In Phaedra, gender roles are central to the tragedy, especially through the contrast between Phaedra's forbidden desire and Hippolytus's proud purity. Phaedra is portrayed as emotionally and sexually unstable, her desire treated as both dangerous and shameful. Her downfall reinforces patriarchal views where female sexuality must be hidden or punished. Meanwhile, Hippolytus's heroism lies in his control and rejection of passion, fitting the Greek ideal of masculine virtue. rational, proud, and emotionally restrained. Compared to Sita Sings the Blues, Phaedra is a woman destroyed by her feelings, while Sita is a woman silenced by social duty but both are trapped in male-dominated systems that define a hero through emotional suppression or moral superiority. Sita, especially in Paley's version, is allowed to speak back, while Phaedra's voice leads to her ruin.

© 2025 Melinessa Louis Douze. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).