November MOR--Medea

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I knew I was going to read Medea when I first heard of the plot: extreme love turned into extreme hatred. This is just my type of story. And thank Jordan for reading with me again.

First an introduction of the first episode, this play starts with a nurse's monologue. She is the nanny of the protagonist, Medea, a refugee woman in Corinth from Colchis. Medea had a husband and two children, but her husband Jason then abandoned them and remarried into the royal family of Corinth. The wife was driven crazy because of this, and her nanny prays for Medea in the monologue. Medea cannot control herself and even shows intentions to harm her children. She blames her family tragedy on the burden society places on women, and she seeks to take revenge on Jason and the entire royal family of Corinth. This angers the king of Corinth, Creon (another Creon), and he demands the exile of Medea. Medea acts pitiful and begs the king to let her stay in Corinth for another day, but later she tells the chorus that she plans to kill them all that night.

Medea gathers all the elements that I love to read: love to hatred, dark side of humanity, poisoning, gender equality, etc. Among all these elements my favorite is the dark side of humanity. Medea the protagonist once loved her husband so much, that she even betrayed her own family and killed people for him, but all she got at last was nothing but abandonment. This basis totally provides for Medea's painful change and her determination to take revenge. If I were Medea I would definitely revenge on Jason too. However I agree that poisoning not only Jason but also his bride and the king sounds not that correct. Therefore I want to ask you Jordan, do you think Medea's revenge on the entire royal family is righteous? What about if she is only going to kill Jason? Do you think this revenge is more morally acceptable and correct?

Reflection on Antigone on Trial

This is a really great experience. Although it was not a good ending for Creon (he lost his civil rights), still I think he would be glad, because so many people stood by his side (13 out of 30 people).

Generally I am satisfied with my performance in the trial. I defended myself really well during the cross-examination part while demonstrating Creon's controlling and strong character. And in the closing statement I also spoke very confidently without being very commanding. One of the audience told me after the trial that he thought my closing statement would have won me this trial, and my portrayal of Creon was better than the one last year (I am actually very proud of that^^.) 

In real life I have always been trying to take care of people's feelings. And I think giving the closing statement really gives me the chance to master it. I spent an hour inserting rhetorics and appeals to pathos when I wrote my script, and I think they did function well when I spoke and my efforts were paid. I have learnt how to convince and impress others in a natural and appropriate way, and this is definitely the most valuable part of the trial to me.

However I believe that there is still room for improvement for me. I was too nervous when I first spoke, during my responses to the prosecution's questions, and that made me stutter and prevented eye-contact with Patsy. I must work harder to master English. I must speak more and listen more in class.

But after all I really love this experience and I hope that we can have a trial for another story in the future. I just can't wait to justify another antagonist!