Egocentricity of Pechorin vs Jason Essay Example for Free

Egocentricity of Pechorin vs Jason EssayIn this essay I will canvass the egocentricity of the characters of Pechorin from the Russian novel, A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov, and Jason from the Greek Tragedy Medea, written by Euripides. I have selected the topic of egocentricity or self-absorption for it is prevalent in both works in respect to Pechorin and Jason where they figure little if any regard for anyone nevertheless themselves throughout the works. However the prison term differences and social and cultural conditions of the time and place the works were written must(prenominal) be taken into consideration. I looking that the theme of masterful selfishness and the consequences that follow is strongest in respect to Jason and Pechorin and I will compare and provide evidence for such an assertion in both works.I will start by analysing Jasons utterly selfish behaviour throughout the Ancient Greek play Medea, written by Euripides. Jason is a completely egocentric ch aracter nevertheless he doesnt have as oftentimes depth or complexity as Pechorin in A Hero of Our Time which is partly due to when this play was written in ancient Greece. Society was truly different people were devouted Pagans and lived in a world of superstition. Also literature was no way secure as advanced however Medea still contains the fundamentals such as psychology. Jason is motivated solely by self-interest, his besides motivation to court Medea in the play is the fact that she has mystical powers to nonplus him what he wants the well-off Fleece, for which he will get a generous reward in return. Jason plain allows Medea to kill her h over-the-hill brother out of lust and be banished from her homeland forever by her father as a consequence.Unfortunately Jason is to self-involved to even comprehend how his Actions would affect Medea and their children. Again we see further evidence of Jasons egocentricity when he divorces Medea and abandons his kids for Glauce, pr incess of Corinth. He doesnt consider the affect on Medea and their children for he is blinded by his selfishness, he doesnt even idea that they are going to get banished as long as he increases his political and social status. His only defence is that he will one day be king and they will inherit the kingdom, which has no validity for he has already betrayed her trust and showed no menage of guilt and is just trying to free himself. Even the nurse says that his marriage is for social status not write out, Jason has betrayed his own sons, and my mistress, for royal bed.i Unfortunately we dont get to see Jasons interaction with friends in this play, which I would guess to be very short sighted and school as usual. Jason seems to have an extreme lack of morals when it comes to his own actions such as abandoning his wife and kids exactly for political gain.Also his motivation for this immoral action was money and political power not love for Glauce, which is immoral. The final sim ilarity between the two characters is regret. Jason ends up in deep regret for his action for the core is the death of his parvenue wife Glauce and his children as well as his almost social castration as a result. He learns that egocentricity leads to self-destruction for you lose sight of other peoples feeling and dont take them into consideration. Where Jasons Character differs from Pechorin is in respect to his sensation place in the work and his inability to except his faults. Jasons only real sign of emotion throughout the play is the within respect to the murder of his children.What? Killed my sons? That word kills me.ii This shows the pain he must have felt inside with this loss. Jason to a fault seems to have an inability to admit his faults. He is blinded by his self-involvement, which is evidence of insecurity for living in your own world protects your from reality. Finally I feel that Jasons type in the play is more of a villain, which could be because the play is main ly Medeas view. A template of how not to get caught up in shallow insecurities, where as Pechorin in A Hero of Our Time is represent as more of a modern Hero where he has faults which make him easier to relate to and a lots more believable character.Pechorin is also a portrayed with an immoral and selfish attitude in the Novel, A Hero of Our time. Yet Pechorin is given a lot more human characteristics and is described in much more detail with points probing on the physiological aspects even though its just pre-Freud. It was written 2332 age after Medea from a different culture and is a much larger work and so is outflow to be different in style. Pechorin is definitely as selfish as Jason is, if not more so. He uses all his so-called romantic relationships to gain control and domination over the hearts of young women. first of all with Bela he trades her for a Horse he stole.How immoral is firstly stealing and then trading a women as an object? Because of this her father is kill ed and her brother rides off so shes left with literally nothing. He concisely got bored of her and barely felt anythin at her death. Later on in his relationship with Princess Mary he is similarly selfish. He wants Princess Mary for shes in high demand as wee as a challenge and he feels the need to win her, in part of this was due to his old friend Grusnitski who also desired Mary. Pechorin saw this as a challenge and didnt even consider the effect it would have on Mary and Grusninski and didnt really care for hes caught up in his own world. He even sets out to repose Grusnitskis reputation and ends up killing him.He is also very immoral in respect to the intervention of friends such as Maxim Maxyvich. He is disrespectful towards Maxim for he feels that he is now old and useless to him, which is shown at their unexpected reunion where Pechorin is very selfish and immoral. Pechorin also experiences regret like Jason in Medea, but his regret builds up and turns into bitinglyness. Passions are merely ideas in their initial stage. They are the property of youth, and anyone who expects to feel their thrill throughout life is a fool.iii Pechorin has not been able to find true passion or love throughout his life. He has quickly got bored of every relationship he has been in and is bitter to the fact that true love has never found him. Evidence that he could once feel emotion would lie in when he felt joy in the memory of the sulphur springs.Now this has forced him to become callus and use everyone to hide from his empty heart. However Pechorin does admit he has faults, Ambition has been dispirited in me by circumstances, but it comes out in another way, for ambition is nothing more than a lust for power and my chief delight is to dominate those around me.iv But doesnt justify them or even try to change. I believe his self-analysis is shallow and this ties in to his duality as a person, which prevents him from expressing emotion. For a long time now Ive lived b y intellect, not feeling. I weigh and analyse my emotions and actions with close interest, but complete detachment. There are two men within me one lives in the full esthesis if the word and the other reflects and judges him.v Finally I feel that Pechorin is portrayed more as the new Hero of our Time.vi Who isnt old fashioned but strong and unconventional with human faults that we can relate to therefore hes definitely the protagonist of the novel and an affective character.