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charlieteuthis's review against another edition
4.0
I don't think I liked it but I can't help but be kind of impressed.
Edit: (changed from 3 to 4 stars) I REALIZED WHAT IT MEANS, AT LEAST WHAT I THINK IT MEANS, AND BOY DOES IT ACCOMPLISH THAT.
Edit: (changed from 3 to 4 stars) I REALIZED WHAT IT MEANS, AT LEAST WHAT I THINK IT MEANS, AND BOY DOES IT ACCOMPLISH THAT.
finalghoul's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
700poodles's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
brisingr's review against another edition
5.0
My love for Sarah Kane is immeasurable. Would I recommend her stuff to anyone that does not stumble into it out of their own interest? Not really. But I'm in this fan life 4 ever now.
finalgirlfall's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hmm. unclear what i was supposed to get out of this but i did enjoy it. <3
aaaleksic's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was another short read I picked up after having read a larger story earlier this month. Reading this right after Steven King’s Survivor Type maybe wasn’t the best move, since now I find this text lacking in comparison (though I recognize it’s a vastly different format). I enjoy somewhat modern (though the exact age this takes place can’t really be placed - which is probably purposely on the part of Sarah Kane) interpretations of ancient mythologies, especially when they attempt to say something that might be more applicable to the modern age then the original story might have been. I certainly found this text interesting. Instead of Hippolytus playing the role of the innocent virgin victim of Aphrodite’s jealousy (and subsequent step mothers lust) here he plays a more complex role. He still rejects Phaedra's advances, but doesn’t stop her physically when she performs oral sex on him. Not only does Phaedra lie about the rape, but it could be argued that she actually raped him. When he is accused of rape, he doesn’t deny it. Does he want something interesting to happen? Is he simply tired of life and knows this would be a death sentence for him?
The way Hippolytus is portrayed in general is fascinating. He’s not an innocent virgin hunter at all, in fact he’s the complete opposite - a lazy sex addict. His stepmother's attraction to him isn’t spurned by the force of an angry God of Love, but rather a morbid curiosity that seems to infect her. Her reasoning is a bit unclear, though Hippolytus suspects that she hates herself and is using him as a projection of her own self-hatred. After all, if she can love something as disgusting as him, then surely she can love herself. When she finally has sex with him, however, she finds she can’t truly love him. Since she was using him as an extension of herself, this drives her to suicide. Before the other fateful events happen, Hippolytus is visited by a priest. This priest tries to convince him to turn to God, who Hippolytus degrades and calls dishonest for thinking God could forgive someone who confesses only to sin again. He performs oral sex on the priest, in a similar manner that he did his step mother, as though it’s his final ultimate mockery of God.
The following events are where I became more critical of the writing. It’s just a bunch of chaos, which is accurate to the original mythology, but it goes above and beyond the original story. Instead of Hippolytus dying by being dragged by chariot, here he is beaten before his penis is cut off and thrown into a fire, and his father cuts him open to throw his innards into the fire as well, where he is continually beaten and stoned. He burns just as he burned others in his life. However it doesn’t stop there. Theseus also rapes and kills Strophe, to the cheers of the people who were just cheering the death of another rapist. When he finds out what he’s done, he slices his own throat. The only way I could interpret it was to showcase the hypocrisy of the people, just as Hippolytus was saying, but other than that it just felt like an odd choice to end on. I suppose others had mentioned this would be the death of the family, so the ending really drives this home. Still, part of me wonders if the author just wanted to beat the original myth in creating a horrific scenario.
Despite the ending though (even with the ending actually) there’s a lot that could be analyzed from this short play script alone that I find more fascinating than disappointing. I think I would get more out of it if it was ever acted out, but I doubt many productions would allow this material.
beautyandterror's review against another edition
4.0
Très troublante comme pièce mais j'ai beaucoup aimé le style d'écriture, assez cru par moments (TWs cependant)
sphvssl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
oopseedaisee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character