ABSTRACT
In a recently published study, Albert S. Gérard examines what he calls The Phaedra Syndrome in four major theatrical texts: Hippolytos by Euripides; Phaedra by Seneca; Lope de Vega’s El Castigo sin Venganza; and Phèdre by Racine. The subtitle of his book-Of Shame and Guilt in Drama-indicates the nature of the preoccupations of his inquiry; not only is it an analysis which contrasts the way that several important playwrights have presented the character of Phaedra but, more interestingly, it is an investigation into how their treatment of her relates to the moral and intellectual climate of their times. The story of Phaedra’s incestuous love for her stepson is, he argues, ‘an archetypal situation of transgression’ and his explanation of its persistent fascination as a source for drama is worth quoting in full.
