A Character Analysis Of 'Vengeance In Medea'

As Jane Goldman once said, “Vengeance is the act of turning anger in on yourself. On the surface it may be directed at someone else, but it is a surefire recipe for arresting emotional recovery.” (www.brainyquote.com). Vengeance is seen as a way to relieve one’s resentment for a person. This relates directly to Medea since she consumed by her vengeance for her husband Jason. Based on Merriam Webster Dictionary, the definition of vengeance is punishment inflicted in retaliation for an offense. Vengeance in my words is harming someone for injuries given by that person. The word vengeance best describes Medea and her actions throughout the story. Vengeance consumes Medea and can be seen through her actions as she kills all the people Jason loved

Unfortunately Medea's desire to exact revenge on Jason is greater than her love for her children and Medea is determined to satisfy her thirst for revenge through the children. She thinks only goal of revenge on Jason, not of the consequences it may bring. When she tells the chorus about the plan of killing her children, they wonder “to kill your own children! Can you steal your heart?'' To which she replies ''This is the way to deal Jason the deepest wound.'' (Euripides,227). This shows that she believes that by killing her children, she will basically ruin Jason's life, effectively getting her revenge. When asked about killing her children, she replies "So it must be. No compromise is possible." (Euripides,239). This shows that she is bent on revenge. As it states in the New York Times article “The most vengeful responses tend to be provoked when honor or identity is threatened, such as being spurned by a lover or having one's family or religion maligned.” Since Jason had betrayed him and she abandoned her family, she displays the most violent strategy to harm Jason’s life through murdering her