There may be no new stories, but there are always new ways to tell them. When author Gillian Flynn sat down to write Gone Girl, she perhaps didn’t intend to evoke a two-and-a-half millennia old play by Euripides. But, the video above—created by Australian film student Ivana Brehas—makes a compelling case for the various ways in which Amy Dunne is a 21st century Medea.
While Medea is arguably the model for the woman-hell-bent-on-punishing-her-cheating-husband story, the parallels between the play and Flynn’s book (and accompanying movie directed by David Fincher) go beyond the obvious.
For instance, Amy, like Medea, gave up the comfortable life she knew to be the wife of a man who would later betray her. Amy’s response to this betrayal echoes that of her ancient Greek counterpart: Cold, calculated, all-encompassing revenge. And despite their tendencies toward manipulation and murder, the women are portrayed sympathetically to the audience for much of their respective tales. The similarities between the two works and their primary charaters are many, and Brehas’ artfully composed video lays out the full scope of these connections.
