Thoughts on Universal Meaning

Research Question:
Why do directors, playwrights and practitioners repeatedly (re)turn for inspiration to classical drama/myth narratives within the contemporary theater? Is it because these source texts remain universally meaningful? Or should we regard any assumption of 'universal significance' with suspicion?

Classical theater, containing a lot of action and high drama, appears to be fueled primarily by base human emotion. Classical Greek drama can often be broken down into themes like love, jealousy, rage, revenge, and pride. An assumption of universal significance, supported by millennia of audience resonance with these texts, does not appear entirely off base. Even denying a universal significance, it's not a far stretch to argue that classical Greek dramatic themes certainly resonate with a contemporary Western audience, even if some elements of the works are far removed from our currently lifestyle (such as an acceptance of infanticide or intervention by the gods).

Therefore, a piece like Medea can still appeal to a modern audience because all of the action in the play results from emotions that are still prevalent in society today. Medea's marriage falls apart. She appears to loose touch with reality as she drowns in rage and vengeance, concocting a mad scheme of death and destruction to soothe her hurt pride and broken heart. In a way, Greek tragedies may be on the brink of resurgence - with modern audiences increasingly desensitized by all the violence and sex on TV and in movies, we may gradually be prepared to relate even better to the shocking violence and depravity touched on in these ancient Greek plays, in a way audiences of the past few centuries could or would not.

It seems a possible way to look at adapting a classic like Medea is to focus on the emotions invoked within the story and find a way to try to emulate them for the audience. The feeling of love, the pain and confusion of seeing it falling apart, the madness that unhinges Medea... these are themes that connect audiences across the millennia. They've been repeating for hundreds of years. In his book Mythologies, Roland Barthes says "while I don't know whether, as the saying goes, 'things which are repeated are pleasing', my belief is that they are significant." Perhaps it is pretty safe to assume themes that have repeated over several thousand years and continue to be replicated presently in literature are the closest thing to which we can ascribe the term 'universal significance.'


Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Norwich: Fletcher & Son Ltd, 1973.