Contents
Part Two — Chapter Twenty-One
Overview
Theo buys and reads Euripides’ Alcestis, discovering that the resurrected heroine returns but remains silent. He recognizes a direct parallel to Alicia’s muteness and becomes preoccupied with its meaning. This insight reframes Alicia’s silence as potentially purposeful, deepening Theo’s interpretive approach to her case.
Summary
On his commute, Theo stops at Waterstones to buy a copy of Euripides’ Alcestis, seeking context for Alicia’s painting. He begins reading on the tube, finding the play peculiar and slow but relevant.
Theo summarizes the plot: Admetus, spared death by Apollo’s bargain, must find a substitute. His parents refuse; his wife, Alcestis, volunteers and dies. Later, Heracles retrieves Alcestis from Hades and restores her to life.
Crucially, Theo notes that Alcestis returns but does not speak. Struck by this, he rereads the ending and fixates on the unanswered question of her silence. The discovery reframes Alicia’s muteness as an intentional echo of Alcestis, suggesting meaning or resistance rather than mere pathology and intensifying Theo’s resolve to interpret her silence.
Who Appears
- Theo FaberTherapist narrator; buys and reads Alcestis, identifying the heroine’s post-resurrection silence as a key to understanding Alicia.
- Alcestis (from Euripides)Mythic figure Theo studies; dies for Admetus and returns silent, mirroring Alicia’s muteness.
- Admetus (from Euripides)Alcestis’s husband who accepts her sacrifice; his actions frame the play’s moral ambiguity.
- Heracles (from Euripides)Hero who rescues Alcestis from Hades; his intervention prompts the silent return.