Medea Irony Essay

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Hok Lung Tam Ms. Hoyos ENG 4U S2 5th June 2024 Three Types of Irony in Medea M.L. Stedman, who is an Australian author, mentioned in her novel, “Such a mysterious business, motherhood. How brave a woman must be to embark on it.” In Euripides’ play Medea, irony successfully veils the intention and duplicity of characters which lead tragic scenes to become more apparent to audiences in a unique way. There are multiple instances of irony portrayed through three types, which are verbal, situational and dramatic irony. Three types of irony are powerful tools that underscore the opposing views of the readers in communication, expectation and perspective between Medea, Creon, Jason, and Medea’s children. Initially, verbal irony plays an important …show more content…

Finally, dramatic irony serves as the discrepancy between the audience and the character knowledge which is in Medea’s revenge plans, Medea’s emotions and children’s thoughts of their lives. The contrast between the communication on the surface and the reality in the play illustrates the presence of verbal irony. First, one of the indicative cases of verbal irony in the play is the interaction between Medea and Creon. As an example, when Medea is banished Tam 1 Tam 2 by Creon from Corinth, Medea pleads for mercy and tells Creon that he does not need to be afraid of her as she respects those in …show more content…

Jason believes Medea has changed her mind and grows steadily and maturely, but he does not know Medea detests him greatly and plans to avenge him. The audience already knows no one will forgive the person who betrayed you, but Jason truly believes that Medea has set aside their conflict and wants to consummate his marriage with the princess. Utilizing dramatic irony in the play can increase the contrast between the character and the audience. In addition, there is dramatic irony within the framework of Medea’s emotions. As an example, the Chorus hears Medea’s cry in her house after she is betrayed by Jason. The Chorus illustration about Medea “I have heard Medea’s crying, full of sorrow, full of tears, her shrill accusations against Jason, the husband who’s betrayed her” (Euripides 10). Notably, Medea cries every day after she knows her husband has betrayed her and needs to marry the princess. She cries very loudly, the Chorus can hear her cry even passing through outside her house. The audience already knows and feels her depression after she is betrayed by his husband, and Jason simply wants to reimburse her with some money. In the end, it is too late for him to change his previous actions once Medea's revenge begins. This shows how foolish Jason is in the play with dramatic irony. Moreover, dramatic irony can be found in the example

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