Medea by Euripides in Today's society

Essay by sftbll09lftyHigh School, 12th gradeA, April 2008

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There are some stories that throughout time have not been forgotten. Their lessons and morals, characters, and winding plots will be remembered forever. However, what makes stories like Peter Pan, Jane Eyre, and Romeo and Juliet so unforgettable? This could be, in part, due to their ability to entertain every age or keep the reader on the edge of his seat. However, the real reason these stories are timeless is that any person, at any time or place, can hear on of these stories and relate to it in some way. This universality may come from using your imagination to go to far off places, keeping a dark secret from the one you love, or falling in love at first sight and willing to give up everything for that love. Another story that is relevant to today is Medea.

Even though Euripides wrote Medea thousands of years ago by, any person, male or female, young or old, can take the characters and the plot and relate it to his or her life in today's society.

One part of the story that is universal is Medea's internal struggle with her decision to continue her plans to murder her children. Just as in Madame Bovary, her head and her heart are saying two different things. She knows that in order to achieve maximum suffering from Jason, she must kill her children. Nevertheless, she also knows that it is a terrible crime and afterwards, she will feel so much sorrow, she will not be able to stand it. Today, a person could be reading the play and it may remind him of choices he made throughout the day. With every choice or decision we make, there is some internal conflict. We are all desperately seeking a balance with what we...