To what extent is it true to say that Medea loses her identity through Euripides' Medea. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Perhaps to address this title it is necessary to seek a definition of “identity”. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “individuality, personality...absolute identity.” The question now arises: first, does Medea's character fundamentally change over the course of the play, and second, do all aspects of her character remain constant? The answers to these questions lie in an analysis of the character of Medea and a comparison of the eponymous villain at the beginning and end of Euripides' masterpiece. It can be said that the definition of character lies partly in perceived social status. Medea is primarily a woman and therefore falls into traditional Greek stereotypes of the “weaker sex”. It is clear that this fundamental characteristic of Medea cannot change over the course of the play. Likewise, she is irrevocably witch both at the beginning and the end of the play. She managed to rejuvenate Aeson, half-brother of King Pelias of Iolcus, with magical herbs, and is here able to skillfully poison Glauce and Creon. Characters with magical powers in Greek mythology are generally ostracized from society. Medea herself suggests that magic isolates her in her long speech to the choir. The third and final unchanging aspect of her character is that she is foreign. For the xenophobic “people” of Corinth (who are both symbolized and represented by the chorus), Medea is a barbarian: “She learns through pain what blessings are enjoyed by those who are not uprooted from their native land. » Medea is not part of the community, but rather a "scary woman" who should be avoided. Medea is defined by her different nationality, as well as her more obvious characteristics, and these certainly do not change over the course of “Medea.” When she married Jason and came to Corinth, Medea took (presumably) Corinthian nationality. When Creon says “I command you to leave Corinth,” he is trying to deprive her of this part of herself. Medea’s response is fierce: “Oh! This is the cruel end of my cursed life. Medea fights to keep her place in Corinth, not out of love for her, but because she wants to overthrow her figurehead and her daughter. It might be true to say that Medea takes care of her public appearance, as she works hard to earn the respect of the people around her; the Nurse declares “that she has deserved the welcome of the citizen”. Nevertheless, by the end of the play, she has been driven out of the county and flees to safety. His nationality changes, and presumably that part of his identity changes. Another integral part of Medea's character is her identity as a mother. She rejects this part of herself to get revenge on Jason for the destruction of their marriage. He rejected Medea as his wife, and in return she destroyed Jason as his father. Medea's murder of her children is her most horrible crime to modern and contemporary eyes; she “hates her sons,” and her crime seems all the worse for the severance of this strong natural bond. Identity is, however, largely subjective and Medea's perception in the eyes of the other characters in the play must therefore be taken into account. account. Jason himself understands that Medea changes significantly over the course of the play. At first, Medea seems unreasonable, and Jason describes her as unwilling to "calm [her] hot temper." She is unwilling to compromise, or to do little more than hurl abuse at her husband and begin her tirade with insult“you dirty coward!” ". When they next meet, Medea seems to have cooled her mood considerably and now adopts the stance of a traditional, submissive and supportive wife. She admits "I was wrong", and Jason himself now resumes his role as a "conventional" husband. From his point of view, his characters are considerably improved. However, "Medea" ends with a husband disunited even in grief, with Medea refusing to allow Jason to hold the bodies of her murdered children. Her character has taken a U-turn and so, in her husband's eyes at least, Medea's identity changes twice during the play. However, the change is only apparent because of Medea's clever subterfuge; this is not evidence of a real change in his character. The other close members of Medea's family, her children, are presented by Euripides as mute characters to whom Medea poses a threat: “Quickly, now, children, go home quickly; And don't come near... her; ... His mood is cruel. At first, Medea seems to pose a danger to her sons. However, it is impossible to know how they feel because they never express their opinions. When presented with her children in anticipation of their murder, Medea can be seen frequently bursting into tears. This may suggest that she is a loving mother. The horror of her subsequent actions compels her offspring to speak and cry "Mother, don't kill us!" ". The children's shock is at this point transferred to the audience when the cruelty of the act and the surprising reversal of Medea's maternal feeling are disclosed to them. In her actions towards her sons, and therefore in their understanding of her, Medea is anything but consistent. Aegeus sees Medea from an outside point of view. His only appearance in the play shows him as an administrator and a good friend of Medea. The two confide in each other; he describes her quest for children and she describes her husband's infidelity. As far as we can extrapolate, Aegeus considers Medea to be a constant. They meet and part on the best of terms, and their confrontational conversation seems as full of banter as it has deadly purpose. Aegeus, however, is aware of Medea's darker side. This must be why he refuses to give her safe passage to Corinth, only to protect her once she is there. They both seem powerful and rational; Medea contrasts here with her later and earlier speeches, declaimed and passionate. This perhaps suggests that Medea was pushed into a state of distress and betrayal because of Jason's actions. However, it is important to recognize that in Greek mythology, the character Medea killed outside the circle of the play, and the nurse reminds us of this from the first speech. Creon is the other king that Medea deals with. She changes her mind upon meeting him: at first he states flatly, "I will not return to my palace until I have brought you safely outside my confines." » The reasonable Creon admits to being afraid of Medea and he is rightly suspicious of her. . However, by the time he leaves, he has clearly been emotionally manipulated by her and her attitude towards him is relaxed enough to allow him to spend one more day in her town, at her expense. So, in his scene, Creon's attitude towards Medea changes, but it is therefore not true to say that his identity changes. She is the same fearsome woman at the end of this scene, as shown by her subsequent actions. The nurse is also, rightly, afraid of her mistress. She realizes Medea's murderous intentions and remarks: "She will not let go of her rage until she has found her victim." The nurse realizes Medea's true identity early on, and her crimes seem more of a realization of a.