SAHNEDEKİ DELİ KADINLAR: EURİPİDES’İN MEDEA, HENRİK IBSEN’İN HEDDA GABLER VE EUGENE O’NEİLL’İN GÜNDEN GECEYE ADLI ESERLERİNDE KADIN DELİLİĞİ

Tarih boyunca toplumsal cinsiyet rollerine karşı çıkan kadınlar ataerkil toplum tarafından çoğunlukla histerik, deli ya da tehlikeli olarak addedilmişlerdir. Kadınları delilikle bağdaştıran ve süregelen bu eğilim tiyatroda da yankı bulmuştur. Bu açıdan, bu çalışma Eupides’in Medea, Henrik İbsen’in Hedda Gabler ve Eugene O’Neill’in Günden Geceye adlı eserlerinde dayatılan normallik sınırlarını aşan aykırı kadınların resmedilişini inceleyecektir. Ekonomik olarak eşlerine bağımlı ve toplumsal beklentiler karşısında huzursuz hisseden Medea, Hedda ve Mary ataerkilliğe karşı koyuşlarıyla deliliğin sınırlarına itilen farklı dönemlerin trajik kadın kahramanlardır. Tutkularını ve görece özgürlüklerini feda ettikten sonra, bu alışılmadık kadın başkahramanlar dikte edilen toplumsal cinsiyet rollerini ve annelik imgesini reddedişlerinde buluşurlar ki bu karşı duruş Medea’nın öz oğullarını öldürmesine ve Hedda’nın hayatına son vermesine sebep olurken Mary’e gerçekle bağlantısını morfinle kesmekten başka çıkar yol bırakmaz.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Medea, Hedda Gabler, Günden Geceye, Kadın Deliliği

MAD WOMEN ON STAGE: FEMALE INSANITY IN EURIPIDES’ MEDEA, HENRIK IBSEN’S HEDDA GABLER and EUGENE O’NEILL’S LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

Throughout the history, women challenging their gender roles have mostly been labelled as hysterical, mad or dangerous by the patriarchal society. This long-seated tendency to associate women with insanity has also been echoed in drama. In that regard, this paper will explore the representation of nonconformist women who transgress the boundaries of imposed normality in Euripides’s Medea, Henric Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night. Financially dependent and restless with societal expectations, Medea, Hedda and Mary are tragic heroines of different eras resisting patriarchy that finally bring them on the verge of madness. After having sacrificed their aspirations or relative freedom for their marriages, those atypical female protagonists meet on a common ground in their repudiation of the dictated gender roles and motherhood image, which leads Medea to murder her own sons and Hedda to end her life while leaving Mary no choice than cutting off from reality through morphine.

Keywords:

Medea, Hedda Gabler, Long Day's Journey into Night, female insanity,

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