2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

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there are many constraints placed on women in the expectations of their relationships and emotions. Euripides’ Medea is a noblewoman in a position of relative power, despite her gender, as she has religious connections and is generally feared as she is considered a witch. On the other hand, Bartlett’s Medea is ‘freer’ in the nominal sense of the word, yet she is constrained by her social class, financial status, and societal expectations. Both Euripides and Bartlett reveal Medea’s freedoms and constraints through her relationship with other characters in the plays, particularly the chorus. Ancient Greek literature often provide insight into the attitudes of particular authors towards women. In the process, the playwright reveals their own ideals regarding women, so they are often not a true representation of the life of an average woman in the time period (Pomeroy, 1975). In the case of Euripides, Medea’s character was his perception of how women should behave and be treated. In the modern version of the play, Medea is seen as loathsome, through the reactions of other characters to Medea’s actions, as Medea receives virtually no support or empathy while she is experiencing anger at her husband’s actions (Mambrol, 2020). In both plays, Medea steadfastly refuses to welcome cowardly emotions, instead displaying anger, a stereotypically masculine emotion (Allard & Montlahuc, 2018). Medea entirely embodies the anger that would be expected of a man. The only occasions where Medea displays sadness, jealousy or cowardice, typical ‘feminine’ emotions, she does so before other characters as part of her plan to convince society she is weak, in order to exact her revenge on Jason and his bride. Both Medeas also experience a fleeting sense of remorse whilst considering the vengeful murder of their children. This brief moment evokes feelings of sympathy in the audience for Medea, despite the horrid nature of her crime. Bartlett retells