The related topics of racism and sexism remain some of the most ugly, taboo and controversial fields of our contemporary era, and it is safe to say that active manipulation of national consciousness to rid people of these traits were present only in the latter half of the last century, with the last apartheid state of South Africa only relenting in its collective repression as late as 1994. However, one has to remember that in both Classical Athens and Elizabethan England such mindsets were allowed, and indeed, sometimes actively cultivated as a rallying call to a state’s strength in national, cultural and ethnic homogeneity. This therefore presents an interesting parallel between the two eras and the works attributed therein.
In this vein, it cannot be denied that one of the commonly underlying themes in Euripides’ Medea and Shakespeare’s Othello is the novel and unusual treatment by society both titular characters have to face due to their respective racial, or in the specific case of Medea, also gender backgrounds. This paper seeks to highlight such examples of racism and sexism, as well as try to draw a correlation between the epochs and their societal and cultural situations wherein the plays were written and how such atmospheres contributed to the characterizations and portrayals of veritable ‘outsiders’ in the two epic pieces.
Within Euripides’ Medea, the titular character is within a very strange position in Corinthian society, and before moving onto that topic the reader would better first examine the current mentality towards outsiders of Periclean Athens, the citizens of which made up the majority of the audience for Euripides’ piece. The Athenian zeitgeist, at 431 BC when Euripides’ arguable magnus opus was first pro...
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...ver. Looked at in their entirety, and in political terms, Habib characterizes Shakespeare’s plays as a kind of dialogue between the colonized and the colonizers, demonstrating the ways in which the colonized attempt to resist — but within the “performance of the colonizer’s cultural narrative,” Habib writes; that is, under the majority culture’s own terms.
Works Cited
Bushnell, Rebecca W. A Companion to Tragedy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2005. Print.
Cook, Ann Jennalie. The Privileged Playgoers of Shakespeare's London, 1576-1642. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1981. Print.
Flaceliere, Robert. La Vida Vida Cotidina En Grecia En El Siglo De Pericles. [Madrid]: Ediciones Temas De Hoy, 1996. Print.
"Shakespeare's Colors: Race And Culture In Elizabethan England." Old Dominion University. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
To begin comparing Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7, we need to look at three components: context, characters, and themes. Both Euripides and Ovid tell the story of Jason abandoning Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female protagonist’s traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to discrimination by beginning a battle to gain revenge all who harmed her, which she is prepared to follow through with even if it means resorting to the most despicable methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less severe figure whose modest goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these written differences, both of their Medea’s create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in undesirable situations. Euripides and Ovid present two different sets of motivations for Medea's behavior wh...
Even the noble general yielded to the sexist remarks and insinuations of his ancient, thus developing a reprehensible attitude toward h...
Medea is a tragedy written by acclaimed Greek playwright Euripides.fortunately, had the opportunity to view last night's performance. Euripides cleverly uncovers the reality of Ancient Greek society, shining a light on the treatment of women and the emotions and thoughts that provoked during their time in society. As they were voiceless, Euripides acted as a voice. The scene is set during a male- dominated society, Medea the protagonist challenges the views and chooses to ignore the normality of civilisation. Treated as an outsider her passion for revenge conquers the motherly instincts she possesses, provoking a deep hatred and sparking revenge towards her once loved family.
Howard, Jean. "Cross-dressing, The Theatre, and Gender Struggle in Early Modern Eng- land." Shakespeare Quarterly 39 (1988): 418-40.
Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello is an unfortunate example of gender bias, of sexism which takes advantage of women. The three women characters in the drama are all, in their own ways, victims of men’s skewed attitudes regarding women. Let us delve into this topic in this essay.
Euripides. "Medea." The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
F. R. Leavis discusses the breakdown of sympathy for Othello, arguing that ‘Othello is too stupid to be regarded as a tragic hero’. Other critics also argue that Shakespeare ‘fully exploits the unique cultural opportunity to develop a more complex and sympathetic representation of black experience’ [The Noble Moor – Othello and Race in Elizabethan London, Roger Lees], implying that the sympathy that a contemporary audience would have felt for Othello was based oncultural context, given that the audience were predominantly white. However, it could be argued that it cannot just be the cultural context to Shakespeare’s audiences that has allowed Othello to become one of his most renowned tragedies; if this were the case, the play would have lost all critical interest by the 18th Century. It is Shakespeare’s use of the conventions of tragedy in attributing Othello with hubris that, although making it hard to empathise with at times, in the...
One can hardly deny that in Euripides’ plays women are often portrayed as weak, uncertain, and torn between what they must do and what they can bring themselves to do. Other women appear to be the root of grave evils, or simply perpetrators of heinous crimes. In a day when analysis of characters and plot had yet to be invented, it is easy to see why he might have been thought to be very much against women. However, when looking back with current understanding of what Euripides was doing at the time, armed with knowledge of plot devices and Socratic philosophy, this argument simply does not hold up. In fact, a very strong argument can be made to the opposite, that Euripides was in fact very much in support of women’s rights, and thought they were treated unfairly.
The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s appropriation, Geoffrey sax’s Othello, reflect the context and values of their times.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Orkin, Martin. “Othello and the “plain face” Of Racism.” 2nd ed. Vol. 38. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 166-88. Shakespeare Quarterly. Folger Shakespeare Library in Association with George Washington University, Summer 1987. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. .
Bartels, Emily C. “Making more of the Moor: Aaron, Othello, and Renaissance Refashionings of Race.” Shakespeare Quarterly 41.4 (1990): 433-54. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
In the Sixteenth century, as we see clearly from Othello and other works of both Shakespeare and Cinthio's original version of Othello, race was a topic of great debate and discussion. Today, in the twenty-first century the debate retains its controversy and passion. However, attitudes towards race have taken a dramatic turn during the last century. In the developed world people are now living in an increasingly cosmopolitan society would undoubtedly be more tolerant and would reject or even be offended by racial discrimination to any person or sections of the community. Openly 'racist' people today are seen as outcasts. Taking this into account, the way a modern audience would react to race and racism in Othello is dependent upon the way in which that modern audience would interpret 'Othello'. This prompts the questions of what sort of message Shakespeare wanted to send to his audience and was Othello the moor portrayed as a tragic hero or did his character eventually come to resemble the prejudices of which he was a victim. Shakespeare also discusses the issue of race with other characters such as the hateful Iago and the prejudices hidden deep in Barbantio.
Neill, Michael. "Unproper Beds: Race, Adultery, and the Hideous in Othello." Critical Essays in Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony Gerard Barthelemy.
Knight,G.Wilson. “The Shakespearean Superman: An essay on The Tempest.” The Crown of life: Essays in Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Final Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947. 203-255