ABSTRACT
Wertenbaker’s play is intended to have a strong emotional impact. Like Philomele watching the fate of Phaedra, we may well be moved to tears by her suffering. We will almost certainly be horrified and outraged by her rape and mutilation, angry at Tereus’ violence and hypocrisy but perhaps shocked and confused at the form her vengeance takes. At the end of the play, we are left with questions which need to be addressed, not only with regard to our own emotional reactions to the events we have witnessed but also to issues of cruelty, injustice and revenge pertaining to our contemporary world, in particular concerning acts of violence committed by men against women. The emotions are aroused to stimulate debate and argument; they are meant to disturb and provoke discord among the audience, so that the issues raised by the play do not disappear from consciousness once the audience leaves the auditorium.
