Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
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
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
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
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
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The Argives gather in front of the large cave from which the dead will soon be released (when soldiers roll aside the stone blocking its entrance). The Argives are terrified of the dead and recount their sins and how they will be punished for them. The Tutor points out that the wretched state to which superstition has brought these people proves his skeptical teachings to Orestes. Jupiter interrupts, saying that the Argives are better than The Tutor because at least they know that the gods despise them. Meanwhile, the crowd grows restless with anticipation as Aegistheus remains hidden in the palace. Orestes is tempted to interfere several times, but Jupiter holds him back.
Aegistheus appears and tells the crowd to wait and bear their suffering while he sends the guards in search of Electra. They return empty handed, and the king begins the ceremony without her. The stone is rolled away from the entrance to the cave and the High Priest calls on the dead to come out and torment the living. The Argives beg the dead for forgiveness as Aegistheus reminds them of their sins. Orestes is about to interfere when suddenly Electra appears dressed in white.
Aegistheus, the High Priest, and the Argives rebuke her for showing disrespect to the dead. Undaunted, Electra insists that her father would not want her to mourn but would prefer that she enjoy her life. She tells the Argives of cities in Greece like Corinth, which Orestes has described to her, where people enjoy their lives with no remorse. The crowd slowly begins to listen to Electra, realizing that the dead are doing nothing to stop her. They begin to think that the dead do not take pleasure in remorse and call on Aegistheus for an explanation.
Thrown off guard, Aegistheus has nothing to say in reply. He insists that Electra is speaking blasphemy and threatens to punish her. The crowd replies that this is not an explanation and begins to distrust the king. Electra dances around, laughing and saying that there are no ghosts in her way and that the Argives should not fear the dead, who would rather see them happy than guilt ridden. Realizing that the situation is turning against Aegistheus's repressive order, Jupiter causes the large stone to roll down from the cavern and crash into the adjacent temple.
The High Priest and Aegistheus instantly seize on this miracle, forcing the Argives to repent of their disbelief and insisting that the people work even harder at their repentance to appease the dead, who are angered by the people's lack of faith. The Argives blame their sin on Electra's temptation and threaten to rip her apart, but Aegistheus holds them back and banishes her from Argos instead. As the Argives depart, Jupiter insists that there is a moral in this: punishment has been properly dealt out to the wicked. Orestes turns on him sharply, reveals that Electra is his sister, and says he wishes to speak with her alone. Jupiter and the Tutor depart.
The Argives's fear and repentance is imposed on them from above by Aegistheus and the High Priest. Aegistheus does not rule through physical power. He rules entirely through the power of moral persuasion and fear. The annual day of the dead is intended to revive and strengthen the guilt of the people. By calling on several of them by name and recounting their sins, Aegistheus seeks to remind his subjects that all are guilty of something and that all must repent. He is supported in this by the High Priest, a symbol of religious order. It is not accidental that this notion—that all are guilty and all must repent of their sins—is also one of the principal tenets of Christianity. Sartre rejected organized religion on the grounds that it attempts to control human beings through a moral system that is presented as having a greater value than human freedom. More importantly, although the ideas of universal guilt and eternal repentance are imposed from above, the people themselves internalize them. Even before Aegistheus has appeared, the Argives rave about their guilt and the punishments they deserve. Even without the reminders of religious and political authorities, the people believe that they deserve to live in wretchedness and slavery. Order is maintained in Argos by convincing every Argive that he or she deserves to suffer.
Please wait while we process your payment