Medea: From Myth into a Film - Essay Example

Myth into Film Euripides play, Medea and Dassin’s film, A Dream of Passion are ics that not only entertain, but also inspire critical thinking among the audience. The audience cannot comprehend the situation in which a mother would kill her children. They just cannot find any reasons that would merit such an immoral behavior from a mother. Although it is possible in a myth, it is unthinkable and unimaginable in reality. Dassin’s film, A Dream of Passion, brings out the intricate differences between myth and reality. Dassin cleverly interweaves the aspect of myth and reality in his film to make it differ from Euripides play and still retain most elements of the play. This paper will comprehensively explore the similarities and difference between the two and my deduction of what each author is trying to bring out in their story. Despite Euripides Medea and Dassin’s A Dream of Passion’s different settings, they have some similarities. Both Medea and A Dream of Passion, follow the tales of women who are forced by circumstances to kill their children, born and unborn, to satisfy their interests. The two stories exhibit high emotions of love, passion and vengeance. In Euripides’ play, Medea, the protagonist Medea is so much in love with her husband Jason. She feels extremely betrayed by her husband when she learns of his unfaithfulness and plans to marry Creons daughter. She cannot bear her husband’s betrayal and feels a great desire to carry out revenge on him. Creon, on the other hand, anticipates Medea to retaliate. To protect his daughter from Medea’s wrath; he decides to send Medea into exile. Eventually, Medea succeeds in killing Glauce, Creon and her three children. She inflicts unimaginable pain on her husband not only by the killings, but also by her decision to escape to Athens with the corpses of her children. Jason’s betrayal of her love leads her to commit such heinous crimes. Like in Medea, A Dream of Passion presents a similar scenario. Maya goes through the same situation as Medea but in a different context. In A Dream of Passion, The character, Brenda represents the real Medea, and she killed her three children to carry out revenge on her husband. However, Maya’s similarities to Medea are brought out through her interactions with Brenda. Like Brenda killed her children, Maya carried out an abortion. Thus they are both equal in that they killed despite the motive behind their killings. Brenda killed for vengeance while Maya killed to be a star, to be a celebrity, prosperous and independent. Though Maya tries to be independent of Medea and Brenda, the abortion she committed unites the three women into one. The character of Brenda in the film helps in bringing out the reappearance of myth throughout human history. Through Brenda, Maya discovers the timeless quality of myth. Dassin’s choice of characters in A Dream of Passion resembles that of Euripides Medea. However, the characters are altered to suit the different setting. In A Dream of Passion, Dassin uses Brenda’s doctor, Palvides, to represent Creon. He is considered king as he is very influential in the courtroom and possesses power over Brenda’s fate. Greek myths are polytheistic in nature that is why Euripides uses the Greek sun god, Helios in his play. The dragon-pulled chariot helps Medea to escape physically. Conversely, Dassin uses Christianity to offer Brenda a means of psychological escape. Though the modes of escape differ, the aspect is similar in that both provide a distraction from the crimes committed. In addition, The Bible translator represents Aegeus. This is because he offers Brenda genuine friendship and refuge, though not physical shelter like Athens but metaphysical refuge through the Lord’s teachings. Brenda has only two friends, the Bible translator and Maya. The knife plays a significant role in both the play and the film, bringing out their similarity. In Euripides Medea, Medea uses a knife to kill her children. It is a weapon that grants her the satisfaction of inflicting pain on her husband. The knife symbolizes her power and victory over her husband. In addition, the knife brings a direct connection between the play and the film, by linking the crimes committed by Medea and Brenda. In A Dream of Passion, Brenda uses the knife as a murder weapon and as a symbol of power over Maya. She lures Maya back to her, by promising to tell her about the knife. Brenda knows that Maya will be intrigued by the story of the knife and would not miss a chance to hear it. Brenda does not know about the knife in Medea; this is important in establishing the notion that myths are timeless and relevant for any period. Unknowingly, and by following her human passions, Brenda accessed and re-enacted the ancient myth. There are some major differences between Euripides Medea and Dassin’s A Dream of Passion. In Euripides Medea, the central character, Medea, loves her husband a lot, is very loyal to him, and they have three children. She is very passionate as a wife to the man she loves. She is also very intelligent and thorough when planning her revenge. Apart from her flawless planning, she has the courage to carry out her plan to the bitter end even when it means killing her children. The same character carries out the planning and execution of the plan. This defers greatly from Dassin’s A Dream of Passion. In A Dream of Passion, Dassin uses character mirroring to bring out the character of Medea in his film. Brenda is similar to Medea in the sense that she killed her children for vengeance. In the case of Maya, who is also supposed to reflect Medea. She killed, or rather aborted her child for different reasons than Brenda and Medea did. In so doing, she reflects Medea. But a thorough look into Maya’s character brings out how different she is from Medea. Maya is married, but she does not love her husband. In fact, their relationship is experiencing difficulties that seem irreconcilable. Despite being husband and wife, they sleep in separate rooms under the same roof. Maya does not have even the slightest respect for her husband. She considers him as a man with no ambition in life. This character of Maya is very different from the loving Medea. Medea’s love for Jason is so great such that she killed for it. Furthermore, Maya is unfaithful to her husband. She cheats on her husband with Ronny, a videographer with BBC. Even though Maya is promiscuous, she has no real passion for her sexual escapades. Immediately after she is done with Ronny, she reveals her marital status; how her husband and her sleep in separate rooms. After Ronny leaves, she says that she couldn’t wait for him to leave. In comparison to Euripides’s play, this part of Maya fits Glauce. Like Glauce eyes a married man, Jason, Maya is an adulterer. Maya’s lack of passion for either love or hate differs a lot from Medea. Medea is very passionate and exhibits strong emotions of both love and hate in equal measure. Maya does not display any loyalty. Unlike Medea who is very loyal and committed to her husband. When it comes to loyalty, Maya cannot even be compared to Brenda. Although she hates her husband with a passion, she still wears her wedding ring. This shows her passion, loyalty and commitment to a non-existent relationship. Maya on the other hand lives in a world without love. Medea and Brenda had been mothers before they killed their children. Conversely, Maya does not experience motherhood since she aborted. These aspects of the characters help in bringing out the distinction between the film and the play. In addition, they assist in bringing out how myth reappears in reality. After a critical analysis of the Euripides Medea and Dassin’s A Dream of Passion, I am convinced that the two authors are saying the same thing in different ways. This is after considering the choice of characters for both authors, the central themes of their stories and the roles of the characters. The prevalent themes of vengeance, loyalty, love and passion unite the play and the film. However, the film does a much better job of bringing out the myth into reality and offering a clear distinction to the audience. Works Cited Dassin, J., M. Mercouri, E. Burstyn, A. Voutsinas, Despo, D. Papamichael, and Charter Entertainment (Firm). A dream of passion. Los Angeles, CA: Charter Entertainment, 1987. Print. Euripides, M. Collier, and G. Machemer. Medea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Read More