Question

Within the first three acts of Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth goes from fighting courageously and heroically on the battlefield to maliciously ordering the murder of his old friend, Banquo. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for readers and audience members to view Macbeth sympathetically. What other unlikable or unsympathetic protagonists have you encountered in other stories, novels, television shows, or movies? Describe why these figures were unsympathetic. Why might an author choose to focus on a character who readers and audience members view negatively?

Answer 1

Medea from Madea and Other plays was a protagonist that was unlikable because she extinguished anyone who was not useful or convenient to her, including her own children. The author chooses to focus on a character who the audience viewed negatively in this book because this book was based on a Greek myth of Jason and Medea. Typically Greek myths don't have the best endings or are gruesome in general so the author was highlighting her awful character on purpose to show how power could affect a person.