Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies

Minghua Yao

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies

Minghua Yao

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 8, Issue 5)

Received: 15 August 2020 Accepted: 27 August 2020 Published: 7 September 2020

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Abstract

Love and revenge are eternal motifs in literature, on which numerous renowned works are written in almost all times. In this paper, two characters, namely Medea in Euripides’ Medea and Bertha Mason in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, are chosen to explore the female images in love and revenge stories. Seen from the perspective of feminism, their images are undeniably special and even subversive in comparison with common female characters. A prominent revelation of it lies in their independence from their male spouses named Jason and Rochester respectively. With the superiority in power, Medea and Mason are able to extricate themselves largely from the reliance of their husbands, thus gaining the courage to pursue their happiness in love as well as the determination to defend their dignity by taking revenge. However, limitations do exist due to the male dominance in the patriarchal society. For one thing, the depersonalization of women under male’s visual angle has made Medea and Mason turned into men’s tools, which has predestined the tragic ending of their love; for another, the dominant status of male discourse has victimized them. In the society where men firmly grasp the power of discourse, their voices are “muted” and their acts of revenge “magnified” to the extreme. Consequently, in reflection of their love and revenge tragedies, Medea and Bertha Mason are both subversive characters and unfortunate victims in a male dominating world.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 8, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
Page(s)	292-297
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Medea, Bertha Mason, Female Images, Male Dominance

References

[1]	De Beauvoir, Simone. The Second Sex. London: Lowe And Brydone LTD, 1956: 79-119.
[2]	Hintz, Suzanne S. "Woman's Search for Identity in a Patriarchal Society." Short Story Criticism, edited by Jelena Krstovic, vol. 106, Gale, 2008. Gale Literature Resource Center, http://fbxa3dfda11d5f464636b4dc2fb7c6b09bcasff6bn60pbfwn6qfo.fiyb.librra.gdufs.edu.cn/apps/doc/H1420080096/LitRC?u=gdufs&sid=LitRC&xid=acb91e5e. Originally published in Rosario Ferré: A Search for Identity, Peter Lang, 1995, pp. 127-152.
[3]	Dunn, Richard J. Jane Eyre: A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W • W • Norton & Company, 2001: 253-274.
[4]	Collier, Michael and Machemer, Georgia. The Greek Tragedy in New Translations: Medea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, 35-82.
[5]	Palmer, Robert B. "An Apology for Jason: A Study of Euripides’ Medea." Classical Journal, vol. 53, no. 2, 1957, pp. 49-55.
[6]	Young, R. V. "A dawsonian view of patriarchy." Modern Age, vol. 49, no. 4, Fall 2007, p. 417+. Gale Literature Resource Center, http://fbxa3dfda11d5f464636b4dc2fb7c6b09bcasff6bn60pbfwn6qfo.fiyb.librra.gdufs.edu.cn/apps/doc/A177859955/LitRC?u=gdufs&sid=LitRC&xid=6e2f9a17. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020.
[7]	Beard, Mary. Women & Power: A Manifesto. New York: Profile Ltd, 2017.
[8]	Gilbert, Sandra M. and Gubar, Susan. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000: 3-44.
[9]	The Collected Works of Francis Bacon. Hastings: Delphi Classics, 2017.
[10]	Neill, Michael. "Remembrance and Revenge: Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest." Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Lynn M. Zott, vol. 68, Gale, 2003. Gale Literature Resource Center, http://fbxa3dfda11d5f464636b4dc2fb7c6b09bcasff6bn60pbfwn6qfo.fiyb.librra.gdufs.edu.cn/apps/doc/H1420045753/LitRC?u=gdufs&sid=LitRC&xid=1f93fc23. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020. Originally published in Jonson and Shakespeare, edited by Ian Donaldson, Macmillan Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, 1983, pp. 35-56.
[11]	Paul Wolff, Robert. Ten Great Works of Philosophy. New York: Signet Classic, 2002: 63-103.
[12]	Van Zyl Smit, Betine. "Medea The Feminist." Acta Classica, vol. 45, 2002, pp. 101-122. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24595328. Accessed 26 Aug. 2020.

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Minghua Yao. (2020). Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 8(5), 292-297. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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Minghua Yao. Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2020, 8(5), 292-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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Minghua Yao. Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies. Int J Lit Arts. 2020;8(5):292-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15,
  author = {Minghua Yao},
  title = {Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {8},
  number = {5},
  pages = {292-297},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20200805.15},
  abstract = {Love and revenge are eternal motifs in literature, on which numerous renowned works are written in almost all times. In this paper, two characters, namely Medea in Euripides’ Medea and Bertha Mason in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, are chosen to explore the female images in love and revenge stories. Seen from the perspective of feminism, their images are undeniably special and even subversive in comparison with common female characters. A prominent revelation of it lies in their independence from their male spouses named Jason and Rochester respectively. With the superiority in power, Medea and Mason are able to extricate themselves largely from the reliance of their husbands, thus gaining the courage to pursue their happiness in love as well as the determination to defend their dignity by taking revenge. However, limitations do exist due to the male dominance in the patriarchal society. For one thing, the depersonalization of women under male’s visual angle has made Medea and Mason turned into men’s tools, which has predestined the tragic ending of their love; for another, the dominant status of male discourse has victimized them. In the society where men firmly grasp the power of discourse, their voices are “muted” and their acts of revenge “magnified” to the extreme. Consequently, in reflection of their love and revenge tragedies, Medea and Bertha Mason are both subversive characters and unfortunate victims in a male dominating world.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies
AU  - Minghua Yao
Y1  - 2020/09/07
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 292
EP  - 297
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
AB  - Love and revenge are eternal motifs in literature, on which numerous renowned works are written in almost all times. In this paper, two characters, namely Medea in Euripides’ Medea and Bertha Mason in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, are chosen to explore the female images in love and revenge stories. Seen from the perspective of feminism, their images are undeniably special and even subversive in comparison with common female characters. A prominent revelation of it lies in their independence from their male spouses named Jason and Rochester respectively. With the superiority in power, Medea and Mason are able to extricate themselves largely from the reliance of their husbands, thus gaining the courage to pursue their happiness in love as well as the determination to defend their dignity by taking revenge. However, limitations do exist due to the male dominance in the patriarchal society. For one thing, the depersonalization of women under male’s visual angle has made Medea and Mason turned into men’s tools, which has predestined the tragic ending of their love; for another, the dominant status of male discourse has victimized them. In the society where men firmly grasp the power of discourse, their voices are “muted” and their acts of revenge “magnified” to the extreme. Consequently, in reflection of their love and revenge tragedies, Medea and Bertha Mason are both subversive characters and unfortunate victims in a male dominating world.
VL  - 8
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Minghua Yao

Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China

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APA Style

Minghua Yao. (2020). Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 8(5), 292-297. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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ACS Style

Minghua Yao. Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2020, 8(5), 292-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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AMA Style

Minghua Yao. Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies. Int J Lit Arts. 2020;8(5):292-297. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15,
  author = {Minghua Yao},
  title = {Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {8},
  number = {5},
  pages = {292-297},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20200805.15},
  abstract = {Love and revenge are eternal motifs in literature, on which numerous renowned works are written in almost all times. In this paper, two characters, namely Medea in Euripides’ Medea and Bertha Mason in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, are chosen to explore the female images in love and revenge stories. Seen from the perspective of feminism, their images are undeniably special and even subversive in comparison with common female characters. A prominent revelation of it lies in their independence from their male spouses named Jason and Rochester respectively. With the superiority in power, Medea and Mason are able to extricate themselves largely from the reliance of their husbands, thus gaining the courage to pursue their happiness in love as well as the determination to defend their dignity by taking revenge. However, limitations do exist due to the male dominance in the patriarchal society. For one thing, the depersonalization of women under male’s visual angle has made Medea and Mason turned into men’s tools, which has predestined the tragic ending of their love; for another, the dominant status of male discourse has victimized them. In the society where men firmly grasp the power of discourse, their voices are “muted” and their acts of revenge “magnified” to the extreme. Consequently, in reflection of their love and revenge tragedies, Medea and Bertha Mason are both subversive characters and unfortunate victims in a male dominating world.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Subversive Characters and Unfortunate Victims: A Feminist Study of Medea and Bertha Mason in Love & Revenge Tragedies
AU  - Minghua Yao
Y1  - 2020/09/07
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 292
EP  - 297
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200805.15
AB  - Love and revenge are eternal motifs in literature, on which numerous renowned works are written in almost all times. In this paper, two characters, namely Medea in Euripides’ Medea and Bertha Mason in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, are chosen to explore the female images in love and revenge stories. Seen from the perspective of feminism, their images are undeniably special and even subversive in comparison with common female characters. A prominent revelation of it lies in their independence from their male spouses named Jason and Rochester respectively. With the superiority in power, Medea and Mason are able to extricate themselves largely from the reliance of their husbands, thus gaining the courage to pursue their happiness in love as well as the determination to defend their dignity by taking revenge. However, limitations do exist due to the male dominance in the patriarchal society. For one thing, the depersonalization of women under male’s visual angle has made Medea and Mason turned into men’s tools, which has predestined the tragic ending of their love; for another, the dominant status of male discourse has victimized them. In the society where men firmly grasp the power of discourse, their voices are “muted” and their acts of revenge “magnified” to the extreme. Consequently, in reflection of their love and revenge tragedies, Medea and Bertha Mason are both subversive characters and unfortunate victims in a male dominating world.
VL  - 8
IS  - 5
ER  -

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