Eliza Doolittle and Medea

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the characters of Eliza Doolittle from George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" and Euripides' Medea by considering their different strengths and weaknesses, and the modes of representation used to distinguish them. Some reflection is also given to the means the authors use to convey the nature of each character and the ways in which the changes within the character are expressed. Finally, an attempt is made to analyze the two characters through considering the ways in which they have changed by the end of the play.

From the Paper:

" Although many critics have described Medea as being a woman that is transformed from someone who is suicidal and depressed into a person who is driven by anger and revenge, it is clear that Medea had always been a determined, strong woman. She had often used her magic powers to obtain what she wanted; shown through her actions in helping Jason obtain the Golden Fleece, the murder of her own brother, and through manipulating the daughters of Pelias to murder their own father. Instead, Medea is portrayed through Euripides, as a woman that kills while being completely sane, through an anger that is fuelled by pure jealousy. She is a woman scorned."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Harold Bloom - editor. George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. Publisher: Chelsea House. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1988.
• Lillian Corti - author. The Myth of Medea and the Murder of Children. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1998.

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• Comparison Essay # 93541 : "Oedipus and Medea"

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