SOURCE: “Men, Women, and Tony Harrison's Sex-War Oresteia,” in Tony Harrison, edited by Neil Astley, Bloodaxe Books, 1991, pp. 295-302.

[In the following essay, Rutter examines the role of gender in Harrison's Oresteia.]

The Headmistress considered the splendidly wrapped Christmas present from the boy she'd harangued all term. ‘They don't carry grudges,’ she said. ‘Children don't carry grudges.’ Then corrected herself. ‘Boys don't. Girls—They're a bit iffy with grudges.’

I thought of Clytemnestra, stuck in Argos, ten years brooding on that grudge that turned to gall the organ that had started as her heart.

Girls carry grudges.

Why?

Because girls remember. Girls, the stay-at-home Penelopes at the loom, do-nothings （while men, the do-ers, sail off to do war, to do history） have inexhaustible time to brood on actions men forget as soon as They're accomplished. Like killing. Like war. Each invasion is such a surprise, such an adventure...