Médée, une figure du féminisme ? De la représentation de Médée en littérature comparée au seuil du XXIème siècle

Details

Supervisors

Sábado Novau, Marta

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres françaises et romanes, orientation générale, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

enSince Antiquity, Medea is a captivating and frightening character who has inspired (and continues to inspire) various artists and researchers. Enchantress, priestess, Jason’s wife, maternal infanticide, feminist, etc., there are many ways to describe her. The influence of her myth has touched many fields, such as literature, visual arts, cinema, music, research, psychoanalysis. Even though many mythological characters have committed similar deeds, for a woman of her time, Medea stands out by her atypical personality and ambitions. The enchantress deconstructs feminine ideals, such as what is means to be a “proper woman” or a “perfect mother”. She challenges gender stereotypes and gender roles by presenting both traditionally masculine and feminine traits. The aim of this thesis is to study the paradox between Medea and feminism through the analysis of two modern retellings, Médée by Christa Wolf and Bright Air Black by David Vann, and Leïla Slimani’s novel Chanson douce in which a nanny commits a double infanticide. Firstly, Medea’s relationship with men (her father, the patriarchal society in which she lives and Jason) and the gender roles that they assign will be analysed. Through the study of psychology, this first part will aim to demonstrate how Medea (and Myriam in Chanson douce) break the gender barrier by subverting gender stereotypes and roles. Secondly, the mother/child relationship is a central part of Medea’s myth; thus, this part will aim to analyse how the enchantress approaches motherhood and how it collides with the ancient patriarchal ideal of it. A comparison will be made to Chanson douce’s representation of motherhood through two characters, Myriam (the mother) and Louise (the nanny). Then, the representation of infanticide will be studied by comparing the three novels. Lastly, the third part will analyse Medea as a feminine figure of power. She uses her sorcery, fear to dominate and control, and above all how she wants to destroy kings and rebuild a more fair society as opposed to the men’s patriarchal world.