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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Lungu, R D Title: Médée, Clytemnestre and Phèdre Female Heroism Revisited in Seventeenth-Century French Tragedy General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. 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Médée, Clytemnestre and Phèdre: Female Heroism Revisited in Seventeenth-Century French Tragedy Ramona-Dana Lungu A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts School of Modern Languages May 2018 1 Abstract This thesis reinterprets Médée’s, Phèdre’s and Clytemnestre’s behaviour, actions and character in the dramatic works of Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine and Hilaire-Bernard de Longepierre, and provides new and original readings of their experience and deeds. This endeavour incorporates a comparative approach to the classical Greek and French early modern versions of these characters which emphasizes the development that the latter undergo in order to acquire psychological depth and complexity. The behaviour and actions of these early modern tragic heroines is then analysed through an ethical framework, which combines Carol Gilligan’s ethics of care and Martha Nussbaum’s valorisation of the role of emotions in the decision-making process. This reading engages with the tragic characters’ experience and perception in a manner that acknowledges and values specific aspects of their behaviour and reasoning which so far have been devalued or overlooked, specifically their emotional reactions and their ideas about goodness and responsibility. This analysis argues that the ethical standpoint of female tragic heroines is as valid and valuable as the deliberation mode of their male counterparts and reclaims their place within the tragic hero category. The analysis of the characters’ behaviour and actions is deepened through a psychoanalytical approach informed by transactional analysis and game theory, concepts developed and applied by Eric Berne. This approach challenges previous Freudian readings, to provide new and original interpretations of the characters’ behaviour and a composite image of the factors that inform their actions, particularly inherited values and beliefs about themselves and the world. The final step of this study is the analysis of recent productions of these plays. This endeavour completes our reading of these tragic characters by presenting the new interpretations that emerge from recent performances in terms of characters’ behaviour and interactions and the way they reinforce the readings incorporated in chapters 2 and 3 of this thesis. This study overcomes the biases of previous interpretations of these characters and provides original readings which enable us to perceive these characters and their behaviour from a different perspective. 2 Dedication and Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Edward Forman for his constant support, encouragement and guidance throughout this entire process. I am grateful to Dr. Ellen O’Gorman for her support and patience. She is a great academic and a true role model. I am also grateful to the small community of academic women who supported and encouraged me throughout this journey: Dr. Emma Cole, Dr. Ruth Coates, Dr. Siobhan Shilton and Professor Marianne Ailes. A special thanks to Professor Susan Harrow for the advice and support she provided throughout my program. I would also like to thank the University of Bristol for the scholarship and the travel bursaries which enabled this research. My husband, Dan, and my family have been supportive and encouraging every step of the way, and I dedicate this work to them. Many thanks to Anamaria Amarii, Ana Léon Jurado, Dr. Bethany Pleydell, Dr. Eve Benhamou, Jawaher Alghamdi, Mihaela Caras, Dr. Philipa Lewis, Dr. Rhiannon Easterbrook, Sophie Cattermole and Dr. Sophie Hatchwell, for their friendship and their constant support and advice regarding my work as well as my well-being. 3 I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate’s own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED: Ramona-Dana Lungu DATE: 03 October 2019 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1.1 Tragedy and the tragic character 6 1.2 Scholarship review 25 1.3 Methodology 45 1.4 Outline of thesis 58 I. MEDEA, CLYTEMNESTRA AND PHAEDRA FROM ANCIENT GREECE TO SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE 1.1 Introduction 62 2.1 Medea and Médée 75 2.2 Clytemnestra and Clytemnestre 103 2.3 Phaedra and Phèdre 124 3.1 Conclusion 142 II. EXPLORING MÉDÉE’S, CLYTEMNESTRE’S AND PHÈDRE’S ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE: AN ETHICS OF CARE APPROACH 1.1 Tragedy’s relationship to ethics: moral approaches to the tragic conflict 145 1.2 Methodology 150 2.1 Médée: the strong are invincible 162 2.2 Clytemnestre: only the weak value relationships 180 2.3 Phèdre: the opposition between conscience and passion 198 3.1 Conclusion 218 III. EXPLORING THE MINDSET OF MÉDÉE, CLYTEMNESTRE AND PHÈDRE: A TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS READING 1.1 Introduction 221 1.2 Methodology 221 2.1 Médée and the ‘Always’ script 240 2.2 Clytemnestre and the ‘After’ script 263 2.3 Phèdre’s ‘See What You Made Me Do’ game 289 3.1 Conclusion 305 IV. MÉDÉE, CLYTEMNESTRE AND PHÈDRE ON THE CONTEMPORARY STAGE 1.1 Introduction 308 1.2 Approaches to staging classical tragedy: Methodology 310 2.1 Contemporary performances 2.1.1 Médée 327 2.1.2 Iphigénie 339 2.1.3 Phèdre 353 3.1 Conclusion 377 CONCLUSION 381 BIBLIOGRAPHY 391 5 Introduction 1.1 Tragedy and the tragic character This section will begin with a discussion of Hans Lehmann’s idea of a transhistorical tragic motif, an element which has endured, can be performed in postdramatic theatre, and attracts the interest of the audience. This tragic motif will be connected to Aristotle’s theories regarding tragedy and the tragic character in order to get a sense of the way this element is presented and discussed in the Classical period which marks the beginning of the dramatic tradition. The discussion will afterwards move to the early modern ideas regarding tragedy which are inspired by an interpretation of Aristotle’s principles, in order to reveal the way this tragic motif is developed in this period alongside a specific treatment of the tragic character informed by contemporary values and beliefs. This will indicate that the early modern tragic heroes who display the tragic motif identified by Lehmann, are relevant to a contemporary audience because this element is combined with a specific way of constructing the tragic character in the French classical period. This discussion will set up the main theoretical concepts of French classical tragedy, and will argue that the early modern dramatic texts I examine in this thesis have been chosen because they depict characters who display the tragic motif identified by Lehmann, and this in combination with a specific treatment of the tragic hero/heroine attracts the interest of the twenty-first century audience. Hans Lehmann’s analysis of tragedy focuses on finding an ahistorical tragic motif or model that can be achieved in the conditions of a postdramatic theatre performance which tends to be stripped down of plot or to unsettle the formal elements of the dramatic text. Drawing from Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Georges Bataille, Lehmann argues that the tragic does not reside in conflict but in presenting ‘a manifestation of rupture, which occurs in and / or outside the subject 6 in the form of transgressive energy’.1 According to Lehmann, the tragic is about the human being and the need to overstep boundaries, to reach too far, to be reckless and to take risks in the name of a desire for unrestrained love, power or vengeance. The essential feature of this tragic element is the violation of cultural norms and laws even though these possibilities represent part of the self. The tragic character loses oneself in order to find oneself. Tragedy becomes a process of self-destruction leading to self-discovery which at times can be accompanied by feelings of guilt and sin. Lehmann acknowledges that a conflict of values may arise in these tragic plots, but he argues that the tragic is defined mostly along these lines. The critic places this transgression model alongside a conflict based one and argues that they represent the main tragic modes identified in recent times.