In Euripides’ text The Medea, Medea can easily be painted as the villian. She is a woman who killed her own children in an attempt to spite her husband. But, by examining the text, we can see that she deserves some sympathy. She has little to no control over her own life and has to rely on the will of men. And as a foreigner in Corinth abandoned by her husband, she faces even more challenges than the native women of Corinth did. She is not blameless, in what she did, but she deserves some sympathy because of how she was immobilized by all the duties thrown on her by her society.
Medea voices how she has been suppressed in her society. She notes, “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (L 231). Medea’s tone throughout her speech is proper, confident, and angry. It is as if she is a military leader, preparing her troops for battle. She uses “we” to show connection between herself and the chorus. She states her points of why she has been wronged and we see this applies to the other women because the chorus fully supports and sympathizes with her. The chorus says, “You are right Medea” (L 266). She voices women’s loss of power over their bodies and economies. And how they became trapped in the their own household. Medea explains, “With an excess of wealth it is required/ For us to buy a husband” and notes to not take a “master” is worse (L 232-234). Here she passionately speaks out against the injustices she faces as a women. She explains how a woman 's wealth directly
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Show MoreI want Medea to be justified in her actions, but I want this to be something that could happen to anyone. I don’t want her actions to be considered ‘what women do.’ There is also this theme of feminism and standing up for women in general. She criticizes men while using her wit to maneuver the situation properly. Medea is a cunning woman confined to this world dominated by men.
In Antigone and Medea , the women are ruled by their emotions. Due to this, they make impromptu decisions which leave them in a vulnerable state. Medea feels betrayed by Jason, and her heartbroken hearts fills with rage for him. She becomes so irate she makes an deathly decision, “oh, what misery! Cursed sons, and a mother for cursing!
However, despite their warrior nature, they are never able to defeat men in battle. Medea is the epitome of ancient Greek fears of different people. She is a foreign princess and a sorceress. She is so different, she is capable of the worst murders, including burning of innocent girls and killing her own
”Medea is portrayed as reacting to Jason’s betrayal by “doing what other heroes before her had done...when confronted with an enemy. She schemes, she tricks, she deceives,” and she seeks revenge on those who have harmed her. Medea enforces this notion that she is merely doing what any self-respecting man, Greek, or Hero would do when she scoffs at Creon's concern over her type, stating: “A woman like me!
Thus, it was essentially Aphrodite who orchestrated their marriage by making Medea fall in love with him and subsequently, credit would be due to the goddess. To the audience this remark seems extreme, to claim that the love Medea has acted to strongly on and used to rationalize her extreme behavior is not grounded in sincerity, but in fact a result of the intervention of the gods. However, this does an effective job at causing the audience to question Medea and she hence begins to be seen no longer as just the tragic heroine without fault. It discredits the basis for Medea’s arguments in claiming her love as so great as to go through such extreme measures.
Medea never intends to commit any acts of cruelty until she’s banished which eventually leads to the rising action. The King tells Medea to leave even though she has no plan and no help for her sons. She is pushed further off a cliff with no chance of escape. The moment after she has a last day granted to stay, she starts planning the murder of Jason and his wife. She feels the need to get back at Jason for what he did and any chance of getting back with him is ruined.
Medea is defended by many as a wronged mother and faithful wife who is justified in her actions for filicide, but she acts and appears more like the “evil witch” (742) trope, cursing and killing anyone in her way. Medea is also unquestionably blinded by her wrath, and she annihilates Glauke, Creon and worst of all, the blood of her blood, her two children. These atrocities
“Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women/ Are the most wretched” (Euripides 229-230). This first quote is spoken by Medea after she escapes her maudlin feelings and assesses her feelings on her situation with her husband. Before now, she showed no sign of overcoming her agonized spirit. She lay in her bed sobbing, and only spoke to declare her wish for immediate death. When she decides to make a statement, she addresses all women of Corinth.
Medea and the women of Corinth both share, to a different extent, the experience of being unfairly categorized as the caretaker of the family, which aids Medea in persuasion because she can be trusted as a woman to speak on the patriarchal society. She continues as ‘’of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the sorriest lot’’ (229-230) of all the living things Medea describes women as the ‘’sorriest’’ which suggests that women are pitied and helps Medea to allure the Chorus to be on her side. Medea suggests to the Chorus that Females ‘’must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body: this evil is more galling than the first. ’’(231-233) Medea is arguing that women must sacrifice a ‘’great’’ amount of money to ‘’buy’’ their partners. This conveys the patriarchal community in Corinth.
This is why Medea, according to the Greek gods, was in her right to take such severe consequences upon Jason and in this essay we will analyze Medea’s position and decide upon a conclusion whether her actions are justifiable or
Aegeus, the King of Athens, shows a pivotal plot point in Euripides’s Medea (Greek). Aegeus passes through Corinth, Medea’s residence, after having visited the Oracle at Delphi for a cure to his sterility. Medea promises to restore his fertility in exchange for future sanctuary if she is in Athens. Aegeus’s distress gives Medea insight on how to deeply hurt Jason: eradicate his children and any hope of creating more. Euripides uses Aegeus to tempt Medea into murdering her children through giving her safe haven and showing her how it would cause the most pain to
As the play begins, Medea has stopped eating and spends her days locked within her own house. She can be heard moaning and rambling from within her home. She even wishes she would die, saying things like, “I am miserable, unhappy in my labors! Oh me, I wish I were dead.” As we as, “I wish I could cast off this hateful life and take my rest in death!”
Medea was treated unfairly in the patriarchal society that she lived in and due to the circumstances she was forced to abide by, she sought to achieve her own form of justice. Women were mistreated and regarded as inferior to men. In fact, Medea mentioned how women were like foreigners forced to abide by their husband’s laws and remain subservient. Essentially, women were treated as outsiders and were thought to need constant protection from male figures. So, when the King of Corinth kicked her and her children out of Corinth and Jason left them, she wanted revenge since she felt she had been wronged.
Her despair and grief intrigued everyone in Corinth which led to the appearance of the chorus. Since Medea is a foreigner in their city, it was easier for them to judge Medea for they do not know her. They thought that Medea’s reaction was too much and since she is a woman, she had no rights to act that way. Medea was too devastated to show up yet she wanted to point out her side. She shared her heart breaking story of how Jason left her and their children for Princess Glauke.
The most direct reference to Medea comes when the Teacher says “You are an injured, loving woman. You demand absolute justice. You