The Exploration of IRONY: Themes in Medea

Blackmer

Eng. 12AP, Per. 7

Fall 2017

The Exploration of IRONY: Themes in Medea

I. READ: Medea, by Euripides (pp. 17-61) as well as the introduction (pp. 7-8) by Fr 11/3. Make sure your group decides ahead of time which (sets of) theme(s) below to keep track of in Medea.

II. REVIEW: the list of Dramatic Literary Terms (“Essential Terms List #2: Drama”) in your packet

III. IN GROUPS: Study the use of themes + irony (in class starting Fr 11/3):

A.  With your partners, trace the development of one of the (sets of) themes below in Medea, and discuss the questions related to them.

B.  Start by defining your terms (themes, type of irony, other drama/lit terms—see Terms #2 Drama).

C.  Copy quotes that reflect the theme(s) your group is studying. Include line numbers for future reference.

D.  Thoroughly examine the significance of the themes/meaning of the irony from the perspectives of multiple characters (POINT of VIEW), when applicable.

E.  Consider how Euripides blends IRONY into the development of these themes.

F.  We will have a fishbowl discussion, one person from each group, on the themes, irony, and PoV.

Vengeance and Justice

Medea's plan for revenge is not clearly announced until fairly late in the play, but it is foreshadowed early in Medea’s soliloquy. Analyze the formation in her mind of the decision to kill the children OR consider the dynamic tension between these paired motifs.

Position of Women

Medea is a woman, but does Euripides present her as a figure previously thought of as exclusively male–a hero? Analyze her character in the play as an empathetic wronged wife, a subordinate figure, and/or a hysterical female.

The Other [the foreigner, the barbarian, the exotic, the unknown, the feared]

Medea is a foreigner, the Asian Princess, and Jason, as well as some modern critics, attributes the ferocity of her revenge to the fact that she is a "barbarian," an “outsider.” How does the role of the disenfranchised outsider function in the play?

Cleverness, Cunning, and Manipulation [Cleverness and cunning are admired traits in Greek men]

Consider these traits as embodied by the characters. Can you ascribe these traits to the author’s intent as well?

Family relationships: look at the Greek family—the roles of mother, father, children; examine the power structure; determine what the play suggests about “good” vs. “bad” family behaviors.

G. STRUCTURE:

1.  Identify the incentive moment, climax, and resolution of this play.

2.  Analyze the formal structure of the play: explain how each scene is linked to the preceding and following scenes.

3.  Does the play have unity of action?

4.  Is there a direct cause-and-effect relationship between each event?

5.  What role does coincidence play in the drama?

6.  Does the play have hamartia, peripeteia, and anagnorisis? If so, identify them—where they occur, what is happening, and who is involved.

IV.  ESSAY TOPICS: According to the “best” interpretations of Medea, the major theme(s) of the play is connected with the role of women in Greek society. Before you write, using a scene-by-scene analysis, describe this theme and explain how it is presented throughout the drama. Then select one of the following prompts to write your essay:

A.  What is Medea's primary motivation, and how is it related to this theme? Describe the characterization of Jason and his part in developing the theme.

OR

B.  Analyze the role of the chorus and the choral odes in relation to this theme. In this connection, what is the significance of the resolution of the play, especially Euripides' use of the mechane?

Aristotle’s Analysis of Drama (Ancient Greek)

TRAGEDY: In Aristotle’s view, must have:

I. Plot: The best tragic plot is both single and complex:

1. Unity of action: a single time, place, action throughout the play, but a complex struggle.

2. Peripeteia: (reversal) occurs when a situation seems to developing in one direction, then suddenly "reverses" to another. For example, when Oedipus first hears of the death of Polybus (his supposed father), the news at first seems good, but then is revealed to be disastrous.

3. Anagnorisis: ("recognition""knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout"):a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate. For example, Oedipus kills his father in ignorance and then learns of his true relationship to the King of Thebes. Recognition scenes in tragedy are of some horrible event or secret.

4. Pathos: (“suffering”) caused by peripeteia and anagnorisis. A plot with tragic reversals and recognitions best arouses pity and fear. Also translated as "a calamity," this element of plot is "a destructive or painful act." The English words "sympathy," "empathy," and "apathy" (literally, absence of suffering) all stem from this Greek word. Aristotle believed that a good tragedy purged the audience’s emotions through pity and fear.

II. Characters:

1. Hamartia: ("mistake"):This Greek word, which Aristotle uses only once in the Poetics, has also been translated as "flaw" or as "error." The great man falls through--though not entirely because of--some weakness of character, some moral blindness, or error. We should note that the gods also are in some sense responsible for the hero's fall.

2. Tragic Hero: The tragic hero is "a [great] man (no women?) who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake." He/she is agreat man:"one of those who stand in great repute and prosperity, like Oedipus and Thyestes: conspicuous men from families of that kind." The hero is neither a villain nor a model of perfection but is basically good and decent.

3. Chorus: acts as the foil for the hero, expressing what he/she should/shouldn’t do or giving warning, advice, etc.

III. Dialogue (“Verbal Expression”):

1. Dialogue:

2. Monologue:

3. Soliloquy:

IV. Theme (“Thought”):

V. Spectacle (“Visual Adornment”): the visual aids and entertainment

VI. Music/Rhythm (“Song-Composition”): the rhythmic/musical pattern of the dialogue, esp. the chorus

COMEDY:

Has most of the elements of tragedy, but

1. does not have a single focus; instead both the good are rewarded and the wicked punished;

2. does not end in disaster for the hero but rather in reunification with long-lost family or friends;

Works Cited

Aristotle.Poetics.Trans. Gerald F. Else. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1967.

Dorsch, T. R., trans. and ed.Aristotle Horace Longinus: Classical Literary Criticism.New York:Penguin,1965.

Ley, Graham.The Ancient Greek Theater.Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991.Reinhold, Meyer.

Classical Drama, Greek and Roman.New York: Barrons, 1959.

DRAMA: The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα,drama), which is derived from "to do" (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The two masks associated withdramarepresent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses, Thalia and Melpomene.

Slide Show: http://www.slideshare.net/osamamuneer333/the-history-of-drama-44169946

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE:

I. Know the following PERIODS:

A.  Ancient Greek

B.  Roman

C.  Medieval/Morality Plays

D.  Commedia dell’Arte (Italian)

E.  Elizabethan/Shakespearean (British)

F.  Classicism (French)

G.  Restoration/18th C (British)

H.  Romantic/early 19th C (German, British)

I. Realism

J.  Naturalism

K.  Symbolism

L.  Expressionism

M.  Modernism

N.  Postmodernism

II. Know the following PLAYWRIGHTS, their periods, and their most famous works:

A.  Sophocles, A., Oedipus Rex,

B.  Aristophanes, Lysistrata, A.

C.  Euripides, Medea, A.

D.  Seneca, Troades, B.

E.  Wm. Shakespeare, Hamlet, E.

F.  Christopher Marlowe, Tamberlaine, E.

G.  Ben Jonson, The Alchemist, E.

H.  Moliere, The Misanthrope, F.

I. Jean Racine, Andromachus, F.

J.  Alexandre Dumas,The Three Musketeers, H.

K.  Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, I.

L.  Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House, I.

M.  Anton Chekov, The Cherry Orchard, J. M.

N.  Emile Zola, Therese Racquin, J.

O.  August Strindberg,The Duck, Miss Julie, M.

P.  G. B. Shaw, Pygmalion, M.

Q.  Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, (Victorian/Aestheticism)

R.  Arthur Miller, Crucible, Death of a Salesman, M. N.

S.  Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night, M.

T.  Bertolt Brecht, Three-Penny Opera, L.M.

U.  Thornton Wilder, Our Town, M.

V.  Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Streetcar Named Desire, M.

W.  Lorraine Hansberry, Raisin in the Sun, M.

X.  Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, N.

Y.  David Mamet, Glengarry, Glen Ross, N.

Z.  Sam Shepard, Buried Child, N.

AA.  Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, N.

III. READ: a second ancient Greek work: Write a short analysis of the play that:

A.  identifies the three essential elements according to Aristotle (anagnorisis, hamartia, peripeteia);

B.  identifies the hero/protagonist, explains his/her motivations, and describes his/her tragic flaw;

C.  summarizes what the chorus covers that we would otherwise miss;

D.  explains the “tragedy”; and

E.  summarizes the arc of the plot.