Electra

     I think one of the resonating reasons for the longevity of the play, Electra, is its criticisms and possible questionings about the inequality that has been forever present between males and females. Throughout the play we are constantly told of Electra's overly passionate feelings of seeking revenge for her deceased father, yet she never is allowed to act on them. Everyone else around her just views her as irrational and almost maniacal; but in contrast, the minute that it is mentioned that Orestes should avenge his father, everyone is happy and pleased about it. How is this equal or fair at all? Agamemnon's death would have been avenged and set right either way, what difference did it make whether he was avenged by his daughter or son? I think Sophocles had a very analytical mind and didn't maybe understand fully what he was doing. For instance, in one view it could be said that he was making a mockery of women and female power in general. Playing up Electra's emotions and feelings is one way that Sophocles tried to make her appear inferior or even incompetent. But looking at the situations in today's light, we see her more of an oppressed female who is not being treated equally at all. Her goals and intentions were exactly the same as Orestes, yet she was seen as a fool for even thinking that she could possibly carry out her mission on her own.
     I think this play was very important especially during its own times because it did shed light on a subject that many people had probably never thought about or considered. Why were women's only jobs to be home makers and care takers of babies? Where did this thought of women being inferior ever begin? Yes, men might be physically more able in some certain aspects, but women have much more sinister and thought out plans for their goals. Even today, though many barriers and oppressions have been broken, women are still viewed as being the lesser of the two races. I think this is why we continue to read and study very early works, such as Electra. There was, and probably always will be, a need for women to fight to be considered equally as capable as the men in our lives. The fact that Sophocles, maybe didn't realize it, but did shed light on the fact that women are not treated the same as men, is proof for the fact that Sophocles saw the vast difference of rights shared between the males and females during his time.