Electra in Review

Zusammenfassung

Electra has fascinated generations. The woman has been viewed as freedom fighter, or as vengeful neurotic. The text has been seen as endorsing Electra’s and Orestes’ vengeance, or as a monstrous combination of “matricide and good spirits;” as taking a stand somewhere between these extremes of justice and the dark side of human nature, or as maintaining these opposites in an uneasy equilibrium.¹ And the play has been performed in new and varied versions for the stage, for the screen, and of course as opera.² Still vital for modern experience, and probably the most controversial play that Sophocles wrote, Electra was a good choice as the subject of this conference, held at Northwestern University in May, 1993.