The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
While some people may believe that Medea crossed the line when she had killed four people, including her children, in order to get revenge, others view this killing as justifiable because it was the only way to truly hurt Jason. Yet, because of how emotional Medea was and where she came from, readers believe her to be demented and barbaric. However, readers will have to take into factor the actions that Medea took before this story took place and is told throughout the story in Medea’s own confession, “Love for you was greater than my wisdom. Then I killed Pelias in the most agonizing way, at the hands of his own daughters, and demolished his household, all of it. Now, after I’ve done all this to help you, you brute, you betray me and help
Throughout the whole story, you are torn with emotions between the characters. At first, you feel sorry for Medea. Her husband, who she has saved from death, has left her for another woman. She has been "all/obediant" their entire marriage, transforming herself into the sort of wife required by society. You can't help but sympathize with her.
In the play "Medea", Medea faces the harsh reality of infidelity. Her husband Jason has left her for a princess. Medea, like any normal woman today would want revenge. The difference between them is that the normal woman would not commit the crime, while in fact Medea does. After what feels like an eternity of planning and vowing revenge she devises a plan to murder the woman who has stolen her husband as well as her husband and their two children. She feels betrayed and has every right to. Imagine in that time that it was a crime to commit adultery, but because Jason had left his wife for a princess it was plausible which left Medea livid.
From when Medea first reflects on meeting Jason to the end of the story, her emotions toward him change immensely. Although it is clearly obvious that Medea is not mentally well, the fact still remains that this is a normal range of emotion for someone who went through all she did with Jason. The ups and downs of love have been played and replayed throughout centuries of drama and human life.
Medea has been exiled for three times: from her home country near the Black Sea, from Jason's homeland Iolchos, and now from the city of Corinth. We would naturally think that a woman like Medea, being exiled for many times, is the most vulnerable and most powerless woman. She has got no friend and no citizenship. At the time of Euripides, being an exile is not an interesting position that a person wants to be in. It is like a suicide. Most people at that time in Greece view strangers as barbarians with no intelligence at all. In addition, Medea is going to be an exile with two children. She is supposed to be in lots of trouble. On the other hand, Jason has won the princess of Corinth's love. He is going to be Creon's son-in-law. Jason abandon's Medea after all she has done for him. Jason doesn't fear Medea at all because he has support from Creon, king of Corinth. Jason is supposed to be more powerful than Medea. Jason is the son-in-law of the king and Medea is an exile. But, as Euripides suggests, what the audience expects doesn't come true at all.
... know, and does not cause commotion outside of her home. On the other hand, it is quite clear that Medea is far from the depiction of the “ideal” woman because of her vengeful spirit, her uproar causing ways, and the fact that she actually ended up hurting her children, regardless of the amount of pain or sorrow she went through beforehand, not to mention that she also killed her brother, according to many of the stories about her.
Under the virtue ethics category, Plato, Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ theories will be used to analyze Medea’s deeds. Medea sought “justice” for Jason’s wrongdoing. She wanted revenge by harming Jason and Glauce. However, Plato in the Republic rebuked the idea that is is right to “do good to a friend, provided he is good, and to harm an enemy, provided he is bad.” (Plato, p. 14) Plato’s counterargument was that it is possible to misinterpret who is a friend or is an enemy, and that bringing harm is against the nature of a
All her efforts, only to be betrayed by the man she loved the most. Unfortunately, her misery did not end with the betrayal. She sought revenge on the traitor that carried no guilt and felt that Medea’s sex was to blame, for she was the one that had been weak and acted out of love for so many years. After much thought and self-conflict, she decided to murder the new bride of her former husband and taking the life of her own children. Euripides made Jason’s character to be self-centered and having “a minimum capacity to understand the feelings of others” (Jacobs). Leading Medea to commit a most horrible act, knowing that it would at last cause Jason the same pain that he had cause her: she murdered their
In the beginning of the play, we learn that Medea along with her two children have been abandoned by Jason. Jason is Medea’s husband who leaves her to be with the daughter of Creon, the king of Corinth. Jason knows that by being with his daughter he will one day be able to achieve power and glory. The decision by Jason to leave Medea for Creon daughter is optimally the quarter stone for Medea’s quest for revenge. There are a few conversations in the play between Medea and Jason, which shows Jason does still have some feelings for Medea. They also show his true love for his two children, but Jason’s lust for power and glory is seen as the most important thing. He makes excuses for abandoning his family by saying: he is doing this for the best interest of them. Although the reader can conclude that he is doing this for his own best interest. Jason seems to have no realization of how truly mad Medea has become for him leaving her. Media’s love and devotion towards Jason controls her life. Jason’s decision to leave her optimally turns Media into a sociopath. With this state of mind, Medea optimally...