Throughout time there have been stories and plays about women being scorned. Two of these plays are Euripides" Medea and Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit. Both of these plays demonstrate the qualities of tragedies, for example humans must pass through suffering. In Medea, Medea suffers at the hands of Jason. She kills her brother and betrays her father by stealing the golden fleece, which means she is scorned and can never return to her homeland. In The Visit Claire is scorned by her boyfriend, Schill; he impregnates her and then lies about it. In court he bribes two other men to say they slept with her also, as a result she is shunned from the town. This is a similarity between the two plays, both woman are tragic heroes that are betrayed by their lovers. In addition, both women seek revenge. Medea realizes that what is most important to Jason are his sons, knowing this she takes the life of her two sons to punish Jason. Like Medea, Claire seeks revenge on Schill. After becoming very rich she comes back to the town, which is falling apart. She tells the townspeople that she will give them money to make the town prosperous, only if Schill dies. After initially being appalled by this, the towns people come around because of the overwhelming need for money and kill Schill. Although these two tragic heroes are very similar they do have their differences, they have different plans for revenge, a different time span and approach on which to accomplish their plans, and the difference's in the chorus.
Euripides" Medea incorporates many aspects of the Greek tragedy including passing through suffering, self-discovery, and dramatic irony. These qualities are depicted differently by Medea than Claire in The Visit, through her plan for revenge, the time span and approach on which her plan is accomplished, and through the chorus. First, Medea plans to take revenge on her former lover, Jason.
