HOME AND EXILE: A POST-COLONIAL ANALYSIS OF EURIPIDES’ PLAY MEDEA

In the wake of the forced mass displacement of people due to the outbreak of wars, the scintillating tale of the titular character in Euripides’ play, Medea has found new meanings in the post-modern world. This research paper is an endeavor to study Medea along the trajectories of postcolonial discourse to suggest that she is a displaced outsider and a symbol of post-colonial survival. This paper argues that Medea’s act of infanticide is not a monstrous act as she was forced to refashion her identity as an outsider and a foreigner. Therefore, by killing her own children, she strikes a blow against the system and in this process, she reclaims her own dignity. In fact, for Medea, it serves as a means of self-assertion. Bhabha’s (1994) theory of Hybridity will furnish the main theoretical lens to critically evaluate the text through close reading. Though critical literature has critiqued Medea’s act of defiance, her act of infanticide has not been analyzed in a post-colonial context. Her self-assertion allows her to transcend spatial and temporal bounds. The study of Medea’s character will help readers understand cultural heritage and the dominant colonial power which Jason represents