Preview

What's the Differances and Similarities Between Medea and Macbeth Plays?

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
573 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What's the Differances and Similarities Between Medea and Macbeth Plays?
Macbeth" and "Madea" Comparison Essay by JPWrite
Description:
This paper examines how Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and Euripides' "Medea" are both tragic plays in the classical sense. It looks at how both Medea and Macbeth lust for the unattainable and how that lust destroys them. It cannot be said which character is a truly tragic figure, because both fit the description. It contends that if either character deserves more sympathy it is Madea, the jilted wife, not Macbeth the King killer since Macbeth's lust for power and his willingness to please his wife leads to his downfall.
From the Paper:
"Macbeth is by far one of the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies. Its images and representations of ambition, guilt and the degradation of being make him a truly tragic character. Macbeth starts out as a pretty-cool guy - he's a Scottish general and a gentleman, but has always wished to be more. It is not until after Duncan's death, that Macbeth truly begins to deteriorate into a faithless and remorseless man. He tells one lie to cover up another, having to commit one murder to cover up the other, until he looks back, and cannot even remember the first little step he took over the line. Only MacDuff, a faithful servant and soldier of Duncan and Malcom, can bring him down, even though the witches have rightfully prophesied that "no man of woman born" could possibly bring down Macbeth's reign of terror."

ANSWER: Hello,

Well, these three plays all deal with marriage, and demonstrate how wrong things can go when the man and woman occupy unequal positions.

In Medea, her husband Jason leaves her because she is only a barbarian. In order for him to gain power and wealth, Jason instead marries a Greek princess from his own culture. He does this because it is more acceptable to his society, but the result is that Medea takes a terrible revenge and kills the children. The whole institution of marriage, and the means by which society perpetuates and regenerates itself across

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    In the play Medea written by Euripides, the patriarchal society of ancient Greece is examined and the role of women in a male centred society is explored. In this world where “the middle way,” or moderation in all things is valued and reason and logic are seen to be the ideal, there is no room for passion or emotion which further limits the value of women. In response to Jason’s arrogant sense of superiority and his disregard for his wife’s feelings, Medea shows criminal behaviour by killing Jasons children and his new wife so he cannot continue his family line and denying him burial rights for his own children. However, it is Jason who acts like a criminal because he betrays his oath to Medea, and his criminal behavior forces Medea to commit the unjustifiable act of infanticide because she felt she had no other alternative.…

    • 1687 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medea is a powerful but vicious woman whose own actions cause her to fall from the pedestal that she has been living upon her whole life. She comes from a prestigious background as she is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis. Not only is she a princess, Medea is also a sorceress. This allows her to use magical powers on herself and on others around her. Medea’s downward spiral begins because of her attachment to Jason and her insistent need of extracting revenge against her former love. Her desire for Jason becomes so intense at one point that Medea ends up slaughtering and dismembering her own brother in order to allow Jason to escape from the king. Medea catering to Jason’s needs before her own was just the beginning of her downfall. Jason repaid Medea for her bravery by leaving her and their kids for another woman. This causes Medea to feel unwanted, embarrassed, and tremendously hurt so she concocts a scheme to obtain retribution on Jason. Her endeavor only intensifies her unenviable fate as Medea ends up executing Jason’s new bride, the bride’s father, and her own two children.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mac Beth Essay

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Macbeth is a determined man and has great qualities as a human being at the beginning. However, Macbeth is weak minded, and his will can be easily swayed which contributes to his undoing. Lady Macbeth is just one of the many characters who astray Macbeth’s heart. Due to his lack of sensibility and rectitude, he is unraveled to his very end. Macbeth is to take full responsibility for the tragedies that take place among the innocent lives, which were dealt the wrong hand of fate, during his conquest for complete power.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leah

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The setting began in Scotland. Scotland is in chaos. The personal servants of the gracious and noble King Duncan had brutally murdered him. The king’s two sons Malcolm, the prince of Cumberland and his brother Donalbain, have both fled. Everyone suspects the sons of ordering their childhood friends, the servants to murder their righteous father the king; however, what no one knew was the real culprit Macbeth who is the main character in the play. He became king shortly after Duncan’s death. Now that Macbeth is king his true colors began to show. From after Macbeth unrightfully became king, Macbeth was known as a brutal and evil maniac. But even though Macbeth had lost his noble reputation it still seemed as though “evil” had triumphed because Macbeth became king.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Euripides plays are about the emotions and reactions of ordinary people and social issues rather than with deities and their adventures. His collection of plays, approximately 90 of them, includes Electra, Trojan Women and Medea. This last one is the most controversial play during Euripides 's time, because portraits Medea as a heroine in a time where only man can be heroes. Medea is an easy play to read that includes not too many characters. Anybody could relate to the events in this play because they can happen to any ordinary person. This essay answers the following question: Are Medea 's actions inevitable and beyond her control, or is she able to choose? Medea has many opportunities to change her fate and she knows that it is against the moral standards of her time, but she decides to take the necessary actions to do it anyway.…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ambitions in Macbeth

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the primary forces in Shakespeare’s most compact and sublime tragedy, Macbeth is the drive of reckless ambition in the title character and the consequences that follow such impactful, unchecked emotions. This is expressed very transparently in Macbeth’s character. It is known from the very beginning that Macbeth is highly ambitious, though he is a man of morals and commits the heinous acts described in the beginning of the play solely the sake of duty. The integrity of his purpose is first compromised when the Three Witches reveal their prophecy to him. He ponders whether or not the title of King will simply arrive to him, or he must do something dark to obtain it. Before his emotions overtook him, Macbeth was a true Scotsman, loyal to his country and King, and “full o' the milk of human kindness,” according to Lady Macbeth. As the play progresses, his morals are overpowered by his ambition. The audience is treated to a plethora of dramatic irony to truly help how much Macbeth’s character has changed.…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Firstly, Macbeth kills Duncan. Macbeth wants to fulfill his ambition to be king. Killing Duncan is vital in this case. Initially, he is hesitant, but by the help of his wife and his vaulting ambition, he kills Duncan. It is noted that having succumbed to his ambition to gain the crown by whatever means”(Lamar 8).Macbeth knows that he can be crowned king by killing important people. He allows his ambition to help him kill.Macbeth had gotten so intact with being king that he didn’t realize that the witches weren’t helping him, but they were actually hurting him.” your castle is surprised, your wife and babes/savagely slaughtered. To relate the manner/where on the quarry of these murders.” (4.3.240-244) This quotes shows he had really become power hungry. His actions caused Macduff to turn against him. Having people who could in the long run have a higher ranking than one is never good. In the end one may need them. Macbeth’s ambition got the best of him and Macduff’s family. He only sets the trap of his own death. He was unprepared for what was to come. Which was Macduff killing…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Macbeth

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a fictional play about the famed general Macbeth and how his ambition ultimately leads to his downfall. In the beginning of the story, Macbeth is seen as a great hero after assisting the…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth explores the power of two leaders who both fight for the path Scotland will take. Shakespeare creates a number of interesting characters; Macbeth and Macduff are two of those characters who are seen to be very much the same but also completely different. They are seen to be very similar in many aspects including their strong beliefs, the respect they have from other individuals and the way their minds operate. Throughout the play, Shakespeare reveals that these characters are as different as night and day; they are each viewed differently from each other by others and they both murder but they both do it for different reasons; Macbeth kills for greed and personal development whereas Macduff slays Macbeth to avenge his family and to defend the country.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Macbeth A Tragic Hero

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A significant event in this story was when Macbeth murdered Duncan. This struck uneasiness throughout Scotland and some people feared for their lives. Malcolm and Donalbain especially were afraid because they believed; “There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” (Act II sc (iv), ln 165) Banquo’s murder is a fearful moment as well. Macbeth orders murderers to kill Banquo by saying; “Who wear our health but sickly in his life,/ Which in his death were perfect.” (Act III sc (i) lns 119-120) Macbeth is the cause of his innocent friend’s death and he does it purely for his own benefit and personal gain. Macbeth also causes the death of Macduff’s family. He says to Macduff; “My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already.” (Act V sc (viii), lns 6-7) when Macduff challenges him. The family has neither harmed nor threatened Macbeth in any way. There is pity felt for the deaths of these innocent people and fear of the murderous Macbeth throughout Scotland. This fear and pity adds to the point that Macbeth is a…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth is greedy, he kills people for his own benefit regardless of the consequences. All tragic heroes are looked up to because of their courage and nobility, however he is not courageous nor noble.When Lady Macbeth dies and he gets the news, he does not react how a loving husband would react to the death of their beloved wife.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth was known as a loyal and mostly honored man in the first beginning. The witches predicted great things for him. From reading the book he seemed so great. Throughout the scenes he starts to change and act different. Macbeth has this mindset to kill Duncan so that he can be king. He wants power and is very greedy for power and was willing to kill him to get it. It made the reader vision him in a more selfish and hunger for greed way.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “I shall do so; But I must also feel it as a man: I cannot but remember such things were, That were most precious to me. Did heaven look on, And would not take their part? Sinful Macduff, They were all struck for thee!” (IV.iii 203). Macduff controls his ambition that makes him able to offer mercy to Macbeth. “Then yield thee coward, And live to be the show and gaze o’ the time:” (V.viii 2). Macbeth does not want mercy; he would rather die than be seen as a bad person. Macduff kills Macbeth not out of vengeance but for the good of the country. Macduff saves the country from being run by a crazy man and saves many other people that Macbeth would have killed in order to keep his…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Both Fifth century B.C. playwright Euripides and Roman poet and dramatist Ovid tell the story of Jason ditching Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female matron's traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to injustice by beginning a crusade to avenge all who harmed her which she is prepared to see through even if it means resorting to the most contemptible methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less extreme figure whose humble goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these differences, both Medeas create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in regrettable situations.…

    • 1553 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth was a noble and loyal man, who would never harm his King. If it wasn't for the influences of the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth, he would have lived happily as Thane of Cawdor, an honorable title in itself. The downfall of Macbeth was ignited by the actions by those around him, mainly, and eventually, his ambitions took over. Macbeth never had the intention of killing his king, but was ultimately persuaded that it was the correct thing to do. With his wife’s cajoling, and the three witches’ foretelling of his future Macbeth, will stop at nothing to gain position as King of Scotland.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays