Feminine Empowerment In The Bacchae

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In The Bacchae, I believe that Euripides uses the relationship of male and female to explore the alluring concept of feminine empowerment in a patriarchal society and to demonstrate the cost this empowerment subsequently has on ordered civilization. In this paper, I will argue that Euripides uses the conflictual relation between the genders to criticize the role of women in Greek society while also showing the consequences of a total feminine revolt. Through developing this conflict, Euripides is demonstrating how the path to the most successful civilization is through a balance of masculine rationality and feminine emotional freedom. I will prove this by analyzing the positions of Pentheus, the Bacchants, and Dionysus throughout the play. The character Pentheus …show more content…

“Euripides Bacchae”. 29 Oct. 2015. Lecture). First I will demonstrate how the empowerment of the Bacchants is seen as a threat to the rational male civilization, but becomes more desirable as the play progresses. Secondly, I will show how the seemingly beneficial powers gained through female empowerment are revealed to be destructive and violent. Finally, I will illustrate how both the civilized rational male and wild irrational female symbolically fail at the plays end, whereas the balance between male and female is triumphant. The power struggle between male and female in The Bacchae is mirrored by the struggle between the Dionysian forces and Pentheus. The conflict begins when Dionysus arrives in Thebes. Dionysus takes the Theban women away from their domestic duties and teaches them his secret rites, “I heard about strange new evils throughout the city—that our women have abandoned their homes for the sham revelries of Bacchus.” (Euripides 216-218). In the quote, Pentheus’ opinion on this change in the feminine role is clear. He finds the

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