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Two-faced Possibility of Sight and Words: Eurydice from the Perspective of Modern Dramatic Monologue
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Abstract
The common ways of interpreting and re-telling the myth of the Thracian musician Orpheus and his bride Eurydice are similar to the traditional way of narrating the myth: starting with Orpheus and emphasising Orpheus’s unilateral output of “love” and the tragic nature of their destiny. This article selects Eurydice to Orpheus by Robert Browning and Eurydice Saved by Linda Gregg as examples in modern poetry to explore how the legacy and reflection of classical interpretations, such as the tradition of faith in the validity and reliability of Orpheus’ love, are portrayed from Eurydice’s point of view. The emotional tendencies presented in these two poems are different, but they still have significant ideas in common when it comes to the fact that a visual regime has been established in the relationship between Eurydice and Orpheus. Orpheus can only empower their love by “looking” and losing. This indicates his role as the dominant one while Eurydice is given the status of the object being looked at and shaped.
Keywords
Orpheus and Eurydice myth, poetic feature, visuality, subjectivity
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Cite this article
Pan,J. (2023). Two-faced Possibility of Sight and Words: Eurydice from the Perspective of Modern Dramatic Monologue. Communications in Humanities Research,20,1-6.
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Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies
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