Similarities & Dissimilarities Between two Distinct Topics

A comparison and contrast essay involves a discussion of the similarities and dissimilarities between two distinct topics. It also discusses on not only the comparison and contrast, but also gives a meaningful argument about two subjects. This compare and contrast essay will look at the differences between the film and the play of Medea. Medea is a story of grief based upon the myth of Medea and Jason in ancient Greek. Different forms of arts have portrayed the story of Medea in films, musicals, poetry, writing and drama. Euripides play of Medea was produced on 431 BC with the plot centred on Medea, a former barbarian princess, who is married to Jason and she feels threatened when Jason wants to leave her to go marry Glauce, a Greek princess in Corinth. This was enraging to her since she had helped Jason in his exploits which had led her to kill her own brother in order to get the Golden Fleece. She then shows her vengeance by killing Glauce and then her own kids to get back at Jason. This is sparingly the same story in the film by Von Trier. While both play and film on Medea present a primarily analogous plot, the film presents a different story and theme on the main character.
Von Trier`s film of Medea shows Medea on a revenge mission and she asks the king of Corinth for more time to stay in the country for her children’s sake before she is exiled. Van Trier uses a dark foreshadow to express Medea’s scene on her children giving a poisonous gift to Glauce. The depiction of Glauce`s beauty on this film is compared to what Medea does not have. There are some similarities that are noted to Euripides play, but there are also some recognizable differences. First, the film has incorporated more visual narrative like imagery and audio in expressing Medea’s story whereas the play only had choruses. In addition, the film has provided Glauce with a more expressive platform with a name and becoming the central character but in the play, Glauce is barely present.
The film used Cinematic techniques to capture the audience`s attention which is not seen in Euripides play where it is not easy to get that visual interpretation in the audience mind. The overall effect of Von Tier film expresses a major theme of female martyrdom and suffering as seen on Medea with every composition alluding to this theme. Although the basic story line as in the play is preserved in this film, cinematic techniques used added more depth. The play had Medea stabbing her own children while in the film Medea hangs her children. The film used a different approach to showcase the same story. The audience of the play would not see the murder occurring, but would only hear screams from the children, and that concluded the scene, but in the film, there is that realization created for the audience with more visual portrayal of the death scene. The film also uses color for visual symbols. Medea is seen as the angry woman, always in black with a head cap to show the desolation she has.
In both the play and film, there is emphasis on gender and politics. The play shows a strong but lonely female facing conflict in a patriarchal setting and meets this conflict by tra...