La Rebelión de Los Esclavos

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the theatre of the Spanish contemporary playwright Raúl Hernández Garrido. It explores in depth his tragedy Los engranajes and it applies (in a more referential manner) the results of this investigation to the rest of his plays: Los malditos, Los restos: Agamenón vuelve a casa and Los restos Fedra, included in the cycle Los esclavos. The author utilizes myth and greek tragedy intentionally in order to make readers reflect upon the concepts of destiny and the fragility of human action as well as the fragmentation, hopelessness and dissatisfaction of contemporary societies. My study demonstrates that the formal innovation of these plays and the use of tragedy as their argumental framework present not only a criticism about these concepts but also an approach towards change and a social ethic of hope founded in creative freedom and the cooperation between the text and all people involved in the creative process. As a theoretical frame of reference for my study I use texts from Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Friedrich Nietzsche, René Girard and Emmanuel Levinas. Their reflections about the genre of tragedy and/or the concept of the tragic shed light upon my analysis of themes such as human suffering, trauma, the abuse of power, violence and the ethics of responsibility in the works of our author.