Medea

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The Tutor and the Nurse provide context for Medea’s journey prior to the events of the play and somewhat reluctantly help her enact her plan.

• How do the Nurse and the Tutor’s conversations and actions foreshadow future events? (topic sentence)
• Use three examples from the text to support your claim.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how the two characters build tension leading up to the climax of the play.

2. Medea begins with the Nurse regretting that the Argo ever set sail.

• What role do ships and shipwrecks play in the story? (topic sentence)
• How do characters use language of ships and shipwrecks throughout the play? Provide three examples that support your thesis.
• Finally, discuss in your concluding sentence or sentences the motif of ships and shipwrecks.

3. The Chorus is initially on Medea’s side but hesitates when she decides to kill her children.

• How does the Chorus’s support for Medea grow and change throughout the play? (topic sentence)
• Provide three examples from the Chorus’s lines that support your claim.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how the Chorus contributes to the theme of Medea the hero.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Is Medea the hero of this play or its villain? Consider the arc of her character and her arguments to convince the Chorus of her justification for revenge on Jason, the princess, and Creon. How is she a victim of her circumstances? Is there any way to justify her actions? Who is really responsible for the death within this play? What is suggested by the appearance of Helios’s chariot at the play’s end? What might that symbolize about the gods? As you compose your essay, incorporate at least three quoted lines or phrases from the play that support your thesis.

2. Jason tells Medea, “Now you live in Greece—the center of the world, […] Here your cleverness has brought you / fame” (Lines 544-47). How does Medea advocate for women and their place in society? How does this connect to her cleverness and her power as a witch? How does her standing as a woman in Greek society affect her actions? Compose an essay with a strong central thesis that addresses these questions, and utilize three quotes or phrases from the text to support your answer. Ultimately, connect this to the theme of witchcraft: the power of the word.

3. Medea herself is a foreigner, having left Colchis to travel with Jason aboard the Argo. What does it mean to be Greek in this play? What is the play saying about the treatment of foreigners within Greek society? How does this contribute to our understanding of Medea? Compose an essay with a strong central thesis that addresses these questions and utilize three quotes or phrases from the text to support your answer. As part of your argument, connect your analysis to the theme of Medea the hero.