McKenna Griffiths
HUMN 1120
Short Paper 1, Prompt #3
2/9/2016
Phèdre’s Monsters
Phèdre, the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, is the half-sister to the illegitimate son of her mother and a bull: the Minotaur. Theseus, Phèdre’s husband and the king of Athens, seeks to kill monsters to protect his kingdom. The literal monsters that Theseus seeks to destroy exhibit the same features that are innate in his wife due to her monstrous blood line. Phèdre’s half-brother, the Minotaur, displays physical monstrousness and destruction, whereas Phèdre is destructive emotionally and mentally. Phèdre’s feelings for Hippolytus manifest in such a way that result in literal consequences, such as the ruin of her marriage and the betrayal of her kingdom. Although Theseus seeks to eliminate literal monsters, he fails to deal with, let alone take notice of the monsters that reside inside of his wife. However, due to the fact that he is constantly gone for his job, he is not necessarily given the chance to. Throughout this story, the characters are overwhelmed with concern over killing physical monsters, and they seem to turn a blind eye to the figurative monsters within. These monsters prove to be more destructive than a literal beast. After revealing her love to Hippolytus, Phèdre states:
Your father was a hero, be like him,
And rid the world of one more monster now.
Does Theseus’ widow dare to love his son?
Believe me you should not let her escape.
Here is my heart. Here, where your hand should strike,
It waits impatient to expiate
Its guilt. It leaps to meet your arm. Oh strike!
Or if your hatred envy me a blow
Of such sweet torture, or if blood too vile
You think would therefore drench your hand, then give,
Give me, if not your arm, at least your sword!
Give. (Racine, Act 2, Scene 5)
The little humanity, or reason, that Phèdre still possesses knows the destruction of which the monsters inside her are capable. Although she is aware of the destruction that she will cause, she does not have enough control over her monsters to subdue them, so she posits that the only way to eliminate her monstrous passion for Hippolytus is to kill herself. This is seen when Phèdre states, “Your father was a hero, be like him, and rid the world of one more monster now.” Phèdre’s little humanity, or reason, that she still has left leads her back to being a monster by wanting to die. Her figurative monsters manifest in such a way that she becomes overcome by her passion and ends up turning into a literal monster by taking her own life. In this moment, a clear delineation between Phèdre’s humanity and her monstrosity is evident. Her humanity is begging to be killed because she knows what her monstrous feelings are capable of (i.e. ruining her marriage and ruining her kingdom). However, the monsters still have authority over her and the monsters’ carnal desires within her take precedence over her wanting to be a good person and be faithful to her husband.
There is an internal war going on within Phèdre between her reason and her passion. Her reason relates to the small portion of humanity that has not been conquered (specifically the part that is telling her to kill herself) and it convinces her that it is better for her to die than to continue acting out from a place of being overwhelmed by these figurative monsters. Her passion, the war going on inside of her head because of her love for Hippolytus, overcomes her reason to be a good, faithful wife. Phèdre comes to the conclusion that the only literal response to the figurative thoughts in her mind is to kill herself. The only way to defeat literal and figurative monsters is to kill them; otherwise, they continue to destroy you and your surroundings both literally and figuratively. Through this portrayal of monsters and monstrousness in Phèdre, Racine theorizes that monsters aren’t just the creatures hiding under your bed, or the Minotaur hidden in a Labyrinth. They’re in your mind and in your heart, and they have the authority to govern your actions. He posited and proved that figurative monsters can sometimes be more destructive than physical monsters. Racine displays a monsterous paradox through the character of Phèdre. The fact that Phèdre seeks to kill the monsters that reside in her makes her a monster. Through this, Racine proves that once you’re a monster, there’s no escaping.

Bibliography
Racine, Jean, and Margaret Rawlings. Phèdre. New York: Penguin, 1991. Print.

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