unnatural lust because of a divine curse might be Greek, but in this case we are 17 Matris superbum est nomen et nimium potens: nostros humilius nomen affectus decet; me uel
talking about a Roman tragedy. As I have mentioned above, stepmothers were
considered to be unstable creatures, condemned to live according to their hearts’ wish and ignore logic, and Seneca supported this idea. It is safe to say that he created his heroine according to the gender standards and stereotypes of the time.
Genders and the roles appointed to them are conceived by the human mind, and it is that same mentality forcing people to follow them. Mary Holmes provides an accurate definition on what gender is in the homonym book:
Gender: socially produced differences between being feminine and being masculine (Holmes, 2)
Gender is a concept created after sexes were defined. Once the biological differences between the two socially recognized sexes were clear, society constructed the roles needed to be taken by men and women. The male, being the physically strongest one, would be the provider: he would create a shelter, he would bring food, he would take care of the outside house work that needed to be done, as his body structure helps him to survive almost any danger that could occur in the outside world. The female, on the other hand, has the ability to bare children, cannot carry out tasks demanding physical force, while her petite- comparing to the male- figure, would make her an easy prey. Once those biological features were a given, the roles were clear: the man would be part of the outside world, the woman would be part of the inside world.
Ages went by and society progressed, it became organized and ‘civilized’, but those terms did not turn around. The male would have the right to participate in decisions designating society’s future, while the female would leave her parents’ home
only to go to her husband’s home, and become a wife and mother. The traditional roles of the two sexes did not change because of the will for social stability from both sides: any kind of change would be considered threatening. Accordingly, women would stay dependent on their fathers first, and then on their husbands- and that situation would not change for thousands of years (Holmes, 6).
Phaedra is such a ‘victim’ of social functionalism. She left her family home and moved to her husband’s, where she is required to follow the norm: she needs to set the example of the loyal woman, waiting patiently for her spouse to come back, while she takes care of the household. She has no right to complain at all, and the idea of wanting another man- let alone a lover- is out of the question. As to what her position is, one can see the way Nurse, her loyal fiduciary, addresses to her: “Theseus’ wife”, she calls her, before she reminds her that she needs to […] act how a queen with royal power should act, and to fear and respect the authority of her returning husband. Phaedra is not supposed to let her feelings influence her behavior.
Yet, her feelings appear to be the only thing she has full control over. To follow the Stoic way of thinking, Phaedra is experiencing one of the most natural things she could: love for a man. The problem is that she is not permitted to give in. This alone stands, in my opinion, as a very political fact. Seneca takes advantage of the theatrical stage to lecture about women’s morality and especially over ‘corrupted’ women, such as stepmothers. By creating a very volatile Hippolytus, he unleashes a wave of hate towards women, giving a speech on the loose morals of women.
Lastly, sexuality was, apparently, a prerogative only for men in the years of the early Roman Empire. Women may have been allowed to participate in the public feasts, celebrations and life in general, but they were strongly criticized when they behaved like men in other regards. Stoic philosophers may have been considered
progressive for talking about women’s rights in education, but they did not separate them from the slaves, which only means they put them in the same category: neither of them were free citizens. Both women and slaves should be educated so that they would be pleasing to the actual free citizens, men. They should be able to hold a conversation on a high level, but only if it was asked by them.
Smith suggests in his introduction that one should not try to read Seneca’s plays in a philosophical context, but this is something I do not agree with. As we saw above, though, Seneca’s rough criticism on women’s behavior is deeply associated with his beliefs. He considered them to be a contamination that needs to be carefully treated so that it will not disturb the social balance. Coming from theater studies, I could not ignore the poet’s background and mentality, especially since he was a great public figure in the years of the early Empire. In addition, one should not ignore the fact Seneca was the tutor and consultant of emperor Nero, one of the most significant Roman personalities. It is this connection between the poet and Roman political life I cannot overlook and this lead me to read Phaedra as a highly political play.
Theater, in my opinion, should be read as political, no matter what genre or period of creation. An individual gets stimulated to write a story, create whole characters, each one of which is a different personality, putting across different ideas. Seneca’s main three characters do lecture on three different things in their monologues: the Nurse talks about sense, Hippolytus talks about women’s position and Phaedra talks about love. The three of them combined provide a quite clear picture one of the biggest of the time and on these matters. My understanding is that Seneca, willingly or not, did influence the contemporary social, thus political, situation, as this was theater’s role at the time. Even if Phaedra was firstly written to be performed in a close circle
of aristocrats, its message was strong enough to break through and still reach to us in the 21st century.
What fascinates me most about Phaedra the most is its endless themes calling for analysis. Gender, adultery, religion, purity, it seems like there are so many social- and therefore political- issues rising within this play. The myth of Phaedra has inspired some great future writers: Eugene O’Neil, for instance, was inspired by the tragedy for Desire Under the Elms. As far as Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love, I believe it was a combination of Seneca’s deepening into the human psyche with his placing violence on stage18 that inspired her. Phaedra’s monologue on her feelings towards Hippolytus makes even more dramatic her decision to commit suicide: despite her strong and, in a non-stoic way, completely natural feelings she behaves as Seneca writes her to and this immoral behavior led to her brutal death. Phaedra’s deep and humane feelings in association with the brutality of both her and Hippolytus’ death make the perfect recipe for an in-yer-face spectacle.
3. The modern perspective of the myth: Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love
It was the year 1996 when Sarah Kane was asked by London’s Gate Theatre to write a play based on a past European classic. Kane, who had previously stated herself despising such plays (Greek and Roman tragedies) due to the lack of onstage action19, saw James Macdonald’s production of Seneca’s Thyestis and was amused by the result, hence she searched for inspiration into the Roman poet and philosopher’s work. After reading Seneca’s Phaedra only once, she wrote her own version, Phaedra’s
18 Probably the only non-static parts in his work are the ones that the heroes become violent, either by murdering or by committing suicide.
Love20. What she wanted to keep in tact was “the classical concerns Greek theater-
love, hate, death, revenge, suicide- but use a completely contemporary urban poetry” (Kane/ Sierz, 109).
With this Kane brings the violence into the spotlight. She reads into Seneca’s psychology and rewrites the myth with a contemporary perspective, giving a more humane dimension to the characters than the Roman’s poet. Additionally, she gives the public a more active role within the story, since she does not focus on their position within society. Comparing to Seneca, Kane does not give much weight on them being royal According to Kane Seneca’s play
[Firstly, it]’s a play about a sexually corrupt royal family- which makes it highly contemporary- and secondly, Hippolytus is deeply unattractive. He’s a chaste, a puritan, a hater of mankind […] my Hippolytus pursues honesty- even when that means he has to destroy himself and everyone else. (Kane/ Sierz, 109)
Sierz suggests in his book In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (2000) that Phaedra’s Love should not be read through the scope of a criticism against the British royal family. With this, I partially disagree. As I argue, theater has a strong political character and voice (Sierz, In-Yer-Face). In the case of Phaedra’s Love, it was written during a period of political agitation for Britain. The Cool Britannia movement was at its apex and the ‘Brits’ were looking to redefine themselves in an era of globalization. There are several playwrights that criticize Cool Britannia, such as Mark Ravenhill, not to mention Kane in Blasted. In Phaedra’s Love, the magnitude of the British Empire is not mentioned at all, but there are several comments against the royal family- or at least the one portrayed in the play- in addition to its social 20 Kane did not read Euripides’ or Racine’s version until after she had finished her own.
commentary. To be clear, does not mean that Phaedra’s Love is a solely criticism of the royal family; in my point of view, a general social criticism is also included.
Having in mind these political statements- which I will be analyzing further in this chapter- in addition to Ken Urban’s characterization of in-yer-face playwrights as ‘nihilists’ (Urban, Elusive ). I will proceed to the analysis of my main analytical object, Phaedra’s Love. As in the previous chapter, I begin with a short dramaturgical analysis of the play and then move on to providing a theoretical background; in this case and in my point of view, nihilism. I will be exploring how the nihilist ideals, both moral and political, are found both in Kane’s aesthetics (textual form, staging instructions as well as the very existence of Hippolytus) and within the action taking place.
3.1 Dramatis personae
The dramatis personae of this play are (in order of appearance):
Hippolytus: Prince of Athens; son of Theseus. He spends his days watching TV and having sex with random people. Extremely cynical, he finds joy in nothing but his own death.
Doctor: Summoned by Phaedra in order to examine Hippolytus and to find a solution to his behavior. He finds Hippolytus ‘just unpleasant.’
Phaedra: Queen, Theseus’ wife. She is sexually attracted to her stepson,
Hippolytus. She also has a daughter from a previous wedding. After confessing her feelings to both her daughter, Strophe, and Hippolytus, and after having gotten intimate with the latter, she accuses Hippolytus for rape and commits suicide.
Strophe: Phaedra’s daughter and confidant. She has been a lover to both Hippolytus and Theseus. Apart from that, she is the only character in the play agonizing for fair treatment towards everybody: “Did you have sex with her? […] If you didn’t I’ll stand by you.” (Kane, 88-9)
Priest: He visits Hippolytus while in prison and tries to make him confess, in order for his sins to be absolved. He believes that salvation can only from the recognition of the one and true God: “Lord, look down on this man you chose, forgive his sin which comes from the intelligence you blessed him with.” (Kane, 95)
Theseus: King. Phaedra’s husband and Hippolytus’ father. He returns after a long journey21 only to find his wife dead. He promises to kill Hippolytus, and
manipulates the crowd into doing so. He commits suicide after he finds out he raped and murdered Strophe.
Men, women, child, policemen: Citizens forming the crowd outside the court. They express hostile feelings towards the royal family and they attack Hippolytus and Strophe.
3.2 Plot
Phaedra’s Love is divided into eight short22 scenes. The first scene is an
introduction of Hippolytus. We see the young man in his room, surrounded by piles of garbage, watching television and proceeding to masturbate.
21 In Kane’s version the specifics of his journey are not mentioned.
22 The longest of them takes ten pages of short lines (crosstalk), while the shortest no more than one line.
In the second, Phaedra and the royal doctor observe Hippolytus. They discuss his situation: the doctor says he might be depressed, or just unpleasant, but is also judgemental towards Phaedra’s exaggerated concern. Phaedra keeps reminding him that they are royal and she is only concerned in the way a mother should be: “I’m his stepmother. We are royal.” (Kane, 66)
When the doctor is gone, Phaedra goes ahead and expresses to her daughter, Strophe, how she has feelings for Hippolytus. Strophe is trying to talk her out of any incest, by arguing how boring Hippolytus is and how ‘they23’ are looking for an excuse to tear the royal family apart: “Mother. If someone were to find out.” (Kane, 71).
In the fourth scene, Phaedra enters Hippolytus’ room to bring him some
birthday gifts. She tries to start a conversation, which revolves around the specifics of his sex life. Being cynical, Hippolytus says he has no interest in anybody or anything. While Phaedra expresses her sexual desire for him, he remains apathetic. She gives him ‘birthday present’, which is oral sex, but he continues to show no interest. His last effort to send her away is letting her know that both him and Theseus have had sex with Strophe and that he also carries gonorrhea.
In the next scene, Strophe storms in to inform Hippolytus about Phaedra’s accusations for rape. As Hippolytus keeps emotionless, she tells him her mother committed suicide and there is a mob marching towards the palace, demanding his punishment. Hippolytus decides to admit he raped Phaedra and turn himself in.
A priest visits Hippolytus in his cell. He talks to him about God and how his sins will be forgiven if he confesses, but Hippolytus does not believe in God. He manipulates the priest to perform oral sex on Hippolytus.
Meanwhile, Theseus arrives at the palace, finding Phaedra’s dead body ready for burial.
The play ends with the mob reaching the court and protesting against the royal family. Theseus and Strophe are among them, disguised and without knowledge of each other’s presence. When Hippolytus is brought outside, he manages to escape the guards and run to Theseus. His father kisses him before he pushes him into the mob, asking them to kill him. The mob murders Hippolytus in a brutal way as Strophe defends him. Theseus, without recognizing her, rapes her and then cuts her throat. While the crowd butchers Hippolytus’ body, he calls on Strophe. Only then, Theseus realizes it is actually her who he assaulted. In remorse, he cuts his own throat. Vultures come close to them, making Hippolytus express emotion for the first time: he smiles to the end. As he passes away, a vulture starts eating his body, signaling the play’s conclusion.
3.3 The impact of nihilism
When discussing Kane, theater critics and scholars have been divided into two groups: those who take her real life suicide into consideration and those who do not. As I have stated, and would like to recall, I do not wish to focus on the specifics of Kane’s personality, rather my purpose is to look into her writing. Thus, despite the fact a suicide can be considered the ultimate nihilist action24, I am excluding it purposely.
In Phaedra’s Love there are some explicit scenes, not only violent ones, but sexually provocative ones as well25. Kane breaks from the theatrical norm by creating a play with no a conventional form, not hesitating to put forth appalling images. Ken
24 As nihilism requires demolition of everything, death is the only act bringing the wanted result. Suicide is nothing but an embracement of the nihilist truth.
Urban, theater director and scholar, writes about Kane in his article “Ethics of Catastrophe:”
Kane, during her brief career, created a substantial body of work that altered the landscape of British theatre in the 1990s, and the season26 was a chance to reflect on this accomplishment. (Urban, Elusive, 36)
Although at first attracting controversy and negative criticism, Kane managed to become a voice of her generation in less than five years. Along with Mark Ravenhill, Anthony Neilson and others, they forged the British theater into the ‘nineties; a theater that had been adverse to experimentation, and consistently looked to follow theatrical norms and tradition. Urban calls this generation of playwrights “Nihilists,” but does not explain whether in a philosophical or political context:
Kane, along with Mark Ravenhill, Anthony Neilson, Martin McDonagh, Joe Penhall, Jez Butterworth, and Judy Upton, were quickly dubbed by the press the “New British Nihilists” or “New Brutalists.” […] Yet, they share so many central political and aesthetic concerns. (Urban, Elusive, 37)
I find Urban’s ambiguity here brilliant, as both philosophical and political nihilism apply in Kane’s work, especially within Phaedra’s Love. Therefore, it is up to the reader to decide what suits best. In later works (“Towards a Theory of Cruel Britannia: Coolness, Cruelty, and the 'Nineties,” 2004) this ambiguity becomes clear mentioned in both moral and political nihilistic terms.
To begin, when Urban refers to philosophical nihilism, he means moral nihilism, and, in my point of view, this is what corresponds to the play’s description. According
26 He refers to London Royal Court Theatre’s spring theatrical season of 2001, which was dedicated to the late Kane. In honor of her memory, there were productions of her most significant plays and readings of the ‘minor’ ones (including Phaedra’s Love).
to moral nihilists, there is no right or wrong, morally correct or incorrect (immoral); there are only feelings and their expressions. There should be no guilt or pleasure in the act of speaking about emotions and there should be no insult taken by the
receiver. Neil Cooper adds in his article “Moral Nihilism” that the greatest ‘temptation’ for a moral-nihilist-to-be is a subjective sense of aesthetics (Cooper, 1973-4, 85). A moral nihilist should maintain devoting to their nihilist ideas at all costs; there is no form of art that can be either pleasant or unpleasant, as there are no such terms stated in nihilism. As a result, a nihilist is expected to find all pieces of art equally
pleasant/unpleasant aesthetically as these are characterizations procured by the norm. Kane as an artist27 can be considered a moral nihilist. She has no hesitation in putting onstage some of man’s most primitive instincts. In her plays, she describes, in detail, actions such as urination and defecation and, not only would she expect them to be shown, but also as sensation. In Phaedra’s Love, specifically, the following acts are explicitely described: masturbation, fellatio (twice), rape and Hippolytus’ cruel death, which is a rather unpleasant show:
Woman 2 cuts off his genitals.
They are thrown onto the barbecue. […]
Theseus takes the knife.
He cuts Hippolytus from groin to chest.
Hippolytus’ bowels are torn out and thrown onto the barbecue. He is kicked and stoned and spat on. (Kane, 101)
This last scene caused the audience to laugh hard(Urban, Cruelty).
27 I would like to state again at this point that I exclude Kane’s most nihilistic act from my research, meaning her suicide, as I believe it is an incident that could lead to subjective judgement and results.
Even though Kane was (initially) harshly criticized for her aesthetics, it was this that made her, and her fellow in-yer-face authors, stand out from the crowd. Theater, as Aristoteles defined it, is supposed to provide aesthetic pleasure to the audience. To me, Kane is an absolute aesthetically moral nihilist, as she not only refers to the actions given above, but these actions are also vital points in the play. She chooses to show human nature at its most raw: filthy, true, natural. As Sierz points out, her ability is to “delve into the nastier recesses of the human spirit and come up with emotionally fraught dialogue” (Sierz, 111). Being the equalist she was stated to have been, Kane makes no distinction in class, gender, age; in her plays everybody is human, carrying every characteristic of that nature.
Yet, her work is not only about aesthetics. In fact, she is rather indifferent on that particular matter- an attitude that enhances my statement on her moral nihilism. Therefore, after providing a short depiction on what is moral nihilism and how it aspires aesthetically to Kane’s play, I would like to move on to the play’s political aspect and how it is influenced by nihilism.
Political nihilism is a movement that started in Russia in the 19th century and is considered to have set the theoretical foundation to contemporary anarchism.
Nihilists’ perception of society was to blame its current state of being disapproving of traditional social forms (i.e. marriage, family, law enforcement, government). David Ohana describes Russian Nihilism in his book The Dawn of Political Nihilism as the following:
“Nihilism” was ascribed to those who denied all authority or concepts, whether religious beliefs or moral ideas, political theories or social outlooks unless proved be reason or confirmed by their usefulness to society. The nihilist
rejected all that was based on tradition, authority or value-judgements. (Ohana, 2009, 6)
The Russian Nihilists’ primary focus was to take down the monarchy, creating cores of revolutionary acts, a highlight being the assassination of Tsar Alexander II28. Their aggressive attitude and fondness for terrorism29 lead to a movement soon to be muted. Regardless, influences coming from those basic tennats can be found in later radical political movements with abundance.
How are these theories -both moral and political- found in Kane’s Phaedra’s Love? How do they lead to the outcome- how do they influence the author? These are the questions I will try to answer. As a result, I will be focusing my analysis on scenes three, six and eight for political nihilism and on the Hippolytus character for moral nihilism. After having presented how Phaedra’s Love incorporates nihilist theory, I will identify how the outcome is a criticism towards contemporary British society and its political state.
3.4 Moral nihilism in Phaedra’s Love
As a dramatic text, Phaedra’s Love has no specific form; its author does not follow any dramaturgical rule. In comparison to Seneca’s Phaedra, Kane does not take into consideration the aristotelic rules of tragedy. She writes a short, eight-scene play, with no obvious time continuity or connective tissue. There is no evidence regarding the length of action, what time has passed between scenes, or even if the setting is
28 In this point, I would like to mention that Nihilists have inspired arts too both in an aspiring way (i.e. Oscar Wilde’s “Vera; or The Nihilists”, but also later movements, such as Dada, Futurism, Surrealism, etc. 29 When using the word ‘terrorism’ it is important to keep in mind that it is not used within the contemporary consensus as being religiously fueled.
day or night. Additionally, the lines are short, creating hasty dialogues and crosstalk, most of the time.
The first scene works as an introduction. Even though there is little stage direction given, the image is clear: Hippolytus’ personal space is an ‘outhouse.’ He is surrounded by empty food packages and dirty clothes, while eating junk food and masturbating. He lives in disarray and has no interest in personal hygiene (he uses a sock, discarded by the pile of clothes, to blow his nose and another one to
masturbate into).
In the second scene, Phaedra and the royal family’s doctor are discussing the princes’ situation. Initially, the doctor suggests that Hippolytus is depressed, a word with very significant history within nihilism30.The Doctor proceeds into suggesting treatments for said depression: finding hobbies, socializing, paying attention to personal hygiene, exercising; but Phaedra spurns every one of them, as she claims Hippolytus already does them. The Doctor’s conclusion is
Doctor: He’s just very unpleasant. And therefore incurable. I’m sorry. (Kane, 68)
Hippolytus is not only being unpleasant, as he is also being painful. The fourth scene is the one of confession, when Phaedra expresses her feelings about him. It is his birthday and people have sent him gifts to pay their respects. Hippolytus has no interest whatsoever; in fact, he does not deal well with these kind gestures:
Hippolytus: They’re poor. Phaedra: Yes, isn’t it charming?
30 Society would often consider nihilists depressed, as their will of tearing the world down would be misinterpreted as a de profundis sorrow. The medical society considered nihilism to be a symptom of severe depression, an argument that was firstly used in medical journals in 1888 (Urban, 2004, 366).
Hippolytus: It’s revolting. (He opens a present.) What the fuck am I going to do with this bagatelle? What’s this? (He shakes a present.) Letter bomb. Get rid of this tat, give it to Oxfam, I don’t need it. (Kane, 75)
Phaedra is trying to engage in a conversation, concerning his sex life31. She is building up courage, seeking an opportunity to express her feelings. Hippolytus, however, keeps demeaning everything and declares his hate for people:
Phaedra: You only talk to me about sex. Hippolytus: It’s my main interest.
Phaedra: I thought you hated it. Hippolytus: I hate people. (Kane, 77)
He does whatever he can to keep Phaedra in a distance, including being sarcastic towards her, trying to irritate her:
Hippolytus: Come on, Mother, work it out. Phaedra: Don’t call me that.
[…]
31 Her approach reminds me of a mother ‘fishing’ her son: Phaedra: What about you?
Hippolytus: What about me? Want a sweet? Phaedra:
I-No. Thank you.
The last time you-What you asked me. Hippolytus: Had a fuck. Phaedra: Yes. (Kane, 76)
Hippolytus: Why shouldn’t I call you mother, Mother? I thought that’s what was required. One big happy family. The only popular royals ever. Or does it make you feel old?
The entire fourth scene is basically a conversation amongst the two, in which Phaedra tries to make him see the good in himself and in life, while Hippolytus tries to repel her. Even after Phaedra performs oral sex on him, he shows no affection toward her feelings. His attitude, though, should not be considered as inconsiderate, as all he tries to do is be honest- something that is clarified later on, in the sixth scene.
Hippolytus irritates everyone around him: Phaedra, the Doctor, Strophe- and, to be honest, me as a reader. His annihilating attitude can be tiring, but what he tries to succeed is to get a peace of mind. He did not choose to be royalty, he did not choose the attention brought on him. In fact, he tries to choose his lifestyle. When he admits to having raped Phaedra, he knows what the punishment will be and is ready to embrace it. However, until his last hours/days/months things are still forced onto him: a Priest visits him, trying to make him confess and show him the way to redemption. Still, Hippolytus is completely aware of who he is:
Hippolytus: What do you suggest, a last minute conversation just in case? Die as if there is a God, knowing
that there isn’t? No. If there is a God, I’d like to look him in the face knowing I’d died as I’d
lived. In conscious sin. […]
I’ve lived by honesty let me die by it.
It is this final statement that brings out Hippolytus’ true self. Kane’s Hippolytus represents a person who has denied hypocrisy and his belief in an absolute
metaphysic truth leads him to fail in functioning within the material world. He refuses to defend himself against rape charges because he would be a fraud like everybody else (Urban, Cruelty, 368). There are no rights or wrongs for him, that is why he is not appalled by his stepmother’s sexual desire. In his eyes, everybody wanting, or
expecting, something from him is pathetic. He is annoyed by the Priest, who wants to force his own personal truth, for Hippolytus has spent his days simply ‘existing.’ So, he embraces the absolute nihilist act, finding joy in it:
Hippolytus: Vultures.
(He manages a smile.)
If there could have been more moments like this.
Hippolytus dies.
A vulture descends and begins to eat his body. (Kane, 102-3)
Phaedra’s Love is a constant dialogue between Hippolytus and those who surround him on his subjective life perspective. It appears as if nobody completely understands him, rather preferring to spend energy on making him ‘normal32’, like the Doctor or the Priest; or try and force themselves on him, like Phaedra.
I find Hippolytus’ lifestyle to reflect moral nihilism perfectly. He denies
following the norm (or what seems to be considered as such). Instead, he is parasitic in his actions, advocating how everything and everybody is pointless. He despises any kind of human contact, physical or spiritual. He has never tricked anyone into anything and has never lied about, either, his intentions or his non-existent feelings. There is no beauty in his life, but his honesty brings him closer to Seneca’s Hippolytus,
establishing him as pure.
To sum up, Kane’s Hippolytus is a cynical, slightly depressed, emotionless man. He expects nothing and he wishes for nothing in return. He does not recognize beauty, joy, or any kind of sentiment. Deep down he is very simple: he is a moral nihilist in his entire existence, taking his only enjoyment out of his self destruction.
3.5 Political Nihilism in Phaedra’s Love
I previously spoke on how Hippolytus is depicted as a moral nihilist. His acts and emotionless life were building up to his death, the only incident that would make
32 What means to be normal is a huge discourse. My using of this word is conscious and is referential to personal experiences: both the Doctor and the Priest introduce a series of actions Hippolytus must do, like adopt a healthy diet, start exercising, stay clean, pray, etc. These are all actions that we all encounter in our everyday life by always reading about them (how many manuals do exist on the value of a healthy diet?), listening about them, or are somehow forced on us (I was not asked if I want to follow a religion; instead, I was baptized at a very young age, being ‘forced’ to follow certain religious practices till I was old enough to renounce them myself). The bottom line is, there will always be a guide on how to be normal- the question whether there should be such a term (‘normal’) leads to a huge discussion, that is not the subject of this paper.
