Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i>
In 2024, Eilish Quin published the novel <i>Medea</i>, which is a feminist approach to the Medea myth from Greek mythology. Medea’s myth is heavily influenced by Euripides’ play <i>Medea</i>, a play in which she kills her children to enact revenge on her cheating husband Jaso...
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2024-12-01
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| author | Rachel Scoggins |
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| description | In 2024, Eilish Quin published the novel <i>Medea</i>, which is a feminist approach to the Medea myth from Greek mythology. Medea’s myth is heavily influenced by Euripides’ play <i>Medea</i>, a play in which she kills her children to enact revenge on her cheating husband Jason. Quin’s novel is a reimagining of the myth, which explores Medea’s monstrosity and attempts to make her more sympathetic and less monstrous than the source text. I argue that Quin’s novel pulls from established characteristics of Medea that depict her as a monster and attempts to shift the narrative perspective. Using monster theory, I examine Medea’s monstrosity by looking at Euripides’ play and Quin’s novel. Quin attempts to recast Medea as a sympathetic woman instead of a monster through Medea’s anti-woman sentiments and monstrous power, along with her status as an outsider; moreover, Medea’s villainous nature is removed by changing the story surrounding the murder of her brother and children while stressing Jason’s excessively violent nature. Quin’s novel reflects a contemporary concern with female autonomy and victimization, but the novel’s approach highlights the issues with trying to remove Medea’s monstrosity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b4317c3617e1444d88da2c7dce5efe2f |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-b4317c3617e1444d88da2c7dce5efe2f2024-12-27T14:29:35ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872024-12-0113616810.3390/h13060168Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i>Rachel Scoggins0Department of English & Foreign Languages, College of Arts & Humanities, Lander University, Greenwood, SC 29649, USAIn 2024, Eilish Quin published the novel <i>Medea</i>, which is a feminist approach to the Medea myth from Greek mythology. Medea’s myth is heavily influenced by Euripides’ play <i>Medea</i>, a play in which she kills her children to enact revenge on her cheating husband Jason. Quin’s novel is a reimagining of the myth, which explores Medea’s monstrosity and attempts to make her more sympathetic and less monstrous than the source text. I argue that Quin’s novel pulls from established characteristics of Medea that depict her as a monster and attempts to shift the narrative perspective. Using monster theory, I examine Medea’s monstrosity by looking at Euripides’ play and Quin’s novel. Quin attempts to recast Medea as a sympathetic woman instead of a monster through Medea’s anti-woman sentiments and monstrous power, along with her status as an outsider; moreover, Medea’s villainous nature is removed by changing the story surrounding the murder of her brother and children while stressing Jason’s excessively violent nature. Quin’s novel reflects a contemporary concern with female autonomy and victimization, but the novel’s approach highlights the issues with trying to remove Medea’s monstrosity.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/13/6/168monstersMedeamonster theoryfeminist theoryfemale monstersGreek mythology |
| spellingShingle | Rachel Scoggins Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i> Humanities monsters Medea monster theory feminist theory female monsters Greek mythology |
| title | Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i> |
| title_full | Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i> |
| title_fullStr | Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i> |
| title_short | Reexamining Medea’s Monstrosity in Greek Mythology and Eilish Quin’s <i>Medea</i> |
| title_sort | reexamining medea s monstrosity in greek mythology and eilish quin s i medea i |
| topic | monsters Medea monster theory feminist theory female monsters Greek mythology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/13/6/168 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rachelscoggins reexaminingmedeasmonstrosityingreekmythologyandeilishquinsimedeai |