A Woman in the Face of a Forbidden Love: “Fedra” of Unamuno

Abstract

The work entitled Fedra by Miguel de Unamuno—one of the most eminent authors and philosophers of Spanish literature who deals with the human being and delicately describes it—was inspired by the story of Fedra, a princess who falls in love with her son in the Greek mythology. Unamuno recreates this myth within Spanish society of the first half of the 19th century. In the play, Fedra is a young woman who is in love with Hipólito, the son of her husband Pedro, and for this reason she begins to harm herself and the people around her, behaving in a melancholic way as a slave of her passion towards Hipólito. This work will deal with Phaedra's injured state of mind, her melancholic character formed by her past, analyzing to what extent this state of mind leads the young woman in her feeling of love. The work will also focus on the factors that carry the risk of an impossible love within a traditional society and social norms, her own sacrifice and that of the young man.