I hope I don't overwhelm you with my feedback. That's because I am trying to step you through the process of improving your writing, but this is a rather long post (as you probably noticed).
'There is more than one villain in Medea. '
Euripidies, one of the greatest Greek tragedies, wrote Medea in a strictly patriarchal society. He depicts Medea as a tragic heroine. He also explores the idea that a heroine or villain is dependent of the society's norms and values.
You introduction, although giving the background to your text, is too generalised and vague. You seemed to have not written enough here. Perhaps you could give a little background into traditional Greek tragedies and how Medea differs from that. The way your contention is worded makes it seem as if you are topic dodging, which means trying to avoid what the topic is saying. Given what you have written, I suggest you rewrite the contention as:
There are no villains in the play Medea, as the notion of a hero or a villain is determined by the ideals of the society. (or anything along the lines of that)
That way, you make it obvious for the examiner that you are not avoiding the topic, but you are actually dealing with it. After you have given your contention, you will need to state your points, but
do not give any examples from the text, or any analysis. Why? Because your examples and your analysis or arguments belong in your body paragraphs. Given what you have written, this part of the introductions would be:
Medea can be seen as a heroine due to her devotion to her husband, Jason, and her pursuit of women's rights. He also shows that a character of high regard could also lose their reputation when they commit an immoral crime. (continue here, one for every topic sentence)
Medea by Euripidies describes a very controversial heroine in a male dominated society. Medea lives in a time when women have no power in both political and sexual life. Jason's betray demonstrates the unfairness of society where men are permitted to commit adultery, whereas wives are forced to look to ' one man only'. While women in Corinth stay at home and bring the children up, Medea is willing to make sacrifices for her dearly loved , Jason. She leaves all things she loves and follows Jason to a place where " [she] is alone,.. [her husband] insult [her]. Furthermore, Medea, as a women, a wife, an exile in Corinth, makes the king lives in fear. Medea leads the Chorus to see her heroic traits and admire her as an avenger for all women by challenging the male dominated society. The Chorus states that: " God will be [her] friend in this". This ode implies that not only the Chorus of women in Corinth, but God also supports Medea's plan to stand up for herself and for all the women. Euripidies wants to persuade his audience to support his heroine.
I'm not particularly convinced by your point here. It is really unclear to me, but from my understanding, you are trying to argue that Medea is the heroine because she is fights for women's rights and is devoted to her husband. You have placed quotes all over your paragraph. Let me ask you a question: what is your point of putting a particular quote or a scene in a play? When you can answer this question in your response (as in the body paragraphs in your essay), you marks are going to increase by a lot. That being said, you do need to articulate your ideas clearly, so that the examiners will have no question, as they completely understand what you are saying.
By killing the children, Medea adheres to a heroic code.
After the conversation with Ageous, Medea gains a perception that there is no such thing more painful than the childlessness of a man. She understands that Jason is also a man like Aegeous who loves children and will be 'desolate' if he loses them. This leads to her decision that she kills the children just to "hurt [Jason] most". Despite being aware of the loneliness and guilt entire life. Furthermore Medea's understanding of ' the horror of what [she is] going to do", shows her emotion which is a maternal feeling of a mother. Euripidies shows a Medea willing to sacrifice more than just her children and her life for the sake of vengeance. She loses her father, brother, family, husband, children and 'her world turn to enmity'. For this reason, the audience cannot deny that Medea is a vindictive heroine in the play.
Here, you are doing something that really annoys the examiners. You appear to be retelling the story of the play. To expand your response, you need to add in what the particular aspect or quote show about the characters, themes, or the views and values of the time. Your prompt is possibly more a character and theme based prompt, so you need to explain what it means for the characters and themes of your play.
Euripidies also portrays Medea as a villain. Medea has the reputaion of murderess and a barbarous women at the beginning of the prologue when the Nurse states that Medea is not 'an original ' and a ' dangerous woman'. This is supported by the Nurse's foreshadowing that Medea's children are in danger by warning them to 'keep a safe distance from Medea's cruel mood '. Furthermore, Medea loses the support from the Chorus when she reveals, her plan to kill the children and how she implement it. Euripidies asserts that despite Medea being in high esteem, she still loses it when she commits an immoral crime. The Chorus, women in Corinth, know what is right and legal. This may be the only reason which makes Medea become a villain in the audience's point of view.
Again, see my comments above. To strengthen your response, explain the significance of a particular quote or scene, then link that to your contention.
According to Aristotle's Poeties, a tragic heroine or protagonist is someone who makes an unconscious action and it will lead to the character's tragic downfall. However, Euripidies doesn't use the same idea. He lets Medea escape which contrasts markedly with the ending of other tragedies. A murderess can escape and the tragic downfall is for the innocent characters. This is clear that the play is not following the rule, ' what goes around comes around'. On the other hand, while Medea lives, she loses everything including :her family, her husband, her children. This could be the worst irony for a women. Euripidies forces his audience to make different judgments between Medea who has a tragic downfall and a heroine with no punishment. Euripides may also highlights that there is no hero or villain in the play. It is defined by the ideal of society.
Your last sentence is very good, but actually belongs in the conclusion (where you restate your contention) or in the introduction (where you state your contention).
Other than that, this paragraph only summarises your text. Assume that the examiner already knows the text. Telling them what happens in the play is likely going to annoy them very much.
The play Medea exposes the horror and unfairness that Medea and Greeks women suffered. It's not appropriate to assert that Medea is a heroine or not in a certain way. Medea may be heroine for women. Medea may also be a villain in a man's opinion. Through this play, Euripidies lets his audiences find their own way to understand the main contention of the play.
Straight away, from the first sentence in your conclusion, you appear to be either off topic, or be dodging the topic. Instead, you need to bluntly tell the examiner what your contention is, in a different way from the introduction. You have summarised your points effectively, but would need to condense your summary of your points into 1 or 2 sentences.
Overall, you have a lot of places where you'll need to work on. Fortunately, it's not too late to work on them right now.
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