Connections
Literary: The idea of women luring men through their beauty isn't uncommon when it comes to literature. Medusa's myth of a beautiful maiden, struck by love, and then turning into a gruesome creature, can build through archetypes of women cheating on their husbands and then being punished.
Novel: In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna's developing awareness of her body and sexuality make her comparable to Medusa because she has a way of luring different people to her. In the poem by Carol Duffy, Medusa undergoes a change in attitude, behavior, and overall character. Similarly the same change occurs within Edna Pontellier. Edna distances herself from her friends and family in order to self-reflect. Edna physically was not like the women surrounding her and wasn't a mother-woman. Medusa was clearly not like the other women either with her glowing eyes that turn people into stone and her viper hair. For both of these women, love was the reason for their downfall. Medusa fell for a Poseidon and Edna fell in love with Robert Lebrun. Medusa was so beautiful she caught Poseidon's attention and he seduced her in one of Athena's temples. Medusa was cursed for falling in love and Athena even helped Perseus kill Medusa by giving him a reflective shield. Edna's consuming love for Robert made it much more devastating when he left her that she kills herself in the water.
Audience: Through the use of mythology, people are given the oppurtunity to self evaluate their own behaviors, and possibly find that they are portraying similar characteristics. It could be possible that some women find themselves acting like Medusa, so, they could take her myth as a warning. Overall, the mythology shows that you shouldn't gain what you want through beauty, because one day it will back fire and you might lose what is most important to you.
Novel: In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna's developing awareness of her body and sexuality make her comparable to Medusa because she has a way of luring different people to her. In the poem by Carol Duffy, Medusa undergoes a change in attitude, behavior, and overall character. Similarly the same change occurs within Edna Pontellier. Edna distances herself from her friends and family in order to self-reflect. Edna physically was not like the women surrounding her and wasn't a mother-woman. Medusa was clearly not like the other women either with her glowing eyes that turn people into stone and her viper hair. For both of these women, love was the reason for their downfall. Medusa fell for a Poseidon and Edna fell in love with Robert Lebrun. Medusa was so beautiful she caught Poseidon's attention and he seduced her in one of Athena's temples. Medusa was cursed for falling in love and Athena even helped Perseus kill Medusa by giving him a reflective shield. Edna's consuming love for Robert made it much more devastating when he left her that she kills herself in the water.
Audience: Through the use of mythology, people are given the oppurtunity to self evaluate their own behaviors, and possibly find that they are portraying similar characteristics. It could be possible that some women find themselves acting like Medusa, so, they could take her myth as a warning. Overall, the mythology shows that you shouldn't gain what you want through beauty, because one day it will back fire and you might lose what is most important to you.