Strings Attached

One of the most powerful images in Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice is string. Orpheus ties a string on Eurydice’s left ring finger to remind her that she loves him. It’s also a token or promise that they are to be married. Orpheus also says that he’s going to play his music on each strand of Eurydice’s hair as if it’s a stringed instrument. Once in the underworld, Eurydice can’t remember Orpheus’ name, but knows it “starts with my mouth shaped like a ball of twine” and in one of the most enigmatic and visually striking moments of the play, her father builds her a room made of string.

The Three Fates from Greek Mythology

Are all these references related and what do they mean? Well historically, string has always held deep cultural significance. There are myths found round the world of Goddesses that weave a thread of life for each living person. They are women who understand that some must die and some must live and control that never ending cycle. In Greek mythology, they are known as the three Fates and even Zeus had to bow to their power.

The use of string and the knotting and tying of string is usually related to remembering and binding. We tie a string on our finger so we won’t forget something.

Some Jewish people tie red string around a wrist or ankle to ward off the evil eye or to bring good luck.

The Navajo people can produce intricate string patterns representing things in nature. They say the Spider Woman (another Life/Death Goddess) brought them to the people to keep their thinking and lives in order; playing the string game is an act of remembering.

In areas around Bulgaria and Romania, red and white braided string is worn to welcome the spring.

In Papua New Guinea women make Bilium, which means both “string bag” and “womb.” The bags are made from a single strand of string by rubbing new strands into the old on the thighs. The artist figuratively and literally becomes a part of the art. These bags are used in rituals and found in myths.

The Hmong people of China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand have a healing ritual called string-tying. They believe the body houses many souls and when a soul becomes separated from the body, it causes illness and disease. The Shaman will tie string around the ailing person's wrist to bind the soul back to the body, often while the person holds eggs and money as part of the ritual.

The Pagans practiced knot magic, in which a spell was cast through the knotting of string. The knots could be to bind together two lovers or the unknotting could be the release and healing of past pain.

It seems this idea of remembering and binding are played out in the play. The director’s concept for our production focuses on remembering and forgetting. The string definitely represents remembering: remembering love, remembering music, remembering names and relationships.

I love that the Father builds a room for Eurydice out of string. I see him, like the women in Papua New Guinea, loving constructing the room out of his own self and memories. Rooms are not allowed in the Underworld. Rooms would denote individualism and identity, neither which seem to be present there. A string room could hold not only the memory of earthly home where Eurydice occupied a room, but in the string could be woven strands and pieces of her identity and memories.

The string binds and defines in the story as well. Orpheus is attempting to bind Eurydice to him with the string ring. Marriage itself is a binding – a birth and a death – of relationships and identity. We see this played out through the relationships that Eurydice has with Orpheus and her Father. In the beginning of the play, Orpheus seems to want to mold Eurydice into what he wants. He is a musician and he seems intent on making Eurydice learn his music. Turning her hair into a vehicle for his music could be seen as a manipulative appropriation. Building the room could be a way for the Father to bind Eurydice to him. Look for ways in which Eurydice is bound and defined by those relationships. Is binding bad? Yes, no, maybe both… you decide. All of our relationships inhabit this space between binding and freedom. One of my favorite poems is The Silken Tent by Robert Frost It is a beautiful metaphor for finding a healthy balance of both.

The Silken Tent

At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one's going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware

Look on the Dear Eurydice Stories page for stories about weaving the thread of life

and a story of how the Spider Woman brings weaving to the Navajo people.