The Phaedra and Hippolytus myth is a frequently dramatized narrative of uncontrollable desire. This thesis examines two versions, Euripides' Hippolytus, first presented in 428 B.C. as part of the Athenian festival of Dionysus, and Sarah Kane's 1996 play, Phaedra's Love, first presented as part of the Gate Theatre of London's "new playwrights, ancient sources" series. In each play, Phaedra's desire is constructed according to sociohistorical conditions which are temporary in their cultural significance. Once the moment of creation has passed, so have the conditions in which each version of desire is originally understood. However, these constructions of Phaedra's desire also bear a simultaneously transhistorical quality as they complicate human notions of agency. In the West, therefore, Phaedra's desire is represented as a tragically constructed emotion. This thesis posits desire as transhistorically relevant in its ability to question modes of human subjectivity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.116047 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Chartrand, Amy. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of English.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 003164282, proquestno: AAIMR66985, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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