Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn

First immortalised by Virgil in his fourth Georgic (ca. 39-30 BC), the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has captured the imaginations of artists for centuries. Conditioned by the age in which they were produced, many songs, plays, poems, and operas have been composed to honour this tragic love story. Am...

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Main Author: Tuğba Aygan
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Istanbul University Press 2023-06-01
Series:Litera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi
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Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/BEFD44F3FAA843B89DDAC3BC1D20DCBD
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author Tuğba Aygan
author_facet Tuğba Aygan
author_sort Tuğba Aygan
collection DOAJ
description First immortalised by Virgil in his fourth Georgic (ca. 39-30 BC), the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has captured the imaginations of artists for centuries. Conditioned by the age in which they were produced, many songs, plays, poems, and operas have been composed to honour this tragic love story. Among others, British playwright Zinnie Harris, in her 2017 play Meet Me at Dawn, draws her inspiration from this legendary love story. Defying the gender politics of the myth and the time, Harris reframes the characters in a more modern context and constructs both Orpheus and Eurydice as women. Whilst questioning what one would do if they were given another chance to be reunited with a beloved one who died suddenly, the play further explores the themes of bereavement, grief, and grieving by using the mythological love story as an allegorical scaffold. Drawing on Freud’s model of bereavement and the KüblerRoss grief cycle, this paper reflects on the embodiment of grief and grieving in the aftermath of a loss as manifested in Meet Me at Dawn arguing that it provides an exegesis of the validity of this particular model.
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series Litera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi
spelling doaj-art-b9c5d2bd51f34560a2cacb60e258bc142025-08-20T02:27:00ZdeuIstanbul University PressLitera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi2602-21172023-06-01331536910.26650/LITERA2022-1198703123456Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at DawnTuğba Aygan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0514-8472Atatürk Üniversitesi, Erzurum, TurkiyeFirst immortalised by Virgil in his fourth Georgic (ca. 39-30 BC), the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has captured the imaginations of artists for centuries. Conditioned by the age in which they were produced, many songs, plays, poems, and operas have been composed to honour this tragic love story. Among others, British playwright Zinnie Harris, in her 2017 play Meet Me at Dawn, draws her inspiration from this legendary love story. Defying the gender politics of the myth and the time, Harris reframes the characters in a more modern context and constructs both Orpheus and Eurydice as women. Whilst questioning what one would do if they were given another chance to be reunited with a beloved one who died suddenly, the play further explores the themes of bereavement, grief, and grieving by using the mythological love story as an allegorical scaffold. Drawing on Freud’s model of bereavement and the KüblerRoss grief cycle, this paper reflects on the embodiment of grief and grieving in the aftermath of a loss as manifested in Meet Me at Dawn arguing that it provides an exegesis of the validity of this particular model.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/BEFD44F3FAA843B89DDAC3BC1D20DCBDmeet me at dawnorpheus and eurydicebereavementgrievingküblerross grief cycle
spellingShingle Tuğba Aygan
Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn
Litera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi
meet me at dawn
orpheus and eurydice
bereavement
grieving
küblerross grief cycle
title Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn
title_full Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn
title_fullStr Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn
title_full_unstemmed Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn
title_short Orpheus and Eurydice Revisited: Grief and Grieving in Zinnie Harris’ Meet Me at Dawn
title_sort orpheus and eurydice revisited grief and grieving in zinnie harris meet me at dawn
topic meet me at dawn
orpheus and eurydice
bereavement
grieving
küblerross grief cycle
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/BEFD44F3FAA843B89DDAC3BC1D20DCBD
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