Medea

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the types of irony appearing in Jeffers' adaptation and how they function to establish the mood and reveal the meaning of the play. It explains that irony is one of the main themes that form the backbone of this play, and the author uses it quite effectively to highlight duplicity, stupidity, and contradictions throughout Greek society, especially those that relate to the suppression of women.

From the Paper:

"It is clear from the beginning of this play that Medea is a strong, willful woman who is capable of great love and great hate. When Jason spurns her and takes a new wife, "hell hath no fury like a woman scored," and Medea, a "powerless" woman in the eyes of Greek men, manages to arrange the murders of a King and Princess, even as the men in her society attempt to suppress her as a woman and as a powerful leader. She says, " To catch a young slender salmon--not mute, she'll sing: her delicate body writhes in the meshes, / The golden wreath binds her bright head with light: she'll dance, she'll sing loudly: / Would I were there to hear it, that proud one howling" (Jeffers 78). No only does this show her power over the Princess, and that she, and she alone will choose when the Princess dies, no matter how powerless the men of Greece think she is. In the end, Medea wields all the power, she kills Jason's bride, she kills his sons, and she clearly shows she is the stronger of the two. The irony of her strength and purpose is in direct contrast to the way Greece treats its' women, as beautiful bodies with little intelligence. She has outfoxed even Jason, and shows she is not a "mere" woman, but certainly a Goddess, even if she is an evil one."

More papers on Medea:

• Argumentative Essay # 147702 : "Medea:" Empowering or Selfish Woman?"
• Analytical Essay # 136920 : "Women Struggles in "The Medea" and "A Doll's House"
• Narrative Essay # 74844 : "Medea: The Monomythic Antihero Cycle"
• Comparison Essay # 85690 : "Medea" and "A Doll's House"

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