2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

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convinces his audience that Medea’s actions were out of her control, and thus, justified. This juxtaposes her cleverness being an aspect of herself that she despises due to its negative implications in society, and clearly portrays Medea as intelligent, despite her gender.

Conversely, Bartlett portrays his Medea as slightly unhinged, as Medea appears to kill her son, Tom, on an impulse and only briefly hesitates before murdering him. The audience is not given rational explanations in the final scene from Medea, rather she is depicted as wild, frantic, and axe-wielding, standing over her son’s mutilated corpse, on top of her burning house. The violent insanity portrayed in this scene through the ludicrous choice of music, religious pleas and long emotive monologue, departs from Euripides’ Medea , as the modern Medea is more insane, rather than rationalised and vindicated. A review of the production of Medea considered the implications of this departure from rationality to insanity for whether Medea’s character should be considered a sinner or sinned against (Anon., 2012). Another difference between the two Medeas is their social statuses in the two plays. In the original, Medea is of noble ranking, as all Ancient Greek heroes had to be of noble ranking in order for the audience to relate to the character’s plight (Roomland, 2022). As a result of her class, she is granted the attention of the chorus and is able to share her plans without fear of being hindered. The chorus is free to share their opinions, yet have no power compared to Medea, as she maintains a higher status. Many attempts are made by the chorus, to convince Medea not to go murder her son, yet they are expressed as appeals and requests, rather than demands. The chorus simultaneously uses rational appeals to Medea’s logos and personal appeals to her ethos, by posing the question, “How, then, shall the city of sacred streams or the land so hospitable to friends give you a home, the killer of your children, the unholy one who would live among them?” (lines 848-850). This causes Medea to pause, as she