The Study of Literary Topoi as an Area of ​​Comparative Literature: The Case of 'Murder for Love'

Abstract

[eng] This article aims to examine the position of literary topoi in the field of comparative literatureusing Escobar (2000) and Laguna Mariscal's (1999) definition of topoi. One ofthe requirements for distinguishing a topos from similar literary terms is its recurrencein literary history from the classical tradition towards modern literature. As a result, thestudy of literary topoi always constitutes evolution, development, and comparison. toneshow this in practice, we introduce "murder for love" as a literary topos and trace its developmentin Eugene O'Neill's tragedies Desire Under the Elms (1924) and Mourning BecomesElectra (1931). The results of the study validate the necessity of comparison (inthe sense of looking for parallel structures or syntaxes) when examining literary topoi.Consequently, when analyzing the development of "murder for love" in O'Neill's plays,it is essential to look for its architextual relationships with classical texts, such as Medeanarratives.