Agony Quote by Hélène Cixous
““ Voice-cry. Agony--the spoken “word” exploded, blown to bits by suffering and anger, demolishing discourse: this is how she has always been heard before, ever since the time when masculine society began to push her offstage, expulsing her, plundering her. Ever since Medea, ever since Electra.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Laugh of the Medusa, 1975
Women’s voices are shattered by patriarchal oppression, reducing discourse to fragmented anguish.
In simple terms: Patriarchal oppression fragments women’s voices.
Key Takeaway
Amplify authentic feminine expression.
Themes
gender
oppression
voice
discourse
Mood
critical
defiant
Type
feminist
literary
When to use this quote
- activism
- literary critique
- education reform
Key Concepts
feminist theory
language politics
Questions to Reflect On
- In what ways can marginalized voices reclaim narrative power?
- How does language shape gendered oppression?
A Different Perspective
Silencing can be resisted through collective storytelling.
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
