The Presence of Women in Kazantzakis’ Theater

(The title of  my  Thesis for the PhD Award)

By Dr  Pipina D. Elles

The Greek writer, Nikos Kazantzakis, was born in Crete in 1883. He wrote a large number of works which include essays, novels, children’s stories, theatrical plays, travel logs, translations, a literary synopsis, his autobiography and a synopsis of his religious beliefs.

In this thesis, titled The Presence of Women in Kazantzakis’ theater, we examine the roles, characters and characterizations of women in Kazantzakis’ seventeen theatrical plays, famous for their structure, similar to that, of the Classic Greek Tragedies.

In pursuing the understanding of his position towards the woman we proceed examining

1. The elements that contributed to the making of the writer
2. Kazantzakis’ passion for freedom
3. The roles and the character of women in Kazantzakis’ plays, their characterizations, but mainly their relationship with their male counterparts;
4. Kazantzakis’ relationships with the women in his life;
5. The views of other writers in Greece and in the Western world about women in their literary works, from antiquity to Kazantzakis’ day.

We address the above subject matter in the following five chapters:

1. The Environment and its Influences on N. Kazantzakis
2. The Plays of N. Kazantzakis

3. Types, Roles, Qualities and Characterizations of Women in  Kazantzakis’ Plays

4. The Contradictory Positions of N. Kazantzakis Towards Women

5. What Other Writers and Intellectuals said about Women