THE BREAKDOWN:EURIPIDES’ MEDEA AND AYCKBOURN’S MOTHER FIGURE1

Abstract

In Greek mythology, Medea is a sorceress who was the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of Helios, the god of sun, and above all wife to the hero, Jason. In Euripides’ play Medea, produced in 431 BCE, Jason abandons Medea when Creon, the king of Corinth, offers his daughter Glauce to Jason. The play based on the myth tells of Medea avenging her husband’s betrayal by killing their children. On the other hand, contemporary British playwright, Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s black comedy, Mother Figure, the first ring of the Confusions, mirrors the traumatic marriage of a contemporary woman, Lucy. The playwright is considered as one of the most significant dramatists who reflect marital and familial problems of modern, but average British women on his stage. That’s why the study constructs its main idea over the heroines of both plays. This study suggests that in terms of the protagonists of both plays, there is a close correlation with Euripides’ Medea and Alan Ayckbourn’s Mother Figure. It analyses the acts of both mother characters in a similar domestic environment in the face of abandonment considering some former academic works. Through a new point of view it also points out that in emotional and mental terms, there are some differences between Medea and Lucy as mothers. All in all this study puts forward that there are some profound spiritual links while there are some distinguishable characteristics between Medea and Mother Figure although they are the products of different periods and cultures.