Megan Fox

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-10-2025

Abstract

The character Zara in William Congreve’s 1627 tragedy The Mourning Bride declares in Act Three Scene Two, “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned” (Congreve 64). Sentiments like this have carried on throughout history to describe the true anger and rage attributed to women, and this is oftentimes represented in media. And there is no more furious, scorned woman, than Medea, the titular character in Euripides’ 431 BCE tragedy. While they do not typically resort to the violence and sorcery that Medea does in this play, Medea has represented the anger and outrage many people have felt for centuries, especially those who have been systematically oppressed. This representation on the stage, albeit very gruesome, gives modern audiences the cathartic feeling that Euripides was aiming for over 2000 years ago. Historically, Medea has been used as a vehicle for people to air their grievances with problems in society. In times where women, people of color, and people of various religious backgrounds were particularly targeted, their productions, adaptations and interpretations of Medea changed in great ways. In 1944, Peter Kien wrote an adaptation of Medea called Medea: An Der Bose (On the Border) in the Theresienstadt Ghetto in the Czech Republic and hid it from Nazis when he was transferred to Auschwitz (Langeder 3). His use of this story highlighted the oppression he felt during his imprisonment and has never been performed. There have been hundreds of adaptations over the centuries, and it is incredibly interesting that despite vast societal change, war, and social movements, the themes of “othering” and being outcasted for various reasons still ring true even today. The work that people have done for different groups does not go unnoticed, and prominent movements are immortalized in the writing of adaptations of Medea and the stagings that highlight specific struggles. Some modern versions simply use the idea of revenge and adapt for a run of a show that people have heard of. But those that have deeper meaning are the ones that highlight the problems that Euripides identified centuries ago; that women, people of color, and people from all corners of the earth are treated differently and frankly worse than their male, white, and colonial counterparts. There have been an exorbitant number of adaptations written and performed, all exploring oppression using the titular character. Few other stories have had the longevity and consistent relevance as Medea. There have been adaptations of other plays from this time, like Antigone or Oedipus the King, but they differ from Medea because their stories simply do not have the reach that her's does. People may have sympathy for Antigone, as her brother was killed, and she just wants to give him dignity in death despite her surroundings. And people may feel bad for Oedipus because he was doomed from birth, and he could do nothing to help his situation. But Medea has the shock value of its ending and the release of emotion that is not done through suicide or self-mutilation as in the two other plays. Medea is a central figure whose story has been used to explore misogyny, racism, and xenophobia through its repeated adaptations. Here, six adaptations will be examined that focus on one of three themes mentioned previously. These adaptations being Medea (2014) at The National Theatre, Medea (2012) at The Citizen’s Theatre, Medea (1926) by Hans Henny Jahnn, There are Women Waiting: The Tragedy of Medea Jackson (1989), Medea (1982) at the Theatro Technis, and Medea in Jerusalem (2004).

Comments

Undergraduate Division - 1st Place

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