Inescapable sovereignty
Joe Piech Piech 1 Erica Hoagland ENG 235 10/3/03 Inescapable Sovereignty The dictionary’s definition of sovereignty reads: the quality or state of being sovereign; the exercise of, or the right to exercise supreme power, dominion, or independence. Many circumstances can stem from someone’s sovereignty over something or someone, especially people. Sovereignty over people can produce jealousy due to a lack of independence, that lack being in control over one’s mind and self. In The Bacchae, Dionysus’ sovereignty over the people of Thebes produces great jealousy out of Pentheus, a man whose thirst for control, it seems, will never be quenched. ... He did not come to destroy Pentheus, but he did come back to reestablish what is his and that is his divine sovereignty over the people of Thebes. ... The Bacchae shows the arrogance of man and the evil that exists in him when he wants control over what he can’t, sovereignty. ... The reader should know from very early on reading that Pentheus was doomed and that Dionysus’ sovereignty was inescapable.