Analysis of Medea

1. Is Medea pure evil? Is there anything noble or heroic about her character? Discuss your point of view.

Throughout the years, many of the brilliant plays that are analyzed by society contain many different characters, some of which are tragic figures. In literature, these tragic figures contain a fine line between tragic villain and tragic hero. A tragedy such as Macbeth introduces the tragic figure, Macbeth, as a character that was well respected throughout society. His personal flaw of greed and hunger for power and outside circumstances led him to become a villain that was insane and was led to death. This is also evident in Euripides's play Medea. The main character in the play, Medea, is a figure that possesses the traits, jealousy and an excessive amount of rage, which ultimately leads to her own downfall. In literature, even though the tragic villain and tragic hero have many similarities, they are also very different.

Euripides

English: Fragment from a vellum codex of Euripides...

chorus group "sakura"

They are very alike, but Macbeth contrasts Medea because he is a villain, and she portrays the characteristics of a tragic hero.

In the beginning of the play, Medea fallen in love with Jason, under Hera's influence, and because of him, she runs away from her homeland, kills her brother, and takes other various risks to make sure he succeeds. Throughout the play, Medea's ill fate is recognized most clearly by her servants and fellow women. Jason divorces her for another woman and leaves his family. Her situation only becomes worse when she is informed by Creon that he is going to force her into exile , and Chorus of Corinthian women exclaim that "a god has thrown suffering upon [her] in waves of despair" (29). In the ancient Greek society, women were looked down upon and were oppressed, so...