Phaedra
(Seneca)
Seneca?s court plays from the 2nd Century AD were
originally intended to be read in private, as opposed to
performed. Known more for their influence on Elizabethan,
Jacobean, and Neo-Classical tragedy than for their own
theatricality, Seneca?s work, though not often staged,
remains a significant part in the annuls of theatre
history.
Phaedra, taken from the Greek Tragedy by Euripides,
Hippolytus, switches the center of the action from
Hippolytus to Phaedra. Phaedra, while her husband Theseus
is away, confesses to her nurse that she is consumed by
passion for her stepson, Hippolytus, and thinks that she
will kill herself because of it. The nurse convinces
Phaedra not to kill herself but to try and seduce
Hippolytus. When Phaedra approaches him, he rejects her
advances and declares that he is chaste and will not
succumb to any woman?s passion. He attempts to kill Phaedra
with his sword rather than relent to her desire, but
decides it is best to leave her alive to her own
punishment. The Nurse convinces Phaedra to destroy the
cruel Hippolytus by telling Theseus upon his return, that
Hippolytus had tried to force himself upon Phaedra with his
sword. Phaedra is able to give Theseus evidence of the
attempted rape by producing Hippolytus? sword. Theseus
calls upon the God of the Sea to destroy his son and as a
great wave drowns Hippolytus, Phaedra is struck with
remorse and confesses to Theseus that she is to blame. In
despair, Phaedra hangs herself. Theseus is left distraught
at the end of such horrible events.
Seneca?s tragedy, produced for the Roman mentality rather
than the Greek original, focuses less on the Gods and more
on the improper passion of unnatural love. Phaedra now
plays an active role in her pursuit of passion and her
Nurse becomes the evil force behind all the revenge plots
of the tragedy. Seneca?s plays were also more bloody than
the previous Greek tragedies, showing why they influenced
the Jacobean tragedies to such an extent. Theseus, at the
end of the play, is left attempting to put back together
the dismembered body of his dead son, a gruesome display of
grief not seen in Greek tragedy.
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