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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Medea first consent to leave her home and meet with the chorus?
(a) She wants to find out if they have information about where to find Jason.
(b) She needs friends to comfort her and help her plan for the future.
(c) It's important to foreigners to keep up good relations with the locals.
(d) She is afraid if she stays inside any longer she will go mad.

2. Why does the author emphasize several times that Medea is a "stranger in a strange land"?
(a) It makes it easier to see why she doesn't have many friends.
(b) It reveals that Jason probably left her due to cultural differences.
(c) It makes her character more sympathetic.
(d) It shows that she might not understand that murder is illegal.

3. What are the women of this play communally struggling against?
(a) The prejudices against women in ancient Greece.
(b) The desire to kill men for their betrayals.
(c) The ability to be a good mother while having to work.
(d) The balance between independence and homemaking.

4. Why does Medea feel immigrant women need to work particularly hard?
(a) They are looked down on as second-class citizens.
(b) They are never fully welcome or at home.
(c) They don't know the language and have to overcome the barrier.
(d) They don't have the same rights as citizens.

5. What does Jason believe Medea gained by coming to his homeland?
(a) Civilization and Honor.
(b) Pain and Misfortune.
(c) Money and Fame.
(d) Status and Prestige.

Short Answer Questions

1. What theme, central to the play, does the chorus frequently reiterate?

2. What is the Tutor's belief about people?

3. To whom does the Nurse say Medea cries for comfort?

4. Who does Medea curse when she hears the news about the plans for her and her children?

5. In the time the play was written, what would the audience have typically known before coming to the theater?

Short Essay Questions

1. What literary function does the Nurse serve by opening the play?

2. How is Jason's behavior different the second time he speaks with Medea?

3. Why would people want to harm the children for Medea's crimes?

4. Why do you think the author spends so much time focusing on the sounds of pain from Medea, rather than just the rage over her betrayal?

5. Do you agree or disagree with Creon's decision to banish Medea? Why or why not?

6. What does the author mean with the quote "no other soul can hold so many thoughts of blood"?

7. Do you think, with the chorus being so sympathetic to Medea, that it undercuts her claims that her life is more difficult because she is a foreigner? Why or why not?

8. Why is it significant that Medea is overcome with tears when she puts the children's hands into Jason's?

9. Why does the chorus have pity for the princess? Is it justified by the text?

10. Why do you think the chorus is made entirely of Corinthian women?

(see the answer keys)

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