“Defense” of Medea: 유리피데스의 『메디아』와 『창극 메디아』의 시선

Abstract

This essay examines how the Korean adaptation of Euripides’ Medea into a Changgeuk play transforms the figure of Medea, seemingly the most wicked woman of all time, into a ‘normal, but sacrificial figure.’ Addressing how persuasive the Changgeuk adaptation is in its defense of Medea, through comparison with the very different portrayal of Medea in the original, this study concludes that while Euripides’ Medea is a ‘heroic’ character who fights for her gender and ethnic equality, the Korean Medea is a conventional woman of patriarchal morals, as the adaptation insists that all of Medea’s evil actions are caused by her love for Jason. In terms of human rights, the writers of the Changgeuk Medea fail in their defense of Medea when they transform her from heroic woman warrior into sacrificing mother and devoted wife.