TA 10 Medea Response

Anna Antonacci as Medea

     At first, when being introduced to the character Medea, she seemed as if she would risk anything for her lover, Jason. She seemed like a very devoted person, who only cared about others. Once Jason left Medea for Creon’s daughter, all hell broke loose. I realized that Medea was a very violent person. She killed people, including her own children.

    Medea used magic to help Jason secure the fleece, and fled with him. This showed me that Medea was the kind of person who cared. She risked everything to give Jason what he wanted. They had two children together, and he still left her. In my opinion, She over-reacted. Back in those times it was okay for men to treat women the way they did. Medea was once this loving woman, who turned into a woman full of rage and envy. 

     Another moment that Made me realize that Medea was an evil character, was when she debated whether or not she wanted to kill her own children. Any mother would never think to kill her children, but this was something Medea really thought about. She ended up killing them, in spite of Jason. 

     The ending was very interesting to read. Euripides really made an impact when he made the decision to let her go free. Medea got away with murdering four people, and people usually did not get away with murder in those times. I think Euripides had a sense of empathy for Medea because she was treated unfairly, being a woman. She was under the power of bad men, and did not want the same thing to happen with her children. 

Medea ending- Carle Van Loo (1759)

TA 10 #3 Medieval and Japanese Theater

Medieval theater greatly differs from Japanese theater. two types of Medieval theater are mystery plays and Miracle plays. 

Mystery play (source- Google)

     Mystery plays focused on stories from the Bible. The plays were accompanied by antiphonal songs, and were performed at festivals. The plays consisted of special effects, music, and moments of comedy.  High Priests played Bishops, and Shepards played Yorkshiremen. 

Miracle plays were about the lives and works of saints. They mainly performed on Saint's Day. Not all of the plays were biblical; however, members of the clergy were the actors. The crowds got to be so big, that they had to hold the performances outside in the church yard, or in the street. In 1210, the clergy was not allowed to perform anymore, so the town guilds took over. The Vernacular language took over Latin, and scenes were put in that were not in the Bible. 

Yoshimasa Kanze in "Hagoromo"
© Kanze Yoshimasa/
KAMIASOBI/Aoki Shinji

     Noh theater was a musical drama for of theater that originated from the 14th century in Japan. All of the actors wore masks, and were male. the masks that they wore made it very hard for the actors to see the stage. All of the stages had a roof over them, as if they were outside. They played many instruments, just like the mystery plays. the play was shown in intervals. about every half an hour, they would perform a Kyogen performance. Kyogen performances were either for comic relief, or to explain what had jut happened in the play.  the plays would either deal with the supernatural or every day events. Commoners were not allowed to learn the music and dance. 

Kabuki Theater, Japan

     Kabui theater dealt with the art of singing and dancing. The actors had wild costumes and makeup. This art form was created by a woman; however, it was performed by men later in time. The actors originally were prostitute women, and men loved to watch the plays. eventually, men were brought into the plays as actors. they were typically young males with high voices. the performances would go on from morning until sunset. Kabuki differs from any type of theater because it had female actors, unlike mystery, miracle, and Noh theater. It also was more popular among the lower class.

     Japanese theater has remained to stay popular because people have learned to change it and develop it over time. Medieval theater was mainly about biblical stories, or morality. Japan has modernized and adopted more forms of theater.

TA 10 Blog Prompt 2

Greek and Roman theater was quite different. Roman theater was developed to entertain the audience with violence, while Greek theater was based on religion and artistry. In Roman theater, the actors would wear different colors and costumes to symbolize their character's status, and the actors usually would end up dead. For the Greeks, the characters would face struggles with their morals, and would have the chorus accentuating the morals found within the play. Basically, the Romans were about violence and entertainment, while the Greeks were about the religious and moralistic qualities.

Greek and Roman architecture was not that different; after all, the Romans got most of their influence from the Greeks. However, the Romans built their theaters on their own foundations, instead of hillsides and being completely enclosed. Greek theaters were circular, with two doors on the side so people can get off and on the stage. The Greeks would never kill anyone on stage, that was considered inappropriate. Roman theaters were semi- circular, and had a podium with and orchestra section. Romans also created backgrounds for the different scenes for the actors. the Romans had a lot of slaves while Greeks had richer people.

Roman theater

Greek theater