Shinji from Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves and Medea from Euripides’ Medea strive to maintain and reclaim their honor and dignity through their respective traditional values to acquire their desired objectives. Shinji impeccably lives his life according to the Bushido code values that he consistently portrays relentlessly. Shinji respects the feelings of others as he always takes their level of comfort into consideration. When Hatsue refuses to consummate an intimate relationship before marriage, “Shinji ha[s] a sort of haphazard respect for moral things. And…[h]e insist[s] no further” (Mishima 77). For the sake of Hatsue, he disregards his lack of satisfaction from the meeting and places his desires aside. By adhering to Hatsue, he complacently
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Ultimately, through sustaining the code’s conventional morals, Shinji is able to please both Hatsue and Terukichi. He overcomes the financial barrier hindering his alliance with Hatsue and manages to finally attain the father’s vital permission. Analogous to Shinji, Medea in Medea also abides by her traditional barbarian values. She pursues revenge against her husband Jason to reclaim her lost dignity due to Jason’s betrayal. Initially, Medea devises her schemes to carry forth misdeeds and entrap others to implement her actions. Primarily, she manipulates Aegeus by persuading him to provide her a safe haven once she executes her plans. In her persuasion, she cleverly compels him to, “Swear by the Floor of Earth, by the Sun my father’s father…[n]ever to cast me out of your country and never, willingly,...to surrender me to any of my foes... ” (Euripides 55). Medea slyly obtains her desires by appealing to Aegeus’ emotions; Thus, their alliance inevitably encourages her to proceed with her heinous crimes and altogether evade her exile. In addition, Medea insistently eradicates all the hurdles that stand in her path heedless of whom she injures in the
Ultimately, through sustaining the code’s conventional morals, Shinji is able to please both Hatsue and Terukichi. He overcomes the financial barrier hindering his alliance with Hatsue and manages to finally attain the father’s vital permission. Analogous to Shinji, Medea in Medea also abides by her traditional barbarian values. She pursues revenge against her husband Jason to reclaim her lost dignity due to Jason’s betrayal. Initially, Medea devises her schemes to carry forth misdeeds and entrap others to implement her actions. Primarily, she manipulates Aegeus by persuading him to provide her a safe haven once she executes her plans. In her persuasion, she cleverly compels him to, “Swear by the Floor of Earth, by the Sun my father’s father…[n]ever to cast me out of your country and never, willingly,...to surrender me to any of my foes... ” (Euripides 55). Medea slyly obtains her desires by appealing to Aegeus’ emotions; Thus, their alliance inevitably encourages her to proceed with her heinous crimes and altogether evade her exile. In addition, Medea insistently eradicates all the hurdles that stand in her path heedless of whom she injures in the