Medea

4 Pages 879 Words

Despite its ancient context, ‘Medea’ is a play that is as current now as it was in the fifth century BC, due to its universal themes, its basic structure and strong distinct characters. Themes such as revenge and jealousy stemming from love are such widespread sentiments they will always be relevant in the theatre. The structure of the play, while not that of a contempory playwright, is easy to follow, significant for its historical nature and provides an opportunity for modern interpretations of the play and in Medea and the Chorus we see characters that are reflected in today’s society.

The major themes of ‘Medea’ are that of jealously and revenge, with love as the motivating factor behind it, and these themes are as common in contempory theatre as they are in ancient theatre. While the events of ‘Medea’ are perhaps a more dramatically heightened reflection of life than modern theatre, the idea of a spurned lover seeking to have her revenge on the one who betrayed her is not an unusual or outdated concept. The major theme of love is stated explicitly in the Chorus’ line “The fiercest anger of all…is that which rages in the place of dearest love.” (Euripides pg 32). Love is the ultimate subject for any art and ‘Medea’ explores this theme in a way that modern theatre would also attempt to. ‘Medea’ is a good play to study for its themes, as its structure makes them easily visible and definable.

The play’s structure – especially with regards to the chorus – is not wholly applicable in a modern context, but it is still easy to understand, manipulate and significant for historical reasons. The use of the parados and exodus of a chorus is not used in modern theatre; however its use in ‘Medea’ is vital for the proper explanation of the story. As ‘Medea’ is a continuation of the Greek myth ‘Jason and the Argonauts’, without the Nurse – in her position of basically a featured choru...