Abstract:This essay takes a diachronic and phenomenological approach to the ending of Seneca’s Medea and pursues the semantic possibilities and consequences of Seneca’s choice to separate the murders of the two children. I look first at the development of Medea’s character throughout the play: What might an audience think drives this Medea to filicide, and how does Medea’s speech specifically guide the audience’s expectation of the ending, despite the fact that her decision to kill the children is only explicitly stated in the final act? Then, focusing on the final act, I argue that the interruption of Medea’s murders by the arrival of Jason and the Corinthians provides an interstitial space in which the audience might not only contemplate alternate outcomes—for example, perhaps this Medea will choose not to kill the second child—but also heighten their awareness of their own expectations of the plot and of the Medea character. I show that the space between the two deaths allows for several shifts within and outside of the play: the unfixed ending of the manuscript tradition shows the breadth of viable outcomes (and the discomfort of more modern editors with non-canonical endings). Seneca’s Medea, due to the interruption, changes the significance of the second child’s death such that it is quite distinct from the first; and Jason and the audience experience their own ‘becoming’ as Medea claims the life of the second child and flies away.

中文翻译：

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谋杀，中断：塞内卡的美狄亚和第二个孩子的案例

摘要：本文对塞内卡的美狄亚的结局采取历时性和现象学的方法，追寻塞内卡选择将两个孩子的谋杀分开的语义可能性和后果。我先看看美狄亚在整部剧中的性格发展：观众可能认为是什么驱使这个美狄亚走向杀戮，美狄亚的演讲如何具体引导观众对结局的期待，尽管她杀死孩子的决定只是在最终法案中明确规定？然后，专注于最后一幕，我认为杰森和科林蒂安人的到来打断了美狄亚谋杀案，提供了一个间隙空间，观众不仅可以在其中思考替代结果——例如，也许这个美狄亚会选择不杀死第二个孩子——但也会提高他们对自己对情节和美狄亚角色的期望的认识。我展示了两次死亡之间的空间允许戏剧内外的几个转变：手稿传统的未固定结局显示了可行结果的广度（以及更现代的编辑对非规范结局的不适）。塞内卡的美狄亚，由于中断，改变了第二个孩子死亡的意义，使其与第一个截然不同；当美狄亚夺取第二个孩子的生命并飞走时，杰森和观众体验了他们自己的“成为”。我展示了两次死亡之间的空间允许戏剧内外的几个转变：手稿传统的未固定结局显示了可行结果的广度（以及更现代的编辑对非规范结局的不适）。塞内卡的美狄亚，由于中断，改变了第二个孩子死亡的意义，使其与第一个截然不同；当美狄亚夺取第二个孩子的生命并飞走时，杰森和观众体验了他们自己的“成为”。我展示了两次死亡之间的空间允许戏剧内外的几个转变：手稿传统的未固定结局显示了可行结果的广度（以及更现代的编辑对非规范结局的不适）。塞内卡的美狄亚，由于中断，改变了第二个孩子死亡的意义，使其与第一个截然不同；当美狄亚夺取第二个孩子的生命并飞走时，杰森和观众体验了他们自己的“成为”。