The Socially Deviant (M)other in Euripides' "Medea" and Two Modern Adaptations

<p>For centuries male-dominated societies have developed their own culturally constructed images of the socially acceptable and socially deviant mothers. The thesis explores how the Grecian, Caribbean, and Irish cultures of Euripides’ <em>Medea </em>(431 BC), Steve Carter’s <em>Pecong </em>(1990), and Marina Carr’s <em>By the Bog of Cats </em>(1998) respectively, all based on the Medea myth, commonly define the social deviant (m)other and condemn her for her “otherness.” It also discusses the limitations of each society’s decision to label the Medea-figure as socially deviant. Euripides creates an impossible dichotomy between the culturally constructed concepts of heroism and motherhood, which he locates in separate male and female personas. Medea must cast off the female persona in order to enact her revenge, whereas the adaptations of the play prove the embodiment of two gendered personas is unnecessary to react to the mistreatment they experience; such is the progress women have made since the fifth century.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts - English

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Kramer, Christina Faye

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Kevin West
• Dr. Ericka Hoagland
• Dr. Joyce Johnston

• "Medea"
• "By the Bog of Cats"
• "Pecong"
• socially deviant mother
• Steve Carter
• Euripides
• Marina Carr
• motherhood
• heroism
• otherness
• Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity
• Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory
• Inequality and Stratification
• Women's Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/148

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.sfasu.edu:etds-1160