HOME AND EXILE: A POST-COLONIAL ANALYSIS OF EURIPIDES’ PLAY MEDEA

Abstract

In the wake of the forced mass displacement of people due to the
outbreak of wars, the scintillating tale of the titular character in Euripides’
play, Medea has found new meanings in the post-modern world. This
research paper is an endeavor to study Medea along the trajectories of postcolonial discourse to suggest that she is a displaced outsider and a symbol
of post-colonial survival. This paper argues that Medea’s act of infanticide
is not a monstrous act as she was forced to refashion her identity as an
outsider and a foreigner. Therefore, by killing her own children, she strikes
a blow against the system and in this process, she reclaims her own dignity.
In fact, for Medea, it serves as a means of self-assertion. Bhabha’s (1994)
theory of Hybridity will furnish the main theoretical lens to critically
evaluate the text through close reading. Though critical literature has
critiqued Medea’s act of defiance, her act of infanticide has not been
analyzed in a post-colonial context. Her self-assertion allows her to
transcend spatial and temporal bounds. The study of Medea’s character will
help readers understand cultural heritage and the dominant colonial power
which Jason represents.