Electra’s Door and Lavinia’s Door. A comparative analysis of Virgilio Piñera and Eugene O’Neill’s Electras
Abstract
Both Eugene O’Neill and Virgilio Piñera wrote their own versions of the classical myth of Electra as a critique of the distinct societal structures they perceived in the United States and Cuba respectively. Only a decade apart, these reinterpretations focus on the nature of the relationships between parents and children and on the urge to emancipate from inherited traditions and parental constraints. This comparative essay thus highlights the similarities and differences in the plays Mourning Becomes Electra by O’Neill and Electra Garrigó by regarding the ways both authors reimagined the Greek myth, using different critical approaches: while O’Neill relies on Freudian psychoanalysis to delve into family dynamics, Piñera has a tendency towards existentialism and Cuban choteo. Their works are an appeal to a rebellion against cultural structures based on tradition in order liberate oneself from their crippling nature. While the American author condemns his Electra character (named Lavinia Mannon) to a life determined by psychological constraints resulting from her parent’s behavior, Piñera makes his Electra (whose surname is Garrigó) emancipated and in the position to break with tradition in order to pursue her own fate. Despite both characters remaining locked in their own mansions, Lavinia Mannon is trapped due to her psychological inability to escape her own destiny, whereas Electra Garrigó does it because it is her own free choice to do so. Ultimately, this essay shows how these authors share a common message that they carry out in completely distinct ways.
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BIBLIOGRAFÍA
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