Medea was a divine character. She was the granddaughter of sun god, Zeus. She is not accountable for her actions if the Gods or Fates have influenced the course of her life and are acting through her. Medea desired the moderate life commended by the Gods. However, her husband did not have the same desires and chose to unfaithfully enter a relationship with another woman for political advantage.
Esch is surrounded by male characters, including her father, brothers, and friends, who do not believe in the power of womanhood that is exemplified in Greek mythology. Their attitudes contribute to the male-controlled environment that she experiences. For example, Manny, the father of Esch’s child, states that there is a “[p]rice of being female” (96). This
In Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward parallels the mythological story of Medea in order to highlight her representation of women. The use of Medea, who is embodied in various aspects within the three main female characters, allows Ward’s work to obtain a sense of universality to her narrative. Also with this incorporation, Ward is able to change the dominant perspective of “blackness” that has plagued southern literature written by African-American authors. Salvage the Bones occurs in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, following Esch,who has just found out she is pregnant, and her poor family just days before the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. Medea, an anti-hero, who succumbs to her own decisions and the demons of love represents a dynamic femininity, rather than the stereotypical aspect of which is what being a female is.
That is what makes Medea's gift even more destructive. Her gifts were supposed to be acts of kindness and appreciation as well as cultural norms. Medea even stresses the point of reciprocation by stating that "to save my children from exile I would give up not only gold but my life Medea's indifference about losing her children and defying cultural norms shows how extreme the gifts she gave were. There is no doubt that the gifts Medea gave were of high value and worth. This is because not only are the gifts very luxurious, Medea is the daughter of the king in Colchis and is
It demonstrates that she is willing to do anything she can in order to change what she thinks is wrong. In fact, according to the text “The Worst Husband” by Laura McClure from the Chicago Journal, Medea demonstrate how she is a hero due “to her inability to tolerate injustice or disrespect” and her “strong preoccupation with avoiding the laughter of her enemies, a potential source of shame and fear: "In dying I will become a joke to my enemies"” this Author also states that “Like a hero, she wishes to appear formidable and invincible rather than vulnerable in the face of her opponents: "Let no one think me trifling and weak, or gentle, but of the opposite temperament, difficult to my enemies and well-disposed to my
In Medea, the particulars of Medea’s revenge make up the plot, so it comes as no surprise that the play’s ending revolves entirely around said revenge and its effects on Jason and Medea. In The Mercy Seat, the plot is made up of the moral quandaries that arise as Ben and Abby dive deeper into the psychology of their affair, and to reflect this, the play’s ending leaves many questions unanswered and gives the audience members room to interpret things on their own. Having the endings embody the plays themselves drives home for the final time the plays’ individuality, and provides one final example of how these two similar stories are, in the end, more different than they appear. In conclusion, while Medea and The Mercy Seat appear to be heavily similar at first blush, their various idiosyncrasies help add depth to their stories and define them as their own plays, distinct from each other. They both carry with them unique aspects of the time periods they were written in and have characters with their own quirks and ideologies, and it is these aspects that make the plays more than just rhetorically-similar plays about relationship
Medea surpassed the regulations by murdering her family and the ones with higher status. Jason degraded his status by not being able to obey the regulations that were placed on him. He was unsuccessful in taking care of his family and understanding his wife and children. It is extremely shocking and unforgivable if a woman took revenge on her husband through murder in a society where women were always looked down upon. But the whole society overlooked Jason’s actions of betraying his own family and blood in secrecy.
'She is no ordinary woman', her pride was her strength and her fuel of dedication which drove her to achieve her ambitious goal. The play starts off by showing Medea suffering and crying upon her husband's betrayal and it presents an ordinary woman of the time. 'Oh I am wretched pity me for my sufferings! Oh, if only I could die'. Her anguish and anger was relatable by the audience because her sorrow and grief symbolises an average woman of her time who would have reacted in a similar way after a loss of her husband.
Medea, The True Wrongdoer in Euripides’ “Medea” The tragic drama titled “Medea”; written by Euripides is a Greek play about a female sorcerer, Medea, banished by her hometown to be with her love, Jason. Although, this did not work in her favor since she discovered that her lover is with another woman. This does trigger some tension and emotional breakdown within Medea, enough to plan another malicious act that 's very disturbing and would change the reader’s perspective of who’s the victim and the criminal. The truth is, Medea is the real wrongdoer in this story, not her husband, for she became aggrieved, obstinate, and conniving. Once the beginning of the story took effect, the nurse shares her perspective on Medea to herself, giving valuable evidence to further strengthen the thesis.
Hence using Lush’s view on Medea’s character as a devoted warrior suffering from Traumatic hardships in her experiences with the man she gave everything to, we can understand why she wanted revenge. Medea believes Jason owes her more than just the normal husband-wife obligations a man swears to when marrying a woman; in her view, she helped him be the man that he is and supported him throughout his heroic journey. Without her, Jason would not have succeeded in retrieving the Golden Fleece. Without her, he would not have had his father resurrected. Without her, Jason would have been suffering under the tyranny of his evil uncle Pelias.