This is an ironic statement as Medea is actually planning to kill her children, a fact which the audience does not yet know about. Jason uses another form of rhetorical stretching, which includes his plea that leaving his wife and children was a ‘wise move’, and that the decision was made with Medea’s best interests at heart, as much an attempt to convince himself as much as the audience. The chorus is quick to point out that ‘You have betrayed your wife and are acting badly.’ The Nurse is our first instance of anagnorisis during the play. Though an ancient Greek audience would well be in tune with the stories in Greek mythology, the Nurse’s role would still have proved important, as she was a tool Euripides used to transport the audience
In society, men and women are defined by gender roles throughout their activities and occupations. A doctor is typically portrayed as a man while most women are associated with the household and children. Although still in existence, today these roles are less defined but tend to have similar essence when compared to the past. In today’s society, females work, take part in the government and have a say in public and private decisions. Compared to ancient Greece, women suffered great tribulations and these current activities are unimaginable for a woman under the complete supervision of a male husband. In the play Medea by Euripides, the main characters Jason and Medea are atypical characters in many ways. Medea defies perceptions of the normal attitudes of men and women by overcoming her female emotions and performed acts that the Greeks considered unfeminine.
In the story, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The narrator develops an uncontrollable obsession with this yellow wallpaper as she is deemed crazy and is confined to a large nursery room where she is constantly being medicated and forced to rest. Throughout the story she writes in her secret journal where in each entry she describes her feelings towards both John and the yellow wallpaper. In the beginning she has a very negative attitude against the wallpaper and is constantly remarking it's horrible markings and it's very shade of color. Throughout the story however, her feelings dramatically change as she starts observing the wallpaper and each mark, and analysing everything from the odor that has spread throughout the house, to the hidden figure trapped behind the wall. Near the end of the story, she starts seeing more and more of the hidden figure and making out details of the trapped woman, but then goes crazy as she sees her crawling around the yard and then believes she is that
ha! Father, daughter, and my husband.” (57) By having Medea commit such despicable and heinous acts in her lust for vengeance, Euripides shows us how committing revenge lowers the person who orchestrates it more than the one who wronged them in the first place. 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
Under Homer’s supposed ‘Hero Ethic’, it can be understood that an individual should support one’s friends and harm one’s enemies. This system leaves little to no room for forgiveness or for mercy. Jason has become her enemy by abandoning Medea and their children. He justifies this by pointing out that he has given her “more than [she] deserve[s]” as Medea now lives in “the center of the world.” However, Medea views him as “A brutal man whom [she] once loved [that] has smashed [her]/in the face so hard [she] wear[s] the face of death.”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!
Gentlemen of the Jury, before you write Miss Medea off as having been driven insane through grief and loss, some of the facts that have been presented today need to be put in order. First and foremost, homicide has occurred, and it has been done through the hand of the defendant. There is no arguing this fact; multiple witnesses have been brought forth to testify against this woman. These witnesses were present for the planning of all of the murders, and were threatened with death if they breathed a word of it. The only argument that the defense has left is to portray Medea as being insane. The question that we must ask is this; what it is that constitutes an insane individual? By definition, insanity is the inability of an individual to determine
In response to Medea, I feel nothing but sadness for her life and what prolonged her to tormenting herself. However, with the way Medea chose to handle that grief into revenge is something I don’t agree with and didn’t feel like that alone justified her actions.These cruel acts of fate
I am Jason, the former husband of Medea. As the hero of the Golden Fleece, I was once married to a barbarian witch who was also the princess of Colchis. There are no good reasons to take my ex wife 's, Medeas side and defend her for the crimes she has committed. Medea is simply an inadequate person. She comes from a barbaric family that practices dark acts, she does not care about other people 's lives, and she killed our beloved children without a second thought. Anybody who goes with her and chooses to defend her is lucidly non compos mentis. I am innocent, I have done absolutely nothing wrong. Medea is deranged. She should be punished for her wrong actions.
Insanity. What is the definition of insanity? In Medeaby Euripides, Medea possessmoments of insanity. She is notcompletely insane,but she does kill six people. Prior to this play, she kills her brother, Absyrtus. Along with killing her brother, she indirectly kills Pelias. In Medea, she kills Creon (Creusa’sfather), Creusa, and both of her children.In some of these murders she wasmore involvedthan others. For example, she physically stabbed her two children, but she hadPelias’daughters kill him. Either way murder is murder. It’s the act of deliberately ending another person’slife. However, Medea was blindsided by her love and later hate of Jasonwhich can justify her actions. For starters, Medea killed her brothernot out of rage and hate for
Love is a strongly forcible and binding emotion that can, in its extremist conditions, cause one to sacrifice or do things that one wouldn’t normally do for another. When two are joined together in matrimony, the unconditional passion that one has for another often results in parasitic practices and taking
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. Thus, she formulated a systematic plan to achieve her agenda and to rectify the injustice that had occurred. Essentially, the King of Corinth
Euripides’s play Medea consists of minor characters who spout wise and generalized statements about humanity as a whole. One of these statements, spoken by the chorus, is, “It is a strange form of anger, difficult to cure,/When two friends turn upon each other in hatred.” (pg. 17, 12-13). The claim is true about both the play—specifically the characters Medea and Jason—as well as all of humanity.
“Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women/ Are the most wretched” (Euripides 229-230).
Euripides created an unusual art work that left people mouth-opened. It was criticized and dissed during its time since the audience witnessed a very odd ending. The fact that Medea was really clever and powerful made it different as well. During those times, women had no role in the society. Women were just supposed to serve their husbands and take good care of the children. Euripides created a modern day woman who seeks justice and revenge with her cleverness and power. Medea acted as a feminine heroine who established that women can also be as strong as men.
“Let death destroy Jason and Jason’s children! Let the whole ancestry of Jason be destroyed!” (Fredrick, 2015 , p. 18)