In what ways do you feel Clytemnestra changes over the course of the novel? Do you believe she ultimately achieves the freedom she sought?

In what ways do you feel Clytemnestra changes over the course of the novel? Do you believe she ultimately achieves the freedom she sought?

One important way is that as important as her physical and emotional strength is to her, she comes to realize it is also problematic—that she is at risk of becoming numb. I think she realizes that while she may be free of male domination, she will never be free of the painful past, and she can’t rely on strength alone to rebuild relationships with her children.

I think she gets a lot harder. I don't feel the younger Clytemnestra wouldn't have treated Leon as callously.

Although I feel her desire for vengeance is justified, I can't imagine that killing Agamemnon made her any happier. And, knowing that her children ultimately kill her in turn, it doesn't seem like her world got any more peaceful.

Clytemnestra learns that she really cannot trust anyone--not her father, her mother, obviously not her husband. She loses her brothers, her first husband, and, after the loss of her two eldest children, and never really finds anything that she can trust or cling onto; even herself.

Maybe she felt "free" for a moment. After all the years of plotting revenge, perhaps she breathed easier for a quick second, as there must've been relief in that once the deed was done; a weight lifted. And when she heard Iphigenia's voice saying, "Mother, I'm free," that surely lightened her load, too. But the fact that Electra will never forgive her, and her son will likely return to avenge Agamemnon's death, and that she is on very tender, untrustworthy ground with the elders and people...I cannot imagine she would ever actually feel free. Nope.

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I think Clytemnestra grew to be less of a victim and stronger. She was certainly more resourceful as she learned who to trust.

I agree with Kristenb. All of her losses turned her harder and distrustful of others. I think her freedom was very fleeting.

Clytemnestra was wild and free when she was young. She trusted her parents and their way of life. She “grew up” very quickly when she was betrayed by her father with the resulting tragic losses. Her second marriage hardened her more, not least because she had briefly felt joy and happiness. Plus, hatred makes one harder. She was an effective leader but without sympathy and emotion. By the end of the book, I felt she was no more free than she had been but had merely completed her long sought after vengeance.