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A review by lowercaselena
Electre (Littérature Française) by Jean Giraudoux
3.0
i truly am on a french literature kick right now, but i'm sorry i can't help but compare this version to Anne Carson's. it's only my second time reading Electra (if you don't count Marina and the Diamonds' masterpiece Electra Heart but you should! cuz it fucks) and i feel like the bar was just too high.
i mean Giraudoux does have some things going on for himself.
1. this feels a lot more like it was written for the stage and it's clearly not an academic translation, or experimental. (it's funny because rn i'm looking up places to go see electre and orestes played on stage)
2. historically too, it's part of this in between wars era of french playwrights revisiting greek tragedies to make points about politics, which i can only stan.
3. there are a few lovely monologues given by minor characters which totally blindsided me
4. some of the dialogues were amusing and witty, especially with the beggar, and electre's verve remains my favourite thing ever.
5. interesting points made about electre and her relation to womanhood,
unfortunately it kind of lacks the character work that i'm so fond of. obviously greek tragedies are full of archetypes, but i rather like it when characters and their motivations are fleshed out, i feel like clytemnestra's motives were a bit weak, and Giraudoux really glossed over the fact that agamemnon literally offered iphigenia (their daughter) as a sacrifice and he also completely erased agamemnon bringing kassandra back as a slave from the narrative, which made clytemnestra come off as shallow.
still, i'm rather conflicted about this clytemnestra. while i found her wrath reduced by its cause, i think it was quite refreshing to see that her anger towards agamemnon was because he was an unsatisfying husband, and not because she was cheated as a wife, or struck with a mother's murderous grief. and then of course she had to be a 'villain'..... but simply for that, wig.
he also really went full freudian with electra's character, her deep hatred for her mother and blind adoration for her father. though her cause triumphs in the end, you don't feel like her acts were very righteous or god ordained. i'm still unclear on whether it was a bug or a feature
orestes as usual is the most Baby of all tools. Giraudoux does seem to argue that in tragedy the women are what set fate in motion and the men are mere instruments in realizing their own tragic destinies, which i found interesting, especially when you look at orestes' multiple tragedy spanning arc. wish he had pylades to take care of him :(
i feel like this review is all over the place and lowkey unfair of me, because i basically blame Giraudoux for writing one play that's not on par with Anne Carson's trilogy, but at the same time, it's true.
basically read it if you want a take on Electra's story that is a snapshot of the historical/political context of late 1930's/early 1940's france? go for it (actually read Anouilh's antigone first !! but you could read this one too it's a good time)
3.5/5 rounded down to ***
ps: i am very sorry for being too lazy to look up the proper english spelling of all those greek names, one day i will maybe be a proper reviewer but not today!
i mean Giraudoux does have some things going on for himself.
1. this feels a lot more like it was written for the stage and it's clearly not an academic translation, or experimental. (it's funny because rn i'm looking up places to go see electre and orestes played on stage)
2. historically too, it's part of this in between wars era of french playwrights revisiting greek tragedies to make points about politics, which i can only stan.
3. there are a few lovely monologues given by minor characters which totally blindsided me
4. some of the dialogues were amusing and witty, especially with the beggar, and electre's verve remains my favourite thing ever.
5. interesting points made about electre and her relation to womanhood,
unfortunately it kind of lacks the character work that i'm so fond of. obviously greek tragedies are full of archetypes, but i rather like it when characters and their motivations are fleshed out, i feel like clytemnestra's motives were a bit weak, and Giraudoux really glossed over the fact that agamemnon literally offered iphigenia (their daughter) as a sacrifice and he also completely erased agamemnon bringing kassandra back as a slave from the narrative, which made clytemnestra come off as shallow.
still, i'm rather conflicted about this clytemnestra. while i found her wrath reduced by its cause, i think it was quite refreshing to see that her anger towards agamemnon was because he was an unsatisfying husband, and not because she was cheated as a wife, or struck with a mother's murderous grief. and then of course she had to be a 'villain'..... but simply for that, wig.
he also really went full freudian with electra's character, her deep hatred for her mother and blind adoration for her father. though her cause triumphs in the end, you don't feel like her acts were very righteous or god ordained. i'm still unclear on whether it was a bug or a feature
orestes as usual is the most Baby of all tools. Giraudoux does seem to argue that in tragedy the women are what set fate in motion and the men are mere instruments in realizing their own tragic destinies, which i found interesting, especially when you look at orestes' multiple tragedy spanning arc. wish he had pylades to take care of him :(
i feel like this review is all over the place and lowkey unfair of me, because i basically blame Giraudoux for writing one play that's not on par with Anne Carson's trilogy, but at the same time, it's true.
basically read it if you want a take on Electra's story that is a snapshot of the historical/political context of late 1930's/early 1940's france? go for it (actually read Anouilh's antigone first !! but you could read this one too it's a good time)
3.5/5 rounded down to ***
ps: i am very sorry for being too lazy to look up the proper english spelling of all those greek names, one day i will maybe be a proper reviewer but not today!