An Analysis Of Medusa By Carol Ann Duffy

Medusa (Ugly Dussy) Gorgon, age 156, from the city of Ancient Greece, passed away on October 31, 1955 B.c when Percy beheaded her with his sword riptide.

The theme of insecurities appears throughout the poem as Duffy feels like male are leaving women based on their appearance. The poem Medusa clearly shows many examples of insecurities. Medusa is one of the Gorgons three sisters from Greek mythology, famous for having snakes for hair and for turning people to stone. Medusa has always been well known among people, and was well known for having unapproachable looks but Duffy tells her story so that the reader can gain sympathy for Medusa, a monstrous character. The poem begins with “A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy.” This conveys how jealousy has turned the woman into a monster, and how now everything she looks at turns to stone, which connects to the original mythology. This feeling of doubt and insecurities continues throughout the poem, as

The Greek mythology presents Medusa as a monster, with the power to turn anyone who looks into her eyes to stone and with snakes that replicate her hair. But, in the poem by Mary Sarton “The Muse As Medusa” we see an incomparable image of Medusa to the Greek mythology. In this poem Medusa helps the speaker through a difficult time. The speaker depicts herself through her poem as someone who is lost, sad and defeated by the world around her. The speaker sees herself in Medusa, where they are both misinterpreted by the world around them. Medusa being powerful is able to cope with the world's misconception of her and shows the speaker how that's possible. The speaker takes into account how the world is the one that misinterpreted them and

The Raft of the Medusa was created by Theodore Gericault in the years 1818 and 1819 during the French Romantic period. This oil painting, which stands at a massive 491x716cm, was created to capture the tragedy of the Medusa.This essay discusses what the Raft of the Medusa was, the reasons behind why Theodore Gericault made this painting and the political impacts it had at the time it was made. The ‘Medusa’ was a french frigate that set sail in 1816 from Rochefort heading to Senegalese. Harris (2011) states that Gericault read an account by survivors about the tragedy of the shipwreck and was intrigued to learn more. He learnt that the

The character Medea is a well known character throughout Greek culture due to Euripides’s Medea and Apollonius’s Argonautika. Jules Dassin’s A Dream of Passion presents the story of Medea in a modern way, allowing myth and reality to intertwine. Because the film is based on the myth, the two main characters in the film, Maya and Brenda, share many qualities to Medea, such as killing of their children. Common themes, such as the position of women in society, are also presented in both mediums. These similarities show that Euripides and Dassin are conveying the same ideas using different methods.

Then she was transferred to the home of her husband where she was to fulfill her principal function, the bearing and rearing children. Medea shows the inequality of women in Greek society. The betrayal of Medea by Jason through his marriage to another woman enrages Medea. She begins to question the role and position of women in a patriarchal society. "Are we women not the wretchedness? We scratch and save a dowry to buy a man?Our lives depends on how his lordship feels. For better for worse we can?t divorce him."(p.8, Medea). However, "a husband tired of domesticity, Goes out sees friends and enjoys himself?."(p.8and 9, Medea). Medea compares the virtual slavery of women to the absolute freedom of men, showing the inequality and disempowerment of women in society at that time.

Commonly considered one of Euripides greatest pieces, Medea is an insightful depiction of how a woman’s love for her husband, churns into a gruesome revenge scheme against him. This tragedy illustrates a tale of a woman who challenges Greek societal norms. In the era that the story takes place; women are often seen in submissive roles. However, the play’s main character, Medea, challenges their customs through her actions against the Kingdom of Corinth and Jason.

Although Medea, like many women, gives up her family, home, and body for her marriage. Medea feels that “of all things we women are the most unfortunate creatures,” (8) and further discusses the difficulties and unjust situations women face such as “for there is not easy escape for a woman, nor can she say no to her marriage” (8) and how men do not use the same rules. For example, Medea feels that “what applies to me does not apply to you” (9). She seems envious of the freedom men possess.

For the women in ancient Greece, justice was far from reach. In the Greek society, men were allowed to abandon their wives in order to marry younger ones and Medea was not invulnerable to this fate. Despite all of her devoutness to her husband, he relinquished her for someone new. “Oh how unhappy I am, how wretched my sufferings. Oh woe is me. I wish I could die”, Medea cried out at the horrendous news (page 3, line 9). Euripides created a tragedy that many women during the ancient Greek time could relate to.

In each of the poems, both Medusa and the Duke of Ferrara represent the fickleness of power and how it fluctuates in daily life. Duffy’s manipulation of a paradox within ‘Medusa’ displays the extent to which power plays a part in the Greek myth of Medusa. The extended metaphor of Medusa with “filthy snakes” that “hissed and

The language in this poem is quite harsh, emphasising the anger ‘Medusa’ feels for this man. There is a lexical field of destruction and disgust ‘shattered’ ‘filthy’ ‘stank’ that connotes the negative feelings of envy and fury that the poet is feeling. The poem as a whole is very figurative, mirroring

Amongst Euripides' most famous plays, Medea went against the audience's expectations at his time. Indeed, the main character of the play is Medea, a strong independent female who neglected moral and . She was therefore in all ways different to how women were perceived in Ancient Greece. This essay will explore how Euripides' controversial characters demonstrate that his views were ahead of his time.

The poetic tone of Aristophanes' Lysistrata differs greatly from the poetic tone of the Greek tragedies we have read in class. However, after analyzing this Greek comedy, it seems to share some of the main characteristics of Euripides' Medea. Within these plays, we meet shrewd, powerful masculine women who use the art of manipulation to get what they want from others and to accomplish their goals. This theme of manipulation is employed through various means and techniques. The women of these plays also seem to contradict the stereotypical woman and have characteristics similar to the Homeric Greek warrior.

As the famous Greek playwright Euripides once said: “Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make.” Such ideas are portrayed in one of him most famous plays, Medea. This play is a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea. Despite its recent fame, during his time, Euripides was unpopular since he used what would be considered a ‘modern’ view where he would focus on women, slaves and persons from the lower classes. In the play, Medea commits filicide, which initially appears extremely horrendous, but as the audience is guided through the play, they develop sympathy towards Medea. In order to achieve this empathy and enhance the understanding of Medea’s pride and ideals, Euripides

Society establishes a set of expectations by which males and females are expected to conduct themselves. For example, a mother is expected to nurture her child, stay at home to take care of her children, be patient, be kind, love unconditionally and to never get angry. If a mother does not live up to these expectations established by society, then that mother is deemed a “bad mother.” Since a mother gives birth to her children and nurtures them, a mother who kills her children is considered to be unredeemably bad. Medea, in the play of the same name, kills her two sons and by societal standards, she would be deemed a bad mother. Contrary to society’s expectations of mothers, I will argue that Medea is not a bad mother. I will do this by proving that: Medea defies the social conventions of motherhood in three ways; she kills her children in order to protect them; and, that she rebels against her husband’s control and male domination by depriving him of his “immortality” by killing his sons and ending his bloodline.