Social Political and Cultural themes of the plays

Social Political and Cultural themes of the plays

The main social themes that you see in Electra are; family issues and mental illness. In the play we see a broken family due to their father's death. Instead of resolving the problems the play sees extreme emotions and acts of revenge and we see a brother and sister murdering their own mother and stepfather. The social theme of mental illness is seen through Electra due to the events and horros she has been through. Her mental health issues are dealt with through kindness from the characters Orestes, Chorus and the Old Man. The harshness towards Electra's illness is shown from: Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Chrysothemis - who is Electra's sister and it is only on occasion that we see this from her. 

In today's day and age family issues are still very much around, like how a mother and daughter could argue which I can relate to my own experience that my mother and I argue and bicker at each other however it gets resolved pretty quickly and would never end in anything drastic. In only very  rare cases do you hear of stories and situations on the news or around of people that either would attempt to inflict pain on one another. Taking this into consideration this means a current audience would most likely find this shocking to see and watch whereas an original audience would find it quite normal.  Myths were very popular in Ancient Greece, which are often has quite a dark content to them. Mental illness is something which is becoming increasingly more aware to the public in modern day as there are helplines and Councillors you can speak to help meaning a current audience would find it hard watching the harsh characters lash at Electra as Mental health is being widely recognised and something that can't be helped and is something that we can understand. On the other hand, for an original audience, they would have had no knowledge or understanding of the illness and therefore almost accepts Clytemnestra's attitude and behavior towards her daughter.                                                                                                                                                                            
Social themes seen in Dr. Faustus is that he goes against society in his belief that religion is a myth. Another social idea within the play are figures of high importance and priority this being the voice of God through characters like the Old Man and the voice of a devil in Mephastophilis. For a modern audience, Dr. Faustus' ways would be supported by some; such as atheism which has become a more popular belief in today's society, meaning people no longer believe it to be that important to have a faith. Compared to people of an original audience where religion was what everyone followed in a society leading to people who were watching having a dislike towards Faustus because his belief would not be the same as theirs.

Cultural theme seen in Electra are mainly Orestes following tradition as in Ancient Greece it was the son's responsibility to seek revenge on the persons or people who were responsible for their father's death - the idea of an eye for an eye - explaining Orestes' actions at the end of the play. A modern audience could understand this by relating it to knowledge and understanding of older traditions and also today day and age we see news about people taking revenge as it is something that has been going on throughout history. In the same way the original audience would have understood Orestes' actions as again it is tradition to culture. The cultural theme in Faustus is his incredible intelligence and supposed magical powers. For both audiences of today and in the past his magic would have been exciting thing to watch and understand. 

Political themes seen in Electra are the way genders are shown and presented. Sexism is taken in the play as Electra is not allowed to carry out her mother's murder because she is a woman. Women were not allowed to avenge in Greek times and in many ways like most things women were not allowed to do right throughout history. From a modern audience perspective, I  think if Electra wanted to commit murder she should not rely on her brother to do it for her because nowadays we are all equal and she shouldn't rely on other people to carry out what she wants done especially for the fact that he is a man and she is a woman. A political theme in Faustus is the conflict between good and evil. In today's world it is based upon the ideas and the battle between head and heart and us making the right decision for ourselves.