"Œnone is ultimately responsible for the tragic outcome of Phèdre." Discuss.

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“Œnone is ultimately responsible for the

tragic outcome of Phèdre.” Discuss.

Classical tragedy is drama of elevated theme and diction with an unhappy ending. It must obey the three unities of time, place and action. Tragic characters have a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall. Phèdre is an example of such a play. The drama begins close to crisis point, with Phèdre’s cursed love already causing her anguish. The play’s tragic outcome culminates in the death of three characters: Thésée’s falsely condemned son, Hippolyte, Phèdre’s nurse and confidante, Œnone, who kills herself accepting the blame for the tragedy, and Phèdre, who poisons herself as she tells Thésée that Hippolyte died an innocent man. Thésée is left with the knowledge that his hasty, hot-tempered condemnation of his son led to his unnecessary death and Thésée, Théramène and Aricie are all left with feelings of grief. A further side to the tragedy is the mythological aspect of the play. The role of the Gods, destiny and the inevitability of the tragic outcome are essential to the plot. In this context, it is questionable whether Œnone alone can take the blame for the tragic outcome of the play. Although Œnone’s schemes clearly contribute directly to the dénouement of the drama, it could be argued that this is just fate taking its course. The actions of the other main characters, notably Thésée, Hippolyte and Phèdre, also contribute to the tragic ending. Phèdre blames Œnone for the tragic outcome in Act 4.6 and in the final scene. It must be investigated whether this condemnation and shifting of responsibility is justifiable and what effect Racine wants this to have on the audience’s perception of Phèdre, Œnone and the tragic outcome as a whole.

Let us start with the actions of Œnone that can be considered to have caused the tragedy. In her position as Phèdre’s nurse and confidante, Œnone has a great influence over her mistress. From the beginning of the play, Phèdre turns to Œnone for guidance and allows Œnone to make decisions on her part. This shows that Phèdre has always had great trust in her nurse and considers her someone who can be relied on for good advice and to whom she can tell anything:

 

“ Je t’avouerai de tout; je n’espère qu’en toi.”                 (Phèdre, Act 3.1, line 811)

When the audience first see Œnone, she is deeply concerned about Phèdre and the secret she is hiding which is causing her such distress.

La Reine touche presque à son terme fatal.

En vain à l’observer jour et nuit je m’attache:

Elle meurt dans mes bras d’un mal qu’elle me cache.”         (Œnone, Act 1.2, lines 144-146)

Œnone’s use of language heightens its dramatic effect. The use of alliteration (meurt, mes, mal, me) expresses her desperation and despair concerning Phèdre’s distressed state. The phrase son terme fatal introduces the theme of destiny and the Gods, which is essential to the unfolding of the tragedy.  Œnone is presented to us here as a caring servant with a clear emotional attachment to her mistress. Œnone’s distress leads the audience to have a mental picture of Phèdre as a depressed, tormented woman suffering at the will of the Gods. This arouses sympathy in the audience towards Phèdre before we meet her and consequently softens our feelings towards her throughout the play.

The first thing Œnone does is to ask Hippolyte and Théramène to leave so she can talk to Phèdre alone and persuade her to reveal her secret. The nature of Phèdre’s confession of her love for Hippolyte shows us something that is recurrent and important throughout the play, namely her shifting of responsibility onto Œnone:

“PHÈDRE:         Tu vas ouïr le comble des horreurs.

        J’aime… A ce nom fatal, je tremble, je frissonne,

        J’aime…

ŒNONE:         Qui?

PHÈDRE:                 Tu connais ce fils de l’Amazone,

        Ce prince si longtemps par moi-même opprimé?

ŒNONE: Hippolyte! Grands Dieux!

PHÈDRE:                               C’est toi qui l’as nommé.    (Act 1.3, lines 261-264)

When Œnone names Hippolyte, the rising tension suddenly deflates. The audience sees how Phèdre is unable to accept responsibility for her own actions and feelings, and how Œnone is forced to act on Phèdre’s behalf at key moments. Phèdre’s final line in the above extract demonstrates the accusing manner in which she shifts responsibility onto Œnone. This is an early indication of Phèdre’s dramatic condemnation of Œnone in Act 4.6 and the way in which she is never able to accept responsibility for her own actions, even when admitting Hippolyte’s innocence in the closing scene.

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The women’s distress after the revelation of Phèdre’s secret is interrupted by Panope. She brings the news of Thésée’s “death”, which immediately throws a new slant onto the situation. Œnone no longer sees death as Phèdre’s way out of the situation. Thésée’s “death” means that heirs to the thrones of Athens and Trézène need to be found. So long as Phèdre lives, her son stands in line to the throne. However, he must fight for his royal claim along with Hippolyte and Aricie. For these political and maternal reasons, Œnone encourages Phèdre to live. Additionally, as a widow, Phèdre’s ...

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