I'm a Bookworm

This play is by Sartre and follows the Greek myth of Orestes. Orestes is the estranged son of a king and queen from Argos. He spends time in the town and learns that this his mother and stepfather killed his father Agamemnon. Orestes and his sister Electra work together to avenge their father’s death and rid the city of Argos from its guilt, its haunting spirits, and the flies that constantly circle it.

I loved the way the play was written, without neccesarily conciously picking up on the way that Sartre brings forward his philosophies.  Existentialism is a philosophy which believes in self-determination of one’s actions. A human being can depend on an outside source, such as society or deity to outline his morals, or he can decide for himself.

The interesting part of this book comes when Zeus tries to convince Orestes and his sister that their actions were wrong and they should join the rest of the town in perpetual guilt for actions of the past. In this scene, the ideas of existentialism come to the forefront on the points of view of the characters involved.

Zeus corners Orestes and Electra in the cave of Apollo and tells them to admit that the murder of their mother and stepfather was a sin, and that they should suffer and atone for it. Electra eventually agrees with Zeus. This means that she has let him define and moralise her actions. She has given her power of determination to another entity, in this case a God.

Orestes decides to have more of an existentialist philosophy and be for himself. This means that he determines what he thinks of his situation. He does not neccesarily reject the reality of his situation (like separating yourself from nature) but he decides how he will react to it and think of it.

Zeus decides to spare Electra from physical pain, but sends Furies and flies after Orestes as he walks away from the town. Before he leaves, Orestes addresses the townspeople and says that although he should rightly be king of Argos after the death of his mother, he has no wish to. He tells them he will leave Argos to them to govern themselves, and he will take on the burdens of their guilt, their sins, the flies and their dead as he leaves.

As you can see, a lot happens in a small three act play! I hope you check it out.

[image: petit-bazar.unige.ch]