Examine and compare the motives and actions of Orestes and Electra. To what extent will an Athenian audience admire and approve of them?

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Examine and compare the motives and actions of Orestes and Electra. To what extent will an Athenian audience admire and approve of them?

   Electra is the central character in the play. Her main purpose in this play is to achieve the motive of a typical Greek person, which is to be noble to the gods, family and cherish their homeland. This is why tries as much as possible to kill the murderers of her father and why she thinks by doing this, she is obeying the gods. These murderers happen to be her mother and her lover; Aegisthus.This makes her hate her mother without considering the circumstances to which she was subjected to before killing Agamemnon. Electra describes her as ‘the queen of falsehood”. Pg 77.  And a “worthless slot”. Pg 77. She expresses the hatred for her mother freely. She also hates Aegisthus as he has taken the place of her father. “Aegisthus sitting in my father’s chair, wearing the clothes he wore, pouring the same libations at the altar where he killed him’. Pg 76. This shows Aegisthus’ lack of respect for Agamemnon, the tradition of the Greeks and the Gods.                                                                                                   As a result of the situation she denies herself of the privileges and luxuries of being a princess because she doesn’t want to live of f the means of her worst enemies. She describes herself as ‘an alien slave, a menial…dressed like a slattern in coarse and ugly garments’. The death of her Father and the exile of her brother, Orestes makes her mourn helplessly and continuously, as she cannot do anything. “So I can do nothing but wait in misery”. Pg 77. Mourning in the ancient Greek sense here meant tearing off your hair, crying and all sorts of self-harm. ‘I bring my sad songs here and tear my breast till it bleeds”. Pg 71.

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    In addition, Electra also loves her father very much. Her love for him is more of an obsession, which has been seriously affected, as he is now dead. She is subjective to him and is ready to do anything for his sake though he is dead. “ I will fall, if need be, for my father’s sake”. Pg 80.She also loves her brother, Orestes who has been exiled. She refers to him as “her darling” and her “darling’s own son”. Pg 92 &107.Her feelings towards her sister Chrysothemis is ambiguous as it changes according her actions. At a ...

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