These joys I have from you. They are not mine to own.
(Electra, lines 1301-1302)
Of the many discussion points teeming from reading Sophocles' Electra in conjunction with Euripides' Orestes, it is the characterization of Electra that engaged me the most. In Electra, she is living a tortured life because she refuses to turn a blind eye to the injustice of her father's death which can be interpreted as stubborn or honorable or both. She has a strong spirit which she shows through her use of language: "In such a state, my friends, one cannot be moderate and restrained nor pious either. Evil is all around me, evil is what I am compelled to practice" (lines 308-310). She never bows down in an argument with her mother nor her sister and it is only when Orestes tells her he is alive and back does she allow someone else to take the reins in her life (emotionally speaking).
Going back to the opening quote above, this is Electra speaking to Orestes, after he tells her that when their killing mission is over she will be able to at last freely show her joy. I just find it so striking that she is so easily able to carry the weight of her anger and thirst for justice and yet be unable to consider feeling joy for herself once her need for justice is served.
I am not sure what Sophocles is trying to convey -- maybe that both men and women are capable of feeling an injustice upon them but not going so far as to say that women should do anything about it without men's help? Taking it one step further, consider that Clytemnestra is the most hated character in the play in part for taking her destiny into her own hands. Ok, she did so at the cost of a life, but isn't the value of life arbitrary in these plays anyways? Characters seem to choose when to care about someone's life or death depending on the machinations of the story. That may be too far a reach, but it's a thought to consider about the power that women do and don't have in these plays...
All great observations. Your post reminds me of the question that arose in our last class about whether or not Electra might be seen as a heroic figure despite her inability to act. Those barriers to action may have been socially imposed to a degree that's hard for us to appreciate now - I, for one, find it difficult to imagine the degree of subjugation that women endured at that time. And yet, in the face of those restrictions, Electra is completely steadfast in her resolve, as you so rightly point out. I'm torn about whether she's a hero or a demon.
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