Euripides, Medea
Bibliography: http://www.gnomon.ku-eichstaett.de/cgi-bin/Desk.pl?d=Medea+EuripidisStructure: Outline the play to examine its symmetrical structure
Prologue: monologue (Nurse); dialogue (Nurse + paedagogue)
Parodos: entrance of chorus First episode, first stasimon to exodos...
In your outline, jot down:
- --who is on stage
- --what information is gained
- --notice times when the children are on stage
- --in a sentence or two tell what is the subject of the scene or song
- --what progress is made in Medea's plans
- --is there forward movement toward the catastrophe
* * *
Some questions and topics:
The appearance of Aegeus: he arrives out of the blue. Can this be justified by themes, by logic, by structure? Is it prepared for? Does it prepare for anything else?
The murder of the children: is it prepared for?
Magic chariot: is this necessary or is it Euripides' way of writing himself out of a corner? Does anything prepare for it?
What are the major themes of the play? Notice words that are repeated. Notice associations with:
-the bed (connected with love, marriage, lust, ambition, children)
-justice and vengeance: the ethic of helping one's friends and hurting one's enemies (what in the play's terms is wrong with such an ethic?)
-Greek/barbarian polarity: is this really the question? Is Jason right when he says "no Greek woman could have done this"?
-children/childlessness: notice how often this question comes up and especially how often those poor children are trotted out: we see them in various situations. Not only do the adult characters in the Medea exploit them but the playwright uses them--mutae personae though they are--for all they are worth.
-reason/passion "my thumos is mightier than my plans": is the Medea we meet at her first entrance the one we expect after hearing her cries? Is she a victim of uncontrolled passion?
Medea's plans: how do they develop? Does she make progress in each episode?
Where are the gods? Out to lunch? On Medea's side?
Medea's past: how is it let into the play? Why is it let in? What is told of her past criminal career? In what scenes is it especially mentioned? How is Medea's past made to serve a double purpose: both to produce sympathy for her and to show that the Medea we see now is the same as she has always been?
The chorus: how is it made to act as an accomplice in the action? How does the fact that these are women and Corinthians affect the play?
Heroism: who is the hero? Is there a hero? What character breaks the barrier usually open to a human being? How does Jason measure up to a heroic standard? Is heroism consonant with the bourgeois mode of living of this particular ex-hero?
Victim/tormentor; sufferer/doer: how do these roles reverse? Is Medea as amechanos (helpless, without resources) as she claims? What has she got going for her?
How does the structure of the play work to enhance the meaning? Notice parallel or repeated actions.
Male/female: notice the series of scenes in which a man comes to impose his will on Medea. What argument does she use with these men? What does she appeal to?
"Tomorrow I will mourn": what is Medea's future?