Bodies, Performance, Vulnerability

Feminist and Post-feminist Rewritingsof Greek Tragedy (Cixous, Tempest)

Abstract

Feminist culture has been intensively dealing with the semantic density and profound anthropological value of the Greek tragedy, offering several critical interpretations and creative rewritings. This paper analyzes two writers that belong to different phases of feminist theory: Hélène Cixous, philosopher, writer and translator, represents the so-called theory of sexual difference and dealt with Aeschylus’ Oresteia from various perspectives, shared in Arianne Mnouchkine’s revolutionary mise-en-scene. Kae Tempest stands for contemporary post-feminist queer thinking: the recent Paradise  is an innovative re-interpretation of Sophocles’ Philoctetes.