Beloved

             Topic: Compare Sethe to other fictional (or real) mothers who murdered their children or were responsible for their deaths (Medea, Mother Courage, or examples from the media that you are aware of).
             Euripides' Medea and Morrison's Beloved are related to two mothers one of whom murdered their children (Medea) and another one who was responsible for their deaths (Sethe). In these two works there are lots of differences regarding the life conditions, the position and role of the two women at both periods of time and the character of each one in the plot.
             Euripides' Medea takes place in Corinth and expresses the inflexibility of the society with regards to gender roles. Medea challenges the general position of women; she represents a model of revolutionary woman who doesn't comply with the expected norms of the society. According to the laws of Athenian society, women considered to be subordinate.
             Medea was considered to be a barbarian, because of her actions. She was an abandoned wife who killed her two children in order to take revenge on her husband. According to Hall, her portrayal includes a "negative, vindictive and murderous female" (Hall 121). Her character seems to have an unusual strength and courage. She appears to be brave, skillful and acquainted with some aspects of men's life and military.
             On the other hand, Beloved begins in 1873 in Cincinnati where Sethe, a former slave, has been living with her children. Sethe is the protagonist of the novel and a proud and noble woman. Her most striking characteristic, however, is her devotion to her children. According to the sparknotes, Sethe, unwilling to abandon her children to the physical, emotional, and spiritual drama she passed through as a slave, "she tries to murder them in an act that is, in her mind, one of motherly love and protection" (literature). Her memories of this cruel act and of the conditions in which she...

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Beloved. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 14:42, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/93155.html