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From: Rachel Sanderlin
Date: 2/9/2004
Time: 11:33:45 AM
Remote Name: 66.254.128.139
In response to question five (How does the battle between reason and passion affect Phaedra?)I think that Phaedra was a woman that knew that she should deny herself the lust of her step-son yet at the same time she cared more for her wants than how they would affect others. She reasoned that situation out with her maid Oenone who only made that situation worse, but instead of listening to her own reasons for withholding her feelings she only saw how much she wanted her step-son to love her. Thus her passion and her heart over took her minds ability to reject this lustful desire and by doing so she destroyed a father son relationship that was the best relationship in the family. Her struggle within was described throughout the entire story as her wanting to kill herself because she hated that she was having these feelings, however if she hated these feelings so much and she wanted them to go away then why did she share them with her step-son? Eventhough she thought her husband was dead she should have still respected that fact that he was this boy's father and the father of her children. I think she handled that struggle by convensing herself that he would love her thus no one would frown on the Queen and the heir to the thrown for their deeds. This however didn't work out as planned so instead of admiting her own mistakes and confessing her crimes she blamed Oenone and to clear her own conscience. She was a woman who's pride filled her life and her passion gave her pride a reason to overtake an entire family.