Molora

Molora is an adaptation of Aeschylus' Oresteia written in 2008 by Yael Farber.

Plot Summary

Prologue, Part i

The play begins with women of the chorus rising from the audience onto the stage. Klytamnestra, "a white woman in middle age" and Elektra, her daughter "a young, black woman" follow, rising from the audience and walking to two different tables at opposite ends of the stage. Klytamnestra gives her testimony, and Elektra replies by introducing a "list of evils" that she will recite- a list that is acted out over the course of the play.

Parts ii-iv

The scene flashes back to when Elektra is seven years old and Orestes is an infant. Klytemnestra wraps Elektra in a blanket, and proceeds to kill her husband, Agamemnon, with a pickaxe. As in the Oresteia, Agamemnon's death is not witnessed directly by the audience, and is represented by Klytemnestra's axe hitting the table, with the body of Agamemnon produced soon afterwards. The young Elektra screams and then flings herself onto her father's body, but Klytemnestra pulls her away, demanding that she not look. Later that night, fearing that Orestes will follow his father's fate, Elektra steals him away and gives him to one of the women of the chorus to take care of. Upon her return, she is questioned by Klytemnestra as to the disappearance of her son, but Elektra gives her no information even under torture.

Part v

The action is moved seventeen years into the future as Klytemnestra's nightly dream (which is heard by Elektra) is acted out- paralleling Clytamnestra's dream in the Oresteia, she dreams of giving birth to a snake that bites her breast when she attempts to nurse it.

Parts vi-vii

Elektra, hearing her mother's dream again, rolls over towards her father's grave, where she hears the women of the chorus singing softly to her to take back her house from "the perpitrator". She falls asleep, only to be woken up by Klytemnestra, who accuses her of grieving too much. They argue over the justice of the [...], and Klytamnestra closes her case by stating that Agamemmnon had brutally killed her first husband and the child that she had by him, and had sacrificed one of their daughters (Ephigenia) "for peace". She affirms her notion of justice as "eye for an eye, blood for blood, and a tooth for a tooth".

Part viii

The testimony resumes, and Elektra requests that Klytemnestra demonstrate to the audience how she used a wet bag to suffocate her in her attempts to get information as to Orestes' whereabouts.

Part ix

Orestes comes of age, and leaves the woman who took care of him to go take back his house and start a family. Elektra intuits that "the spirit of revenge" is coming, and Klytemnestra predicts that it will come unannounced at the door.

Part x- xii

Orestes arrives at the house of Elektra and Klytemnestra, as a stranger announcing the death of Orestes and presenting his ashes. Orestes says that he must also bring this news directly to the man of the house, Ayesthus, and will return after dark when Ayesthus returns. After his departure, Elektra grieves for her brother at her father's grave, when Orestes again appears, proving his identity to her by presenting the stone she gave him as an infant. Elektra and Orestes invoke their father; Elektra asks her father to "let justice reveal the truth". The two then come up with A Plan to exact their revenge on their mother and stepfather.

Part xiii-xv

Night falls, and Orestes returns. Klytemnestra re-enacts the [...] of Agamemnon in front of Orestes and then drunkenly passes out. Orestes grabs an axe and sets out to kill Ayesthus, who is walking through the fields. Klytemnestra awakens after Orestes departs, and Elektra hangs a large dead snake behind her mother, frightening her. As Orestes runs towards Ayesthus, [...] him, he hears the voice of his foster mother, who commands him to “never kill again”.

Part xvi-xix

Orestes comes back to the house with the heart of Ayesthus, and Elektra places it at Klytemnestra’s feet. Klytemnestra recognizes Orestes and realizes that she must die, but rushes for the axe to defend herself. Elektra seizes it first and gives it to Orestes, who she trusts will deliver the fatal blow. Orestes tries, but hesitates, and ultimately cannot bring himself to kill his mother and throws down the axe. Elektra, enraged, picks up the axe and attempts to kill Klytemnestra, but is restrained by the women of the chorus. She realizes that she cannot kill her mother either, and embraces Orestes, while the women of the chorus burst into song.

Epilogue

Klytemnestra gives a short speech, recognizing that she as a parent is “only here by grace alone”, and proclaims that the house will rise up from the “ash on the ground”.

Interpretations of Molora

As Aeschylus opens a debate about justice in the Oresteia, Farber opens up a debate about justice in Molora which is symbolically related to comparatively recent history in South Africa. Central to the debate in either play is the “blood for blood” cycle of justice, which is resolved in a very different manner in Molora; Orestes settles the issue himself by [...] only Ayesthus and not his mother and without the need for the intervention of gods or impartial juries for the purpose of judgment as they are portrayed in the Oresteia. A strong justification for this significant change in the resolution of justice is necessary to prove Farber’s symbolic point; she does this by some slight modifications to the play that she is adapting.

The abundance of important parallels between Molora and both Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers but not The Eumenides is noteworthy, but it cannot be assumed that Molora and the first two parts of the Oresteia trilogy are completely parallel, even discounting the fact that Klytemnestra and Ayesthus do not get murdered in Molora. Though Agamemnon is murdered in an almost identical manner in Agamemnon and Molora, and the justifications for his [...] are similar as well, the time at which this [...] occurs in relation to Orestes’ return is significantly different. In the Oresteia, the gap between the murders of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra is unspecified but can be assumed to be relatively short, whereas in Molora, there is a seventeen year gap between the first [...] and the other would-be-[...] of Klytemnestra. Another significant difference is seen in the details regarding Orestes- in the Oresteia, he is sent away by his mother as a boy, meaning that he can remember living with his real family, but in Molora, he is sent away by his sister as an infant, and presumably has no recollection of his family. This lack of connection to his family would appear to make him less willing to avenge the death of his father, and indeed it does; Orestes is moved by the passion his mother shows when she laments that she never knew her son. The length of time since Agamemnon’s death appears to temper Orestes’ hate, as evidenced by his justification for not [...] his mother; first he says “there is still time” and finally he states that he is “tired of hating”. This contrasts with Elektra’s tone which is influenced by her constant state of grief which appears uninfluenced by the passage of time. Elektra attempts to kill Klytemnestra, but is stopped by the women of the chorus. The cycle of violence brought on by the “blood for blood” interpretation of justice is broken by the judgment of Orestes, and the chorus sings of unity.

The “unity” brings the audience back to the symbolic meaning of the play- the reflection and encouragement of unity between blacks and whites in post-apartheid South Africa. In the foreword, Farber states that “South Africa’s relatively peaceful transformation was an extraordinary exception in our vengeful world”. But the modifications that Farber makes to the plot are not only tailored to fit the ending, they are also symbolic in and of themselves. There are numerous allusions to the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which dealt with the many human rights violations that had occurred under the former regime. The stage is set up to evoke the venues in which testimonies were held during the commission, and during one of the testimonies, Elektra asks Klytemnestra to demonstrate the “wet bag method” of torture- symbolic of the human rights violations that were being investigated. In Molora, Elektra appears to represent black South Africans during apartheid, and her long wait for vengeance represents the long period of suffering endured under white rule (symbolized by Klytemnestra), while Orestes, unscathed by the torture experienced by Elektra but deeply affected nevertheless, represents the new era of an understanding justice.

Xhosa tradition in Molora

Many aspects of the Xhosa tradition such as rituals associated with death, spiritual beliefs, and social life combine to create the plot of Molora. The [...] and burial of Agamemnon sets the stage for the play when Klytemnestra neglects various rituals. In the Xhosa culture, the head of a family holds a position of high respect and is believed to watch over the family after death. The burial of a man like Agamemnon would include a large funeral procession and a sacrifice of cattle for proper respect. A sense of disorder and impending bloodshed arises from the failure to perform these rituals.

Spiritual beliefs of the Xhosa play a large role in Molora through dreams. Klytemnestra has a recurring dream in which she gives birth to a snake. The snake symbolizes Orestes who she fears will come back to kill her as revenge. Reading of dreams is taken very seriously in Xhosa culture and often seen as a form of communication from the ancestors.

The Xhosa sense of community also appears in Molora when Orestes, pretending to be a messenger, is welcomed into the home. However Klytemnestra’s suspicion and hostile behavior suggest that the situation is outside of traditional values. Xhosa chiefs often achieve their status based on their mother’s status. Orestes is deprived of his title as a result of exile and Klytemnestra further stains the name of the family, both motivations for Orestes revenge. Rights of passage are required of both boys and girls and are important rituals in Xhosa communities. Elektra, under the orders of her stepfather Ayesthus, does not participate in any rituals that will allow her to marry. This demotion from a daughter of high standing parents to a slave fuels her desire for revenge.

The values of Xhosa culture exhibited in Molora parallel many aspects of Ancient Greek culture that create the background for the Oresteia. However, the rise of the Xhosa and other South African cultures after the Apartheid is reflected in the ending of Molora. Where the Greek tragedy decides Orestes’ fate through a democratic trial process, the characters in Molora initiate change by ending the revenge cycle voluntarily and presenting testimonies without passing judgment.

Sources

• Farber, Yael. Molora. London: Oberon Books, 2008
• Aeschylus. Oresteia. Trans. Richard Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953.