The Laugher Of The Medusa | Analysis

The Laugher Of The Medusa | Analysis Throughout history, women have been excluded from any kind of writing that could allow them the participation in the making of history and culture. Being considered as creatures of lesser rank in mental capacities and intellect, women have been, over centuries, kept in the dark by a patriarchal system that has successfully muted their needs for expression, be it physical, oral or written. In her fundamental essay The Laugh of the Medusa, Hà ©là ¨ne Cixous, French philosopher and feminist critic, openly introduces this idea of womans need for writing as a biological drive which intimately relies on her ceasing back and mastering her own body that has been violently miused by males rhetoric , as Toril Moi asserts that always and everywhere, the rational, active, masculine intellect operates on the passive, objectified, feminized body (189). Its only from the bodily experience that women, according to Cixous, can give birth to an  «Ãƒ ©criture fà ©minine  » which will subvert the phallocentric discourse of masculine writing, along with the logocentric representational system through which it functions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the key insights that the author explores in her essay, mainly the feminine writing  [1]  with the idea of sexual differences. It is, also, necessary to consider, in the following stages, how Cixous makes use of Freuds and Lacans psychoanalysis and Derridas deconstructist theory to disrupt the phallocentric assumptions, hence to break up with all forms of repression against women. A particular focus will be on the critics contribution to French feminism and Anglo-American feminist theory. Le Rire de la Mà ©duse was written by Cixous in 1975, and translated into English as The Laugh of the Medusa in 1976 by Keith Cohen and Paula Cohen. This influential essay, essentially adressing women in order to  « bring them to writing  » (Cixous 875), is expressed in a beautiful and poetic language to convey the idea of the existence of an à ©criture fà ©minine, which is already used by the author. As with many of her writings  [2]  , Cixouss The Laugh of the Medusa revises sexual differences between men and women from past to present, anticipating a future radical change in the perception of this notion which would only take shape if woman takes back a body that is hers, from the masculine repressing language, in order to employ it as a cause and effect of a new genre of writing which Cixous introduces as the feminine writing. The whole premise of the essay is that  « Woman must write her self: must write about women and bring women to writing .  » (Cixous 875). In the light of this idea, the critic goes on to relate womens writing to their bodily experiences that represent a source of desire and urge for creativity. In other words, for a woman to be able to break up with the old traditional doormat in her skin, she must trace her own body with a feminine language. As a result, women will create their own tradition of writing, embarking from the past and its repressive language. Over centuries, masculine discourse has been the dominant and the stronger one. Women had no word to say in a patriarchal universe where, as Cixous states, they were regarded as  « dark  » and  « dangerous  » (878). Women have, accordingly, developed a sense of resentment for other women and themselves under the influence of the masculine ideology. To break up with this complex, Cixous calls woman to manifest through a writing that belongs to her ; but which can neither be defined nor theorized (883) since, as it can be deduced, language is males property, and there is no room to theorize a feminine writing within the masculine dominant discourse. However, the feminine mode of writing can be described as revolutionary against the phallocentric language and thought (888). Cixouss point is to approach this genre of writing in relation to sexual differences and gender in order to demonstrate how these differences have served historico-cultural purposes to hinder womens intellect ual capacities. She goes further to discuss the traditional idea of bisexuality as neutrality- that engenders the fear of lacking  [3]  , contrasted with a bisexuality, that allows one to identify one self as having sexual orientation toward the two sexes. From this equation, Cixous concludes that  « woman is bisexual  » by the nature of her organs and the turning shifts of events; whereas man cannot be so without losing his phallocentric masculine identity (884). In the same way, she believes that writing is bisexual, for women should write to women and men without no exclusion. Throughout the article, Cixous sensibilizes women to the urgent need of a universal revolution against the phallocentric discourse to which they have been the signified subject. By creating their a discourse of their own, women will fly through and, at the same time, steal back that which is already theirs  [4]  , their voices that have been repressed. The author points out to the fact that this subjugation has resulted in creating a female voice consciousness which, aware of the difficulties that women have undergone, reclaims their socio-cultural identity and their natural rights. She also argues for womens freedom to have children or not to have any, without being  « threatened  » or blamed for the choices they make in life (890). The main purpose of this study is to analyze the key insights that Cixous discusses in The Laugh of the Medusa, along with the major influences that affect her writing, namely the Derridian deconstruction and psychoanalytical theory. As its title indicates, the essay includes the  « Medusa  » as a metaphor to portray womans beauty, oppression and intelligence at the same time. By using this Greek mythical figure  [5]  , Cixous hits two birds with one stone : she firstly alludes to women being treated badly by their male counterparts, as Medusa was once ill-treated and raped. On the other hand, the author also hints to womens jealousy of and hatred to other women under the influence of the masculine worldview. Cixous goes on to develop this idea when she argues that men  « have committed the greatest crime against women. Insidiously, violently, they have led them to hate women, to be their own enemies  ». In the same way, the Medusas metaphor is associated with the modern psychoanalytic interpretations of Sigmund Freud who refers to the Medusas head as  « the supreme talisman who provides the image of castration associated in the childs mind with the discovery of maternal sexuality and its denial  » (Freud). Cixous takes on the idea of castration, by which the phallocentric mind is haunted, and relates it to the Medusas image so as to prove that man is unconsciously weak at the sight of the feminine sex, to the point that he is  « consumed, as Freud and his followers note, by a fear of being a woman  » (884). At this level, the critic implicitly alludes to the French psychoanalytist Jacques Lacan, who follows Freud in his concept of Wunsch  [6]  to arrive at a  « desire  » that is associated with a lack. According to Lacans theory of Lack, as explained by Joel Dor in his Introduction to the Re ading of Lacan, womans desire towards the masculine body does not originate from the body itself as the object of desire ; rather, it originates from her lacking a penis ( Dor 236). Ironically, Cixous refutes this  « phallocratic  » analysis arguing that her personal desire of the other is for the other, and that  « a desire originating from a lack  » is much poor and lacking(891). She goes further to criticize women who madly fetishize the masculine sex, treating them of  « the woman of yesterday  » who is either kept in the dark ages, idolizing the traditional way the big penis takes her ; or falsely modernized with naive virtuous thinking as Cixous affirms here :  « They still exist, easy and numerous victims of the oldest of farces: either theyre cast in the original silent version in which, as titanesses lying under the mountains they make with their quivering, they never see erected that theoretic monument to the golden phallus looming, in the old manner, over their bodies. Or, coming today out of their infans period and into the second, enlightened version of their virtuous de-basement, they see themselves suddenly assaulted by the builders of the analytic empire and, as soon as theyve begun to formulate the new desire, naked, nameless, so happy at making an appearance, theyre taken in their bath by the new old men, and then, whoops! Luring them with flashy signifiers, the demon of interpretation  » (892) Following this idea, Cixous is harshly attacking the masculine phallocentric values in the personae of Freud and Lacan, whom she accuses of exploiting the new version of  « modern  » woman to satisfy their sexual needs while theyre reducing them to an inferior and negative position. One cannot understand Cixouss ideas without going back to the Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic theories. If we examine Freuds interpretation of sexual differences which place man in a superior position for biological reasons  [7]  , it would then be obvious why he has been criticized by feminists  [8]  , including Cixous. Though she mainly builds her theoretical legacy on psychoanalysis, precisely Freuds, Cixous uses this latters analysis of developmental theory and gender roles -which are based on the biological differences between man and woman- as a counter-argument to assert that, though there is a sexual difference, women should be treated equally, and not in terms of the Lacanian binary oppositions, as she states :  « writing has been run by a libidinal and cultural-hence political, typically masculine-economy; that this is a locus where the repression of women has been perpetuated, over and over, more or less consciously, and in a manner thats frightening since its often hidden or adorned with the mystifying charms of fiction; that this locus has grossly exaggerated all the signs of sexual opposition (and not sexual difference), where woman has never her turn to speak  ». (879) In the same way, Cixous criticizes Lacans theory of phallocentrism which posits the phallus in the centre of the masculine being. Furthermore, the critic employs this primacy of the phallus in the Derridian deconstructist critique of logocentrism to coin the term  « phallogocentrism  », which refers to a (superior) masculine language centered upon the phallus, opposed to a (deficient) feminine language which lacks a phallus. In other words, her writing is a deconstructist one through which she undermines the phallocentric ideology that dominates language (Tidd 98). In addition to the medusas image which is used by the author to overcome Freuds  « castration  » and Lacans  « lack  », is the metaphor of Dora  [9]  that strongly disturbs Freuds legacy in psychoanalysis and therapy. When she directly adresses Dora as  « the true mistress of the Signifier  » (886), Cixous evokes the story of humiliated girl who was manipulated by her father as a pawn in a sexual game between him and his mistresss husband, and later by Freuds therapy that tried to convince her of the necessity to play the game. As a result, the girl was a subject of a double oppression, applied firstly by the father, and secondly by Freud. The case of Dora in the essay, if it alludes to patriarchal ideology and oppression of the females voice, it does not fail to deconstruct the Freudian assumptions of male superiority and the Lacanian theory of  « the Name of the Father  » which prescribes the father as a symbol of law and order. For Cixous, the name of Dora repr esents more than an example of the psychological violence caused by males oppression; she rather employs it as an icon of females revolution and manifest (Showalter 332). The Laugh of the Medusa is the most significant example of Cixouss  « à ©criture feminine  ». Rich of artistic metaphors and innovative ideas, this influential essay is inscribed as a fundamental work of art within literary and critical theory. Influenced by the deconstructist and differentialist thought, Cixouss writing has been effective in undermining the patriarchal dominance over language. By revising the question of sexual differences existing in the psychoanalytical theories of Freud and Lacan, she deconstructs the equation of the binary oppositions applied to the couple man-woman, while intelligently adopting the difference to prove the equality rather than the opposition between the sexes. The idea is recognized through feminist critiques like Shiachs  « Their Symbolic Exists- it Holds Power  » in which she notes :  « Cixous has represented the process of differentiation in more social terms, and has offered the possibility of more hopeful conclusions: the construction of new sorts of identity, which cut across dual hierarchized oppositions  ».( 165) Her poetic language and feminine style is a demonstration of what she calls  « à ©criture fà ©minine  ». Influenced by her reading of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, Cixous seems to take up their experimentation and modernist mode of writing, herded with a feminine sensual voice and experience, as essential features of a new form, which is the feminine writing. Consequently, introducing this idea, among many others, into the critical theory has undoubtedly made of Cixous one of the most prominent figures of French feminism. When translated into English, Cixouss The Laugh has gained international interest, mainly by Anglo-American feminists. Admittedly, the author has been often criticized  [10]  for considering the sexual differences and making them as a basis for her argument, which, for certain critiques, cannot but reinforce the unequality, hence, repression. To make sense of her ideas, however, one has to contextualize them within a poststructuralist framework. Being a deconstructist par-excellence, Cixous emphasizes the differences in order to deconstruct them. For a deep understanding of her writing, it is crucial to be familiar with psychoanalytical concepts of Freud and his readers, so as to make sense of them in a Cixousian shape. Karen L. Taylor recognizes Cixouss legacy, against Morag Shiachs critique  [11]  , when she states : Furthermore, through her writing, Cixous engages in a psychoanalytical exploration of the feminine. Reading and writing are, for her, the means to grapple with the enigma of male / female relations. She has been criticized for her psychoanalytical style, influenced by Jacques Lacan, and marked by a superabundance of images. Nonetheless, Cixous has been instrumental in establishing a new form of literature that lies somewhere between myth and novel.  » ( 70) What Cixous does is more than claiming equal civil rights for women with regards to their male counterpart. What she does is deconstructing the patriarchal language that hierachizes woman into inferior positions, calling at the meanwhile for a new mode of writing that inscribes the feminine as equal to the masculine, hence, anticipating a possibility of change in social structures. Through the  « à ©criture fà ©minine  », the feminine body  « will produce far more radical effects of political and social changes than some might like to think  » ( Cixous 882).

The proper role of education is to teach facts, not morals

Certainly, teachers have a long list of responsibilities every day. The most important one of course is enriching the minds of our children. A large amount of their time is spent with teachers throughout the week and they become one of children’s biggest influences. Sure, their major responsibility is to teach them reading, writing and arithmetic, they also have an obligation to encourage the right morals as well. In many cases teachers become one of the biggest influences in children’s lives. There are many people, including famous ones who will say that one of their teachers was their influence to thrive and succeed in life. Understandably, teachers are working hard to maintain the educational goals necessary to have the children succeed in life as far as academics is concerned. However, just as important is a child’s moral compass. Some may argue that it’s the parent’s responsibility to teach them morals at home, but it’s just as important that the teacher reinforce and instill new morals in the classroom. The most important factor that teachers and parents must consider is that children will one day become adults and having a great set of morals will greatly impact society. This idea is not novel; institutions of higher learning have these principals in place for their students for quite some time Most colleges and universities have codes of conduct that students must adhere to, in order to maintain student status there. Also, doctors take the Hippocratic oath, to ensure there are ethics that must be maintained in order to be a doctor.

Crime in the Information Age Essay

It’s not difficult to gauge what the popular notions of crime in the United States are. Engage in any polite conversation over dinner or cocktails and one is likely to hear similar themes: â€Å"crime is out of control, it’s just not the same world we grew up in, it’s not safe to walk down the street anymore, it’s a mean world out there,† etc. The underlying theme that can be drawn from these notions is fear. There is a widespread conception that crime is a rampant problem in this country and that violent crime and others are on the rise. However, these beliefs are not supported at all by the facts, even those put forth by our own law enforcement agencies. So why then, are most Americans so concerned with the threat of violent crime in particular? While the answer to this question is a complex one involving many contributors, the focus of this essay is concerned with the impact of popular media on these perceptions, because the media, it would seem, is one of the most influential contributors to the social construction of crime in this country. The coverage of crime, and particularly violent crime, in the news media has increased in frequency of coverage and sensationalized reporting despite statistical proof that violent crime has been decreasing for many years. This phenomenon is of great concern because how we arrive at our perceptions of our world should be critically examined so policy solutions react to truth not manipulated reality. As of 2001 homicides made up one to two-tenths of one percent of all arrests, yet made up 27-29% of crime coverage on the nightly news (Dorfman and Schiraldi). Still one of the most shocking statistics from Dorfman and Schiraldi’s study states that, â€Å"Crime coverage has increased while real crime rates have fallen. While homicide coverage was increasing on the network news by 473% from 1990 to 1998, homicide arrests dropped 32. 9% from 1990 to 1998. We can see one indication of the effects of this unrealistic reporting in 1994 when, for example, in a Washington Post/ABC poll respondents named crime as their number one concern (far more than any other issue) with 65 percent of those who responded as such saying that they learned about this issue from the media (Jackson and Naureckas). The fact is, however, that violent crime has been on the decrease for roughly thirteen years and is estimated to be at a roughly thirty year low (U. S. Department of Justice). The following g raph rom the Department of Justice shows a dramatic decrease in the rates of violent crime beginning in the early nineties: ? The National Criminal Victimization Survey, which is conducted differently than the more common Uniform Crime Reports, shows a decrease in violent as well as property crimes in the United States for more than a decade (qtd. in Torny 118). The evidence seems to be overwhelming; no matter what the method used for measuring crime rates there is an obvious decrease in crime, especially with respect to violent crime in the United States. These are just a couple of the statistics researchers and academics have compiled over recent years addressing the discrepancy between media coverage of crime and actual crime statistics. So in light of these multiple studies using different methods, how and why is it that media coverage of violent crime has grown exponentially? Surette explains that crime is both an individual and cultural product (237). There is a correlation between media consumption and support for more harsh criminal justice policies and perceptions of the â€Å"mean-world view† (Surette 196). This supports the theory that the more news a person consumes, particularly television news, the less they know about the actual state of the world. Surette explains that while the media certainly does have an impact it is not the only factor in creating this culture of the fear of crime and impacts those who live in a more isolated environment and consume higher levels of media (200). He also notes that research suggests that those who watch a good deal of television have trouble differentiating between the television world and the real world (204). The media has a â€Å"relationship with fear† that can correlate with fear fore some viewers (Surette 206). One example of this â€Å"relationship with fear† that the media seems to have can be found in a 1994 article in â€Å"US News and World Report† where the authors, despite noting briefly that violent crime by all statistical accounts is actually down, names the previous year as â€Å"the scariest year in American history† seeming to assert that the numbers don’t matter (Jackson and Naureckas). The article also makes a good point about the contradiction between perceptions of crime and the reality of crime: â€Å"the drumbeat of news coverage [that] has made it seem that America is in the midst of its worst epidemic of violence ever. That sense is not supported by the numbers† (Jackson and Naureckas). Throughout the rest of the article similar contradictions abound and it is difficult to tell exactly what conclusion should be drawn from it. The causes of crime, as with most crime reporting, are not dealt with in the article while â€Å"random violence† is examined closely (Jackson and Naureckas). Most violent crime is perpetrated by someone whom the victim knows yet the theme of â€Å"random violence receives much more attention in the media (Jackson and Naureckas). The US News piece illustrates how the media engages in a form of â€Å"doublethink† where despite knowledge of factual evidence indicating a decrease in crime they continue to put forth images that depict violent crime as an epidemic and continue to support perceptions of fear, distrust, and cynicism. This fear mongering often plays into preconceived notions of crime and violence such as racism, ageism, and classism held by some. A 2001 study by Dorfman and Schiraldi found that crimes against African Americans were underrepresented in reporting and overrepresented as perpetrators, white victims tended to receive more lengthy coverage as well. In Los Angeles television news African Americans were 22% more likely to be shown on TV committing violent crimes than non-violent ones despite the fact that arrest reports indicate that African Americans in Los Angeles commit both types of crime almost equally (Dorfman and Schiraldi). The study also shows how youths are also disproportionately covered: 7 out of 10 local TV news stories dealing with violent crime in California had youths as the perpetrators despite the fact that youths commit only 14. 4% of violent crime in that state. Furthermore, half of the stories dealing with minors for any reason involved violence even though only 2% (though due to unreported crimes the actual number may be higher) of California youths have been victims or perpetrators of violent crime (Drofman and Schiraldi). The study also found by looking at news reports over the last decade that in Hawaii there has bee a 30 fold increase in the number of youth crime stories despite a steady decrease in youth crime over that same time period. This increased focus on youth crimes has led to increased support for treating juvenile offenders as adults and, especially in instances of more serious crimes, applying the same retributive punishments previously not applied to young offenders (Glassner 73). These findings show how not only are the media’s sensationalized reporting of crime contributing to a false sense or reality for many people, but are also einforcing stereotypes and bigotry. Utilizing these preconceived ideas also intensifies the impact of fear based coverage. This sense of fear that the media is able to conjure up in certain situations can easily be manipulated by politicians and policymakers looking to gain some support. According to Glassner, the more fearful people are of crime the more likely they are to support more punitive justice systems instead of rehabilitation programs. This is especially true with respect to juvenile offenders (72). Glassner further argues that it is interesting that as we cut into funding for educational, medical, and antipoverty programs we begin to grow more concerned about crime and there seems to be what he calls â€Å"unacknowledged guilt† about why crime now seems inevitable (72). While the media is often the target of criticism and blame it has been argued that largely the media mirrors public opinion and can be controlled by it (Gans 76). There is evidence however that particularly brutal crimes or large amounts of coverage of crime can shift public opinion somewhat. For example, polls show an increase in support for the death penalty following news of horrifying crimes (Gans 76). Gans believes that despite the fact that the news media is often thought of as having more power than it actually does it may have long-term effects on public opinion (88). So, even though the media of course cannot shift public opinion overnight in the long run a shift in coverage of sensationalized crime coverage can have long lasting effects of the political climate around crime policy. If the tone of the media is largely controlled by previously held notions of media consumers then how might the news media correct the public when it’s beliefs are erroneous? Chiricos examines the effect of â€Å"moral panics† which something or someone becomes defined as a threat to societal values or norms (2). Moral panics are signaled by a rapid increase in the volume of media reporting and are often followed by political action as the public feels that â€Å"something must be done† (Chiricos 60). Every so often crime and violence becomes the subject of a moral panic in America. Chiricos examines two moral panics occurring in the early to mid nineties: crack cocaine and violent crime. Both of these stories where covered in much the same way: as inner-city problems leaving the ghettos and threatening the middle-class way of life (63). When this issue was framed as a direct threat to suburban America a moral panic followed. When crime was confined to urban areas and â€Å"ghettos† there was little to worry about until the perception became that crack and violence was spreading into areas that were considered to be â€Å"safe†. During this time 49 percent of Americans then said that crime was the most important issue facing the country compared to only 9 percent before the moral panic began to set in (Chiricos 64). The panic was further compounded by reports that these issues were spreading to children which Chiricos notes is a common component of the rise of a moral panic (65). The reaction to these panics was unsurprising. Panics are viewed as sudden problems and treated with fundamentally inappropriate solutions such as sending more people to prison and building more of them (Chiricos 67). Following moral panics, according to Chiricos, â€Å"commands† are issued by the public (71). The policy ramifications from these moral panics included 9. 7 billion dollars for more prisons, California’s three strikes program, and various repressive laws aimed at adults and children alike in many states (Chiricos 71). These examinations of the media’s relationship with public opinion point out how in this age of information the media is an important factor in how we carry out our democracy and decide what issues are important. If this has become the case than there are serious concerns for how the media is serving democracy. Lawrence sees the media as an arena where problems are constructed and there is constant struggle between elites, groups, and the public seek to define and address problems (3). What constitutes a problem is socially constructed. This is also true of crime problems. Lawrence is concerned with how problems are socially constructed in the media because when something is defined as a problem facing the country power is conferred upon the social institutions we would likely look to deal with it (5). So, in the arena of the media if crime is framed by elites as stemming from the degradation of society or loss of opportunities for many people then programs and institutions organized for supporting the poor and communities will be empowered. However, the usual winners in this clash of frames typically define crime as an epidemic problem fueled by a justice system which is too soft on criminals. With this frame politicians must appear â€Å"tough on crime† and power is given to more punitive crime control policies and the prison-industrial complex flourishes as more and more money is spent on warehousing offenders. This further disempowers social welfare institutions as money spent on police and prisons cannot be spent on education, healthcare, or welfare programs. This struggle to define problems can be looked at as a clash of differing realities where vastly different takes on issues exist but one is adopted by the media and then disseminated to the public (Lawrence 5). Lawrence says that the prevailing reality held by the most successful definers typically comes from officials within the government (5). There exists a close relationship between government officials and the news media. They are the primary definers and therefore the strongest factor in how we construct the reality of crime (Lawrence 5). This is unhealthy because, with the issue of crime in particular, officials are quick to define crime as an epidemic issue filled with fearful imagery and then act against criminals in draconian ways. When they construct a reality where they are needed to protect their constituents justice in harmed for the sake of political capital. This manipulation of reality and fear for the sake of power is addressed by Entman but with respect to the war on terror instead of crime and justice. He argues that the elite exert control by hegemony and indexing (4). Hegemony refers to the way officials release only information that supports the narrow reality that they seek to perpetuate and indexing is how the media reflect this narrow debate among elites quite closely (Entman 5). With this control over public perception it is relatively easy for officials to frame issues such as crime or terrorism. When they win the battle to define a problem obvious remedies arise. If terrorism is framed as an attack on our way of life rather than a consequence of our projection of power across the globe then it follows that the remedy is defense and war. Similarly, if elites succeed in defining crime not as a consequence of lost economic opportunities but as a result of naturally deviant personalities then the reaction that follows is to lock up these defective personalities and isolate them from the rest of â€Å"normal† society. The way in which we think about various issues and problems directly affects how we deal with them. Most in society would say that the solution to problems is obvious because it is. What is missed however is the fact that how we think about problems can completely shift the ways in which we deal with them. In order to change policy then the first step is to change the perceptions and the reality surrounding it for officials and the public alike. Lakoff tells us that if we can reframe issues we can create social change (XV). When we change the way the public sees the world, largely through the media, and alter that perceived reality we can change the policies that follow. So why then does the media seem to be so concerned with violent crime and creating feelings of fear and anxiety in its consumers? The reason seems to be sensationalized journalism meant to increase viewership and a system where officials control our perceptions through the media. It needs to be understood that passive consumption of the media is unhealthy and we should think critically about how reality is constructed by elites and the media because, that subjective reality directly affects the solutions that are used to deal with our problems. While so many people are given the impression that crime is rampant the underreported fact is that crime has been decreasing for many years. In order for there to be rational crime control policy in the United States we need to have accurate information about the reality of crime in this country. In order for this to happen the media must provide an accurate depiction of crime that is constructed by a fair debate in the public arena of the media. There is a lot at stake in how we perceive the world around us and how we think about crime and punishment.

Essay about The Most Tragic Character in Medea by Euripides

The Most Tragic Character in Medea by Euripides Medea is the story of an estranged woman who wishes to seek revenge on her husband (who has left her for another woman) by poisoning his new wife. This, however, is made more difficult when the King of the land, Creon, tells Medea to leave, mainly because he is scared of her. She appeals to him for one more day to sort things out, and uses persuasion by making him feel pity for her when she says This one day let me stay, to settle some plans for my exileà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦since their own father is not concerned to help them. Show some pity: you are a father tooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦their fate is very hard. Medea tells the Chorus, a group of women from Corinth that this one†¦show more content†¦He finds her, but Medea is set for Athens, they both argue about whose fault this is, both blaming each other. There is nothing Jason can do, and before Medea leaves she predicts an embarrassing death for him. It would be fair to say that, like all tragedies, the characters in this story all have some sort of tragedy throughout. The Nurse and the tutor, firstly experience tragedy because their mistress, Medea is so upset at the beginning of the play that she wishes to kill herself. The Nurse expresses her sadness saying, It was too much, I couldnt bear it; I had to come Out here and tell my mistresss wrongs to Earth and heaven. The tutor also expresses his concern when he hears of rumours at the fountain of Peirene (a holy fountain) that his mistress and her sons are to be banished from the land they live in. They would also be upset when they hear of the death of Medeas two sons, as they certainly would have been with their family since the childrens births. However, their grief/tragedy in this story is not as big as the other more central characters in this story i.e. Medea and Jason. The other lesser characters experience grief/tragedy throughout the story as well. Aegeus, for example, even though he is king of Athens he is in fact childless, a big disappointment for him because he has no son as his heir,Show MoreRelatedThe Tragedy Of Medea By Sophocles1611 Words   |  7 Pagesthe many tragedies that Euripides provides us with, I chose the tragedy of Medea to further analyze, and present a strong argument for why I think Aristotle would find Medea a top-notch tragedy. According to Aristotle, a top-notch tragedy consists of six main elements, a strong plot, storyline, style, morals, ideas, staging and music, with the most important of these six being that of the plot. I strongly feel that in terms of what entails a quality tragedy, Euripides Medea meets a large majorityRead MoreEvaluation of Euripides Essay942 Words   |  4 PagesEvaluation of Euripides Euripides has me t the conventions of Attic Tragedy up to a particular extent. Although he was often criticised for his work, he followed the structure and cycles of the traditional tragedy. However, his stance on the themes and ideas set him apart from the other writers. It is unreasonable to compare Euripides with the traditional writers of Attic tragedy without understandingRead MoreAristotle, A World-Renowned Greek Philosopher Once Noted1412 Words   |  6 Pagestimes, characters were developed to portray tragic people, who possessed flaws that created drastic consequences for them in the impending future. William Shakespeare and Euripides, the playwrights of King Lear and Medea, respectively, centered their plays around countless characters that are seen as tragic. Cordelia and Jason are two examples. The choices they made during each play contributed to their own tragic demise in the end. Throughout Shakespeare’s King Lear and Euripides’ Medea, CordeliaRead MoreMedea Essay1654 Words   |  7 PagesSusan Smith murdered her own two children in 1994. Kathleen Folbigg killed her only child in 1998. Caro Socorro killed her three children in 1999. And in 431 B.C. the fictional character, Medea, murderedmurdured her own two sons. When hearing about these extreme atrocities we are repulsed. What sane mother could murder her own children? But thats just the point isnt it, no sane mother would kill her own young. No, each of these women had underlying psychological issues that led to them committingRead MoreThe Tragic Hero Of Euripides Greek Literature1117 Words   |  5 Pagesliterature, tragedies tend to have a traditional format: a tragic hero, reversal of fortune due to a tragic flaw, moment of recognition, and catharsis. In order to be considered a tragic hero, the character must be born noble, is usually a ruler, and has a tragic flaw which causes peripety. Typically, the hero’s realization of self-inflicted doom is what allows a release of emotions. This raises a question of who the tragic hero is in Medea. The tragic hero is thought to be Jason, however there is an argumentRead MoreAnalysis Of Medea845 Words   |  4 Pageswork, for example, when Medea says â€Å"I hate this life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Puchner, pg. 532, line 150). By Euripides using the second person point of view, it allows the readers to connect to the characters on a more personal basis for example, Medea says â€Å"†¦ you’ve made threats†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Puchner, pg. 536, line 294). An example of the third person point of view is Medea telling Jason that â€Å"he’s such an idiot† (Puchner, pg. 537, line 379). By there being multiple narrators, it allows each character to serve as an individualRead MoreThe Mythology Of The Greek Society1603 Words   |  7 Pagesconcept of centering a story around a woman. Yet despite living in this society as described, Greek playwright Euripides was the first voice of protofeminism in the Athenian society. His play Medea was the first historical piece that recounted the plight of a women through an actual female protagonist. This was unheard of and almost revolutionary until the Elizabethan era. Though Euripides’ lived in a dangerously powerful misogynistic society, his writing presented a sympathetic portrayal of femalesRead MoreEuripides Medea Of Euripides1262 Words   |  6 PagesMedea of Euripides is an ancient Greek tragedy play written by Euripides, grounded upon the legend of two characters Medea and Jason. Euripides wrote Medea of Euripides in 431 BC at a time in Greece, when males were governing, and women had limited rights. Medea, the protagonist, was the daughter of Aeetes of Colchis, she was driven by passion and committed horrendous crimes for the love of Jason. In the opening act, Medea is standing outside of Jason house in Corinth as she explicates to the ChoresRead More A Tragedy Makes A Hero Essay1019 Words   |  5 Pagesending. It is characterized as a very sad event, action, or experience for a certain character in the piece. According to Aristotle’s â€Å"Poetics,† a tragedy needs six elements, a plot, character, language, thought, spectacle, and melody, as in many dramas do, but the organization of the plot is how tragedy is brought abou t. (747) The plot – is the end for which a tragedy exists, and the end or purpose is the most important thing of all. (748) Tragedy often reveals a very basic message; whetherRead MoreTragedy In Oedipus Rex And Antigone By Euripides784 Words   |  4 Pagestragedies; Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles and Medea by Euripides that not only have the common genre of tragedy, but share the same motifs; homicide, suicide, and suffering. What is intriguing about these commonalities is that these playwrights, Sophocles and Euripides, use them. Homicide is an act when a human permanently harms another leading in death and these plays like to use it quite a bit. In Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the main character Oedipus (king of Thebes) realizes he had killed his