Madea, world literature volume A book - Essay Example

18 February Medea- Feminist or Misogynist: Medea is a renowned Greek tragedy written by Euripides. At the time when misogyny and patriarchy were at their zenith in ancient Greece, Euripides was one of a very few writers who portrayed women as somewhat powerful beings. Medea has been portrayed by many others also, but the credit for making Medea a symbol of feminine power goes only to Euripides. Following discussion seeks to prove the reality of this claim that Medea is definitely a feminist Greek tragedy because Medea despite being a mythic figure continues to live today as a figure of feminine agency.

Medea is basically the story of a woman who engages in a desperate struggle to maintain her position and survive in the Greek world that is dominated by unsympathetic men. Taking charge of life was a thing unheard of for a woman in a male dominated world which was the case with Greece at that time. But, Medea is different from the rest of women of her time because she does not find peace in bowing her head down and accepting her defeat. Rather, she moves on to using men to achieve her own ends by employing smart skills of determination and manipulation after her husband gives up on their family.

Medea has a burning desire for revenge and she goes all the way through to seek it in contrast to how other women would have behaved in that time. Concluding, though it cannot be denied that Medea’s portrayal by Euripides is quite dangerous because it evokes scorn for women like Medea who act as barbarians to seek revenge, truth is that Medea was definitely a woman of exceptional intellectual capacity.Work cited: