ng someone, and the guilt that she feels is from her denying another woman the love of Hippolytus. She has caused the suffering of another woman, Aricia, and now she has also caused a father to banish and kill his own son. Finally, after the death of Oenome, Aricia, and Hippolytus, the power of her guilt has engulfed her and she can no longer live in the absence of truth or with the deeds she has done. This guilt leads to her confession that she was the “lustful and incestuous one,” and after enduring all the guilt from the deaths of the innocent, she ends her own life.This tale of forbidden passion shows the power of shame and guilt within Phaedra by creating a sense of helplessness in love and the effects of being in love. Phaedra loved someone whom she could not have, and the shame that she felt eventually turned into guilt after her “blind” actions caused the death of innocent lovers. The power of guilt and shame produces a tragic tale by manipulating and overwhelming a helpless character that is bound by an unattainable love....
