In the midst of her lamentations, the nurse recounts how jason left his homeland, iolocus, in a. Christa wolf is a literary icon hailing from east germany who wrote books like cassandra and medea. Before the end of communism she was revered on both sides of the iron curtain as a. Christa wolf 1929 german novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and screenwriter. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. She is the other, the foreigner, the one who threatens the established order with her powers and invocations. With the defeat of germany in 1945, she moved with her family to east germany.
I suppose we cant condone medeas actions, but we cant dismiss her motives either. Continue your study of medea with these useful links. She studied german literature in jena and leipzig and became a publisher and editor. Indeed, the play doesnt exactly have a bright outlook on matrimony. The modern reader, to fully understand the events of medea, needs to be familiar with. In this novel, christa wolf retells the story of medea, the wife jason, leader of the argonauts. She served as a critic of the gdr through her immortal words. Jason is blaming his obsession and lust to medea, always unwilling to admit what a phony hero he is. In the end, medea forbids jason to touch their dead children and decides to leave with the magical carriage, given to her by her grandfather, the god helius. In her gripping new novel, christa wolf explodes this myth, revealing a fiercely independent woman ensna. Divine will at the end of the play is enigmatic and discordant. Ten years worth of stories by formerly east german writer wolf accident, 1989. Pity poor medea at least, thats what german novelist christa wolf would like you to do.
Christa wolfs novel about the aftermath of the trojan war begins with the titular protagonist awaiting her execution. When christa wolfs memorial is held tonight in berlin, it wont be just a farewell to a writer but a national event. View notes christa wolfs medea from hist 102h at old dominion university. Long a sharpeyed political observer, christa wolf transforms this ancient tale into a startlingly relevant commentary on our times. Medea is among the most notorious women in the canon of greek tragedy. She studied german literature in jena and leipzig universities, where she met her future husband, gerhard wolf they have two daughters. We will pursue questions of myth, material culture, archaeology, poetics, and art history in ancient greece, as they bear upon the question of the figuration and conceptualization of the feminine. Immediately download the christa wolf summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching christa wolf. Christa wolf, the german writer, gives us medea in corinth remembering colchis, her homeland, as a kind of socialist paradise where the people. Medea summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Medea is an ancient greek tragedy by euripides that was first performed in 431 bc. She studied at the universities of jena and leipzig 194953.
A modern retelling 1996, she rewrote the legend of jason and medea as a story about a society in the west corinth that, because it. She moved to east germany in 1945 and joined the socialist unity party in 1949. In 1995, christa wolf, the most eminent author of the former german democratic republic, published the novel medea. Medea s nurse bemoans medeas fateshe has been abandoned with her two young children by her husband, jason, who has married the princess, daughter of creon, king of corinth. Medea by christa wolf goodreads medea dover thrift editions by euripides and rex warner. In her gripping new novel, christa wolf expands this myth, revealing a fiercely independent woman ensnared in a brutal political battle. Pity poor medeaat least, thats what german novelist christa wolf would like you to do. Medea acrylic and mixed media embroidery thread, beads, foils, ribbon, glitter paper, metallic ink, and bronze leaf paint on paper.
Medea is an extreme depiction of just how bad a marriage can go. She was one of the bestknown writers to emerge from the former east germany. This paper argues that, while broad continuities in wolf s concerns are obvious, the shift from monologue in kassandra to a polyphony of voices in medea is symptomatic of subtle, yet important shifts in her approach to myth and her. It really doesnt get much worse than the marriage seen in this play. All the events of play proceed out of this initial dilemma, and the involved parties become.
Her family fled to mecklenburg at the end of the war to avoid the russian invasion. Wolfs career has been more a haunting of sovietbloc literature than a challenge to it. Medea kills glauca by using the dress soaked in poison and a magical wedding wreath. Jason has abandoned his wife, medea, along with their two children.
During that fight, creon gets killed as well, and afterward, medea decides to kill her children as well. I had passed over wolfs medea and cassandra for this very reason, but a fellow bibliophile with similar reading tastes to my own convinced me. Greek audiences would have known the story of the illfated marriage between jason, hero of the golden fleece, and medea, barbarian witch and princess of colchis. April goode 11282012 everyone has secrets medea by christa wolf christa wolfs medea is a revisiting of the original works. Our key figures in this pursuit are sappho, the great lyric poet of the ancient world and the inventor of the lyric. When jason takes a new wife, medea, his former wife takes revenge by killing four people, including their two sons.
A concise biography of euripides plus historical and literary context for medea. The tragedy of medea begins in medias res in the middle of things. In her final exchange with jason, one is left with a sort of intellectual stalemate. Medea is among the most notorious women in greek tragedy a woman who sacrifices her own children to her jealous rage. Created by the original team behind sparknotes, litcharts are the worlds best literature guides. Possessed of the enduring truths so treasured in the classics, and yet with a thoroughly contemporary spin, her medea is a stunningly perceptive and probingly honest work of fiction. Medea ebook by christa wolf 9780307828705 rakuten kobo. However, wolf gives her for the first time a voice, reimagining the murders and intrigues medea is involved with. Medea is the suns granddaughter, so he sends a magic chariot without concern for justice. Welcome to the litcharts study guide on euripidess medea. Stimmen appeared in 1996, some critics accused the work of being little more than a pale repetition of the earlier kassandra project.
In this gripping new novel, christa wolf explodes the myth, offering modern readers a highly relevant portrayal of a fiercely independent woman ensnared in a brutal political battle. Medea study guide from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Voices, a modern retelling through the voices, and. Kassandra is a 1983 novel by the east german author christa wolf. Christa wolf, german novelist, essayist, and screenwriter most often associated with east germany. Thus we have, in summary, a tragic heroine who kills no one. Christa wolf, who has died aged 82, was a german writer of rare purity and sensitivity who grew up under nazism and became an adult under communism.
A modern retelling by christa wolf, translated by john cullen virago, 256 pp. In her gripping new novel, christa wolf explodes this myth, revealing a fiercely independent woman ensnared in a brutal political battle. He hopes to advance his station by remarrying with glauce, the daughter of creon, king of corinth, the greek city where the play is set. Christa wolfs medea april goode everyone has secrets. It has since been translated into a number of languages. Preprint version that stupid pelt helen king media. Swiss composer michael jarrell has adapted the novel for speaker and instrumental ensemble, and his piece has been performed frequently. German novelist wolfs discursive retelling of the familiar greek legend, a logical outgrowth from her earlier novel cassandra 1984, ispace margaret atwood, who contributes an informative introductiona humorless and essentially predictable political allegory envisioning the reviled sorceress and murderer of her children as a victim of male arrogance and sexual insecurity. This paper argues that, while broad continuities in wolfs concerns are obvious, the shift from monologue in kassandra to a polyphony of voices in medea is symptomatic of subtle, yet important shifts in.
1552 1282 242 1502 1122 881 20 1340 626 1369 1476 558 275 295 464 1509 378 983 1544 429 1306 167 1045 1067 1178 1519 610 1180 814 248 1323 1380 880 868 405 1088 594 1215