Greek Drama Medea exam questions

Medea: 2006 Question: What insights does Euripides’ play Medea give us into the different ways women and men viewed marriage at that time? Pointers You must consider the role of both men and women – not just one side. For all the female characters (Medea, the chorus, the nurse, Glauce) marriage is central to their very identity. It is what gives them status and security. Medea says “a woman is weak and timid in most things . . . but touch her right to marriage and there is bloodier spirit”. By rejecting her, Jason has taken everything from her. The chorus of women are willing to turn a blind eye to Medea’s revenge because of Jason’s rejection of his marriage. They feel as if her situation could be their own.

Medea: 2006 Pointers Medea has given up everything for marriage – home, family, power. She has devoted all of her energy and time to her marriage to Jason and when this devotion is betrayed she is determined to have revenge. For Jason, however, marriage is completely different in that it is not his whole life. For him marriage is not an end in itself but a means to other things such as status, security, wealth etc. He is fickle and willing to move from one wife to another to attain these goals. In her second confrontation with Jason, Medea plays the type of submissive wife that Jason sees as the ideal. To him, marriage is not the partnership that Medea envisioned.

Question: In his play Medea, Euripides shows great understanding of the female psyche through his depiction of a range of female characters. Discuss this statement.

Medea: 2007 Question: In his play Medea, Euripides shows great understanding of the female psyche through his depiction of a range of female characters. Discuss this statement. Pointers The female sex is represented by Medea, the nurse, the chorus and Glauce. You must deal with Medea in your answer, however, you also need to discuss at least two others. Medea shows many of the typical characteristics of a Greek male hero (determination, unbending, conviction of being right, refusal to listen to appeals), in his portrayal of her Euripides shows a great understanding of the female psyche. As a woman, in order to succeed she must use deceit and manipulation, she must conceal her purpose and play up her apparent feminine ‘weakness’. Medea uses these traits as a weapon to gain the victory she craves. She plays the weak, wronged woman card in her dealings with Creon and Aegeus, even though it is clear to the audience she is capable of taking care of herself.

Medea: 2007 Pointers She plays this card most prominently in her second meeting with Jason, where she plays on all the male cliches about women. Euripides also handles her killing of her sons with insight into the female psyche when she debates with herself over what she should do. Her first speech to the chorus also gives an insight into women’s feelings and the injustices they endure. Through the chorus, Euripides also gets across an understanding of the female view, one that is quite sympathetic.

Medea: 2007 Pointers The chorus also describe that it is men who write the stories that portray women as treacherous. Even though Glauce never actually appears on stage, Euripides gives a keenly observed picture of a young, impressionable, slightly spoiled Daddy’s girl. The description of the moments running up to her death give many telling details about her character. The way she sulks, yields to Jason and her excitement to try on her new finery. The portrayal of the Nurse also shows an understanding of an older women, without any illusions about a woman’s place in society and full of concern and worry for Medea and the children.

Question: How does Euripides succeed in making believe that Medea, a loving mother, is capable of killing her own children?

Medea: 2003 Question: How does Euripides succeed in making believe that Medea, a loving mother, is capable of killing her own children? Pointers The play is very carefully constructed to make the audience gradually accept that this woman is really capable of killing her own children. From the first scenes, the nurse, the tutor and the chorus all express their fear of Medea’s fierce character and their worries for the children – “I’ve seen her watching them, her eye like a wild bull’s. There’s something that she means to do.” At this point in the play the emphasis is on building up this picture of Medea as a dangerous character. Even this early in the play she says that she can take no joy from her sons.

Medea: 2003 Pointers However, this is not enough to truly convince us. Euripides now has Medea announce her plan to kill the children but she goes through an emotional and heart-rending debate with herself in which she changes her mind some four or five times. Before that she bursts into floods of tears as she sends her children with their deadly gifts to the palace. This immense struggle with herself is the real key to persuading us she can go through with it. She is not shying away from the grim reality, but rather acknowledges how awful it will be and still seems prepared to go through with the murders. The audience also already know that Medea is capable of killing a relative – she herself refers to the murder of her brother. Finally, it is also possible to argue that Euripides has created a character so bent on revenge that the audience accept she is willing to do whatever it takes to make Jason suffer, even that which will cause herself misery.

Medea: Role of Chorus Pointers The Chorus is important for the general role they play in the drama but also their attitudes towards Medea and Jason. At the start they are used by Euripides to set the scene and prepare us for the entry of Medea, giving us some idea about her character. They also serve as a sounding board for Medea, a testing ground for her strongest attitudes and plans. They fulfil the usual choral role of commenting on developments and of expanding their views on certain topics e.g. the horrors of being an exile, the pains that children bring, the glory of Athens etc. The fact that they are women is crucial to an understanding of the part they play. Their commentary is completely tied to their experience of being a woman e.g. their hymn for a quiet marriage, their comment that women are unfairly treated in stories.

Medea: Role of Chorus Pointers As far as their attitude towards Medea goes, they are sympathetic to her in almost everything. They agree that Jason deserves punishment and that she has been wronged. Although they are aware of Medea’s capacity for violence, they still support her up to the point where she declares her intention of killing the children. They are shocked and horrified at this and simply cannot understand how she could do such a thing. They do little when Medea is actually killing the children, because the chorus do not take direct action in Greek drama. Though they see Jason’s behaviour as common-place, they still rebuke him and believe he deserves the justice of the gods. However, when he comes looking for his sons and they tell him the awful news, they cannot withhold their sympathy for him.