Medea And Kalidasa Literary Analysis

Dramatic Conventions in Literature:

An Exploration of Euripides’ Medea and Kalidasa’s The Recognition of Sakuntala

In studying literature from Western and Nonwestern civilizations, one can get a better grasp on and appreciation for a culture and the position of its people. Euripides and Kalidasa have some of the best known literary works in their respective cultures and throughout the world. Kalidasa introduces readers to the beauty of Indian writing, creating a remarkable piece in a play on a famous Hindu text. Euripides sparks a fire with the use of a powerful female protagonist, challenging the norms and expectations for women in ancient Greece. While both pieces are of undeniable cultural importance, especially to those trying to better understand Greek or Indian culture, they are also both remarkably different. In Euripides Medea, readers are introduced to a woman overtaken by the desire to seek revenge against her husband. To best appreciate Medea, one must take note of how the play reflects a variety of elements seen in Aristotelian tragedy. In Aristotle’s Poetics, he introduces tragedy as, “the imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude… through pity and fear effecting the proper purification of these emotions” (1153). He also indicates that

the laughter of my enemies I will not endure” (1026). This is where Medea’s pride is finally cast fully into the light and can no longer be avoided. The idea that she would seek to harm her own children so spare her pride is something that most are not able to fully appreciate. When Medea completes her murderous rampage, a total of four lives are lost; Creon, king of Corinth, and his daughter Glauce, and Medea and Jason’s two children. Medea exits, but surely carries significant regret at the reservation of her