Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
  • Shakespeare dark gray
    • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
    • Shakespeare Study Guides
    • Shakespeare Life & Times
    • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
  • Literature dark gray
    • No Fear Literature Translations
    • Literature Study Guides
    • Glossary of Literary Terms
    • How to Write Literary Analysis
  • Other Subjects dark gray
    • Biography
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Drama
    • Economics
    • Film
    • Health
    • History
    • Math
    • Philosophy
    • Physics
    • Poetry
    • Psychology
    • Short Stories
    • Sociology
    • US Government and Politics
  • Test Prep PLUS dark gray
    • Test Prep Lessons
    • AP® English Literature
    • AP® English Language
  • Teacher dark gray
    • SparkTeach
    • Teacher's Handbook
  • Blog
My PLUS Dashboard
  • My PLUS Activity dark gray
    • Notes
    • Bookmarks
    • Test Prep PLUS
    • No Fear Translations & Audio
    • Mastery Quizzes
    • Flashcards
    • Infographics
    • No Fear Graphic Novels
  • Account Details
  • Subscription & Billing

Please wait while we process your payment

Reset Password

  • Please wait while we process your payment

    Log in Sign up

    Sparknotes

  • By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.

    Don’t have an account? Subscribe now

    Create Your Account

    Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial

    • Ad-free experience
    • Study notes
    • Flashcards
      & Quizzes
    • AP® English Test Prep
    • Plus much more

  • Already have an account? Log in

    Your Email

    Choose Your Plan

    BEST VALUE

    Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!

    Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?

    Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!

  • Price

    $24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax

    Subtotal $37.48 + tax

    Save 25% on 2-49 accounts

    Save 30% on 50-99 accounts

    Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.

    Your Plan

    Payment Details

  • We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country.

  • Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    SparkNotes Plus

    You'll be billed after your free trial ends.

    7-Day Free Trial

    Not Applicable

    Renews February 5, 2023 January 29, 2023

    Discounts (applied to next billing)

    DUE NOW

    US $0.00

    SNPLUSROCKS20  |  20% Discount

    This is not a valid promo code.

    Discount Code (one code per order)

    SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.

    Choose Your Plan

    Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    Suggestions

    Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
    • My Account Icon My Account white
      • My PLUS Activity
        • Notes
        • Bookmarks
        • Test Prep PLUS
        • No Fear Translations
        • Mastery Quizzes
        • Flashcards
        • Infographics
        • No Fear Graphic Novels
      • Account Details
      • Subscription & Billing
      My PLUS Dashboard
    • Shakespeare white
      • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
      • Shakespeare Study Guides
      • Shakespeare Life & Times
      • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
    • Literature white
      • No Fear Literature Translations
      • Literature Study Guides
      • Glossary of Literary Terms
      • How to Write Literary Analysis
    • Other Subjects white
      • Biography
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Computer Science
      • Drama
      • Economics
      • Film
      • Health
      • History
      • Math
      • Philosophy
      • Physics
      • Poetry
      • Psychology
      • Short Stories
      • Sociology
      • US Government and Politics
    • Test Prep PLUS white
      • Test Prep Lessons
      • AP® English Literature
      • AP® English Language
    • Teacher white
      • SparkTeach
      • Teacher's Handbook
    • Blog
    • Help

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    Your PLUS subscription has expired

    • We’d love to have you back! Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools.
    Renew your subscription

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    snpromo-logo
    • Get 20% off of AD-FREE study tools!
      Use Code: SparkPLUS20

    The Flies

    Jean-Paul Sartre

    Study Guide
    • Study Guide
    • Summary
      • Summary & Analysis
      • Act I
      • Act I (cont.)
      • Act II, Scene One
      • Act II, Scene One (cont.)
      • Act II, Scene Two
      • Act III
      • Full Book
      • Full Book Summary
      • Key Facts
    • Characters
      • Character List
      • Orestes
      • Jupiter
      • Electra
      • Aegistheus
    • Literary Devices
      • Themes
      • Motifs
      • Symbols
    • Quotes
      • Important Quotes Explained
    • Quick Quizzes
      • Book
      • Full Book Quiz
      • Act 1
      • Act 1 (cont.)
      • Act 2, Scene One
      • Act 2, Scene One (cont.)
      • Act 2, Scene Two
      • Act 3
        • More
        • Context
        • Summary
        • Character List
        • Analysis of Major Characters
        • Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
        • Essays
          • Mini Essays
          • Suggested Essay Topics
        • Further Study
          • Suggestions for Further Reading
          • Jean-Paul Sartre and The Flies Background

        Please wait while we process your payment

        snplus-logo

        Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

        Unlock your FREE Trial!

        Sign up and get instant access to bookmarks.
        • Ad-Free experience
        • Easy-to-access study notes
        • Flashcards & Quizzes
        • AP® English test prep
        • Plus much more
        Already have an account? Log in
        Characters

        Character List

        Characters Character List
        • Orestes

          The protagonist of the play, Orestes wants to belong to Argos, his birthplace, having been raised in Athens and taught never to commit himself to anything by The Tutor. When he sees the servile life the Argives are living and meets his sister Electra, Orestes decides to disobey the laws of the gods and murder Aegistheus and Clytemnestra to free the city. His strength lies in the recognition that he is free and can do what he thinks is right instead of following someone else's moral rules. Because he understands that moral values spring from human freedom and only he can judge whether his actions are right or wrong, Orestes does not feel remorse and threatens the order of the gods.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Orestes .

        • Jupiter

          Jupiter is the king of the gods. Orestes's most important antagonist, Jupiter represents the moral systems imposed on human beings by others. Wanting to maintain order, Jupiter has devoted his existence to ensuring that humanity fears him and will follow his laws. He supports Aegistheus and Clytemnestra, who maintain control of their city through fear. Jupiter's weakness is that he has no power over those who know they are free and do not fear him. Intimidation is his only weapon, and as a result he cannot force Orestes to atone for his crime.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Jupiter .

        • Electra

          Orestes's sister, Electra is both his companion and his foil. Mistreated by her mother Clytemnestra, Electra waits for the day when her brother will come to free her and avenge the murder of their father Agamemnon by Aegistheus. Electra spends her days in hatred of Clytemnestra and Aegistheus, who constantly punish her for refusing to repent for their crimes like the rest of the Argives. Since Electra fantasizes about her revenge, she cannot live with the actual act. Having helped Orestes kill Aegistheus and Clytemnestra, Electra turns against him, repents of the murders, and surrenders to Jupiter.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Electra .

        • Aegistheus

          King of Argos, Aegistheus killed Agamemnon fifteen years ago and took his throne. To maintain power, Aegistheus cultivated a deep sense of remorse in the people of Argos. Making everyone complicit in Agamemnon's murder because he could not accept the guilt by himself, Aegistheus forces his subjects to repent for the crime he committed. In his attempt to hold on to power, however, Aegistheus has lost his soul. He sees himself only as his subjects see him and does not know who he is. Agamemnon represents the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Aegistheus .

        • Clytemnestra

          Previously Agamemnon's wife and now married to Aegistheus, the queen has helped her husband maintain the atmosphere of remorse. She is generally quiet and does not play a major part in the play. Clytemnestra hates her daughter Electra and does not attempt to protect her from Aegistheus. In the Greek myth, Orestes's most horrifying crime was the murder of his mother. Sartre is less concerned with matricide than he is with free action in general, and he downplays Clytemnestra's presence to show this shift in emphasis. In her silent approval of the king's policies and her complicity in his murder of the rightful king, Clytemnestra represents the Vichy government of France, which collaborated with the Nazi conquerors.

        • The Tutor

          The Tutor raised and educated Orestes. He has taught him to always be skeptical of all morals and irrational beliefs. The Tutor believes that he has given Orestes complete freedom by teaching him to avoid commitments and attachments to others. Orestes finally rejects this as a false view of freedom. Sartre believes that human beings create themselves and their values through free action. The Tutor's notion of freedom is a freedom from action rather than true freedom, which is the freedom to act and create. Though The Tutor is instrumental in helping Orestes live for the future rather than remaining stuck in the past like the Argives, Orestes has to move beyond this false freedom before he can become a true human being.

        • The Furies

          Unlike the Furies of Greek myth who punished crimes against family, Sartre's Furies are the goddesses of repentance. Until Orestes and Electra commit their murder, the Furies manifest themselves as flies. They are everywhere in the city, biting its inhabitants to punish them for their sins. The Argives welcome the flies and demand to be punished for their crimes. In speaking with Electra, the Furies confound love with hatred: they hate sinners and punish them, but they do so out of love in order to help the sinners atone for their crimes.

        • The High Priest

          The High Priest helps to maintain the repressive atmosphere of repentance set up by Aegistheus. He is the symbol of religious moral authority just as the king represents political moral authority. The High Priest appears only once in the play to lead the ceremony of the dead. He calls on the dead to punish the living for all of the suffering they had inflicted. When Jupiter causes the stone to move in order to silence Electra, the Priest shouts that this is the vengeance of the dead, and that the Argives must repent for having listened to the temptress.

        • The Idiot Boy

          The Idiot Boy appears only at the very start of the play. He sits stupidly in the square while flies suck on the pus leaking out of his eyes. The Idiot Boy represents the ideal of the Argives: completely passive and willing to take his punishment without complaint.

        • The Argives

          The Argives are the men and women of Argos who completely accept their submission to Aegistheus. They live in repentance for all their sins, never speaking out and avoiding all action that could displease the gods. The Argives publicly admit their sins and judge one another. Aegistheus has attempted to make his subjects feel that his eyes are on them all the time, judging them even in their private moments. The Argives, completely unaware that they are free, do not realize the service Orestes has done them by killing their oppressive rulers. Fear and repentance have taught them to always look for external judgment so that they will never think of looking within themselves and finding their own freedom.

        • Soldiers

          Soldiers obey the king. They are his enforcers, but rarely have any need to act because the Argives are so obedient. A scene in the middle of the play involves the soldiers in a farcical interlude, designed to mock the power of the throne they are guarding and the solemnity of the moral system Aegistheus has imposed on them. Though the soldiers speak very seriously of the dead, their comments are calculated to bring out the absurdity of the repressive system in which people are afraid of invisible spirits judging and punishing them.

        Next section Orestes
        Test your knowledge

        Take the Character List Quick Quiz

        Take a study break

        QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

        Take a study break

        The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

        Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? x

        Please wait while we process your payment

        snplus-logo

        Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

        Unlock your FREE Trial!

        Sign up and get instant access to creating and saving your own notes as you read.
        • Ad-Free experience
        • Easy-to-access study notes
        • Flashcards & Quizzes
        • AP® English test prep
        • Plus much more
        Already have an account? Log in

        Popular pages: The Flies

        • Orestes: Character Analysis CHARACTERS

        • Important Quotations Explained QUOTES

        • Themes LITERARY DEVICES

        • Review Quiz FURTHER STUDY

        Take a Study Break

        • QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

        • The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

        • The 6 Best and Worst TV Show Adaptations of Books

        • QUIZ: Which Greek God Are You?

        Sign up for our latest news and updates!
        By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. You can view our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe from our emails at any time.

        SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

        • Quick Links
        • No Fear Shakespeare
        • Literature Guides
        • Other Subjects
        • Blog
        • Teacher’s Handbook
        • Premium Study Tools
        • SparkNotes PLUS
        • Sign Up
        • Log In
        • PLUS Help
        • More
        • Help
        • How to Cite SparkNotes
        • How to Write Literary Analysis
        • About
        • Contact Us
        • Advertise

        Copyright © SparkNotes LLC

        • Terms of Use
        • |
        • Privacy
        • |
        • Cookie Policy
        • |
        • Do Not Sell My Personal Information