ABSTRACT
The possibility of transforming masculinity by integrating femininity within the masculine self is also what Dionysus is offering. The type of masculinity that was promoted by Schreber was based on the Enlightenment model of an independent, rational, self-sufficient individual. The phantasy of the 'redeemer' appeared during the last stage of his illness and transformed Schreber's paranoia into a delusional grandiose system whereby he was slowly transformed into a woman to serve the 'Order of Things' and to be impregnated by divine rays to produce the new race of human beings. The gender aspect of the play is prominent, but of course the play is, like any classical work, multi-dimensional and open to many interpretations. As Pentheus is busy trying to destroy Dionysus, Dionysus' irresistible power drives the women of Thebes to Mount Kythairon and there, abandoning the controls of civilization, they dance themselves into a frenzy and create a world that is in harmony with nature and the beasts.
