The Gendered Struggle Comparing and Contrasting between...

The comparisons between Medea and Hamlet are numerous. Both are stories about revenge that end in the controversial main character sacrificing everything in order to preserve one of the most important markers of identity of their time: honor. Medea was a controversial character in ancient times not only because of her filicide, but because she asserted that women have honor, an idea that was not the norm in Greece. In sharp contrast to her is Hamlet, the tragic hero that was honor-bound by his society to avenge his father’s death, yet only does so at the expense of his entire kingdom. The difference in how society treats Hamlet and Medea in their quests to preserve their honor result in tragedy for both characters, as Hamlet lets the†¦show more content†¦A new dimension is added when one considers Hamlet’s status as a prince and Claudius’ status as king. Hamlet is caught in a moral dilemma: society demands vengeance for his father, yet to do so also con stitutes as treason. But princes are also expected to be the paragons of manliness, meaning that Hamlet is held to an even higher standard than typical of the age. He is expected to be the ideal of manhood and this translates to his honor as well. If Hamlet’s father was murdered, he must avenge him not only as a duty to his father, but also as a duty to his country. These complications with his revenge leave Hamlet conflicted to the point of insanity, either genuine or feigned. A sharp contrast to Hamlet’s turmoil, Medea defies traditional feminine values of her time to instead regain her honor, a concept that sharply contrasted with the Grecian belief that a woman, let alone a barbarian woman, does not possess honor. This sense of honor is most strongly represented by Medea in her pronouncement from line 214 to line 250 (Euripides). In this monologue, Medea describes a women’s role in society as more difficult than that of a man’s. As Grecian society gav e man authority over the woman using a man’s more difficult roles in society as justification, this establishes woman on equal grounds as a man. This equality also includes the inherit quality all male citizens