Notes on Medea (Part 1): go.to/litgarden

Notes on Medea (Part 1)

* Euripides wrote numerous plays between about 440-405 BC. His great tragedy Medea is regarded as a model of its kind, and Greek theatre in general had great influence on many later dramatists, including Shakespeare. * A very simple distinction between Tragedy and Comedy is this: a tragedy ends in death; a comedy usually ends in love and marriage. There is more to it than that, but as a rule of thumb it isn't a bad one. Another factor about tragedy is that it tended to be about high-born persons – in other words, about kings and queens and princes and such like. It was believed that by showing the suffering of these high-born people those of us who have a more ordinary life would be able to learn from their mistakes and their problems, and so make our own lives better. Also, the matter of "Catharsis" was important to the Greeks. Catharsis means the release of tensions. So, by seeing these terrible tragedies on the stage our own personal worries and fears would seem like nothing in comparison – and, strangely, though the tragedy may make us weep or cry, the Greeks believed that this was a good process because it provided a suitable release for our own emotions. * Although tragedy was about high-born persons, Euripides is unusual (particularly in the first half of the play) in giving some importance to ordinary servants, even slaves. Such people are notable for their good sense (see, for example, the general observations of the slave tutor, eg line 76 etc), their moderation (see the Nurses comments at lines 125-6), and their loyalty. It is interesting that Shakespeare (whose own tragedies focused on high-born people: King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth etc) developed the role of common people as well in his tragedies * The Chorus is an important part of Greek tragedy (and it too survived in some of Shakespeare's work). The Chorus had a number of functions and characteristics: + its role was often to question what was happening in the drama, often speaking directly to the characters in the play; + it was used to summarize the action of the play so far, reminding the audience of the key events and problems; + it had the task of commenting perceptively on events and interpreting their significance; + it was entirely trustworthy, and thus could be believed by the characters on stage and the audience; + it often prophesied what events would occur in the future; + it had no actual power to intervene and change situations – though it could try to use the power of persuasion to change the intentions of a character or to advise him/her to do or not to do something; + the Chorus was almost always female, often consisting of a group of women who spoke in unison and who described themselves in the singular (I, me, mine). * Greek tragedy relied "unity" – all the action took place normally within the space of a 24 hour period, and generally in the same place. Medea is a good example, being set entirely at the house of Medea and within the space of 24 hours. * Medea, as the title of the play suggests, is the main character and therefore the process of the play involves a variety of people visiting and revisiting her. Before she arrives on stage, Euripides builds up the tension of the play through the comments of the Nurse and the Tutor who lead us to understand that Medea is at once a victim (a "poor lady" at line 59) and also an aggressor. Jason, her husband, has abandoned her – but there are suggestions as well that she is violent (line 38), a "strange woman" (line 44), fierce-tempered (line 112 etc), cunning (see how she cleverly persuades the Chorus at line 257 onwards; and also how she persuades Kreon to go back on his decision to expel her immediately – line 300 onwards), possibly even evil (see Kreon's comment at line 283), and certainly to be feared (line 45; lines 102-4 etc). This early preparation summarises the problem that we have with Medea throughout the play: we feel sorry for her on account of what has happened to her; but we dislike her for the things she ultimately plans and does. She is in this sense a "split" personality – a person capable of both good and evil. * This play is in many ways what we could call a "revenge" tragedy. And Medea constantly insists on the need for her to gain revenge for what has happened to her (see, for example, line 400 onwards). * It is interesting that Medea frequently expresses a "de contemptu mundi" attitude (ie contempt of earthly existence = she doesn't want to live any more). This is evident especially at lines 141-5. But, as we shall see, although she is eventually prepared to kill her children she takes considerable steps to protect her own life. Te arrival of Aigeus at line 647 will ultimately provide her with the means of saving her own life. * Jason, of course, does not emerge from the first half of the play as a character worthy of much praise. When he enters the play first at line 435 he seems to show no remorse for what he has done and even blames Medea for her own exile (she has been too loose with her threats). In his speech from lines 510-563 he attempts to justify why he left Medea, claiming that it was for her good and for the good of the children. It is an absurd argument and both the Chorus (lines 564-6) and Medea tell him so. He seems to be a rather unintelligent and weak man, and he is certainly no match for the cunning of Medea – though, strangely, he has been able to wound her emotionally because of her love for him.

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