An Analysis of Phaedra's State of Mind in Hippolytus

A detailed Summary of An Analysis of Phaedra's State of Mind in Hippolytus

The play "Hippolytus" revolves around the central theme of "the quarrel between sacred and profane love, represented by Artemis and Aphrodite". Hippolytus who is an ardent and committed believer of sacred love considers Artemis (goddess of all wild things, the protector of youth, and the patroness of hunters, childbirth, moon, fisherman, and unmarried girls) "greatest of the Gods in heaven" as she stands for sacred love. On the other hand he considers the goddess Cypris (Aphrodite) "vilest of the Gods in heaven as she represents profane love. Thus Cypris is angry and jealous and in order to attain retribution causes Hippolytus's stepmother to fall in love with him. Hence Phaedra is viewed in this play as a victim of Aphrodite's revenge, as is the protagonist Hippolytus. Phaedra's passion for her stepson causes great emotional trauma and conflict in her mind and her speeches in the play bring out her rational, intelligent, moral and philosophical side as well as her traumatized, confused and helpless side. However in the end her emotional, passionate side has the final say when she commits suicide causing the advent of the rest of the tragedy.

We first encounter Phaedra in the play when the chorus speak of her and mention that s

When the nurse finally persuades Phaedra to confess the reason for her suffering, the nurse becomes melodramatic and irrational. However, after a little while she surprises the audience by giving a completely rational, logical speech on her thoughts and sufferings. This speech changes our opinions on Phaedra as it contrasts her earlier helplessness, frailty and almost delirious state of mind. She now comes across as an intelligent, knowledgeable woman who has sufficiently "pondered on the causes of her life's shipwreck". She rationalizes and feels that "we know the good but we can't bring it to achievement". She describes her thought processes when she felt passion for her stepson. She explains how she thought she could keep it quiet and concealed but when this did not work she tried to overcome her passions. At the same time she explains how she wants to be a virtuous and honorable person and that if this scandal were to leak out into the kingdom then it would affect the society as a whole. People in the kingdom would look up to her and if they observed that their queen was committing such atrocities then this behavior must be acceptable. After viewing her situation from this perspective she resolved to kill herself. Therefore, in this speech, we are able to see her rational, logical thought processes

Some common words found in the essay are:
God Aphrodite, Hippolytus Phaedra's, Ego Superego, Aphrodite Hippolytus, Cypris Aphrodite, Superego Id, Aphrodite Hence, , Hence Phaedra, ego superego, Phaedra Id, rational logical, phaedra's mind, gods heaven, sacred love, duty citizens, passion stepson, create balance, profane love, encounter phaedra,

Approximate Word count = 883
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English