On the one hand her act is a reaction towards the threat that a hostile society poses against her identity. On the other hand, he murder is a revenge against her husband's infidelity. The fact that Jason tries to lessen his own deed and make it seem but a reasonable thing that any woman 'with sense' should merely accept, points at the fact that he shamelessly pursues his own goals without considering the damage he does to the others: "Jason: Did you really think it right to kill them because of a marriage? Medea: Do you imagine that loss of love is a trivial grief for a woman? Jason: For a woman of sense, yes. But you find everything a disaster."(Euripides 1994, p. 396) Thus, it can be said that although Jason's acts are not as brutal as Medea's revenge, on a subtler level, they are traumatizing and annihilating. He does not kill anyone, but, in a way, his deeds are just as deadly. In conclusion,...
The result of Medea's crimes is horrifying, but we have to take into consideration the great injustice done to her by her husband. In a patriarchic society, there were no further perspectives for a woman than to live her role as a wife and mother. Once this order is disrupted, Medea finds herself with no identity of her own, in spite of her strong personality. Thus, if her murders cannot be justified, her psychological reaction to her husband's desertion can be at least explained. Jason's fault, although seemingly much smaller cannot be justified except and it only discloses his egotistic and purely material pursuits.
Medea relates a story about the power of love, which induces sacrifice as well as jealousy and feelings of revenge aroused by betrayal. Medea, the principal character, is a woman, who is so smitten by her love for Jason that she forsakes her family, country and people to live in "...the land of Corinth with her husband and children, where her exile found favour with the citizens to whose land
"As a female foreigner whose relationship with Jason was only formalized with the birth of the children, Medea would have been viewed as an irregular companion, and after Jason's betrothal to Glauce, she would be reduced to the status of concubine." (Guastella in Claus) This makes them a helpful tool in securing her bond to Jason. Another means by which they can be useful props for Medea is when she
Freudian theory believes that extreme suffering removes own from the tamed state which each individual resides within civilization, "Just as satisfaction of instinct spells happiness for us, so severe suffering caused us if the external world lets us starve, if it refuses to state our needs," (Freud 28). Medea is so affected by her suffering that she removes herself from everyday life, "She lies without food and gives herself
Medea Villianness, Victim, or Both? Medea has emerged from ancient myth to become an archetype of the scorned woman who kills her own children to spite her husband, who must then suffer the fate of outliving them. The story itself is horrific, and yet it remains strangely fascinating, and into the mouth of its maniacal heroine many writers have given philosophies which were too subversive to be voiced in open discourse. Many
Medea's Children: Revenge And Euthanasia Over the course of Euripides' play Medea, the protagonist makes five truly significant speeches which seem to provide the outline for the plot. In these speeches Medea addresses the audience or the chorus of women, among whom she seeks a measure of justification and self-understanding. From the beginning her motivation and determination in destroying Jason's new family is obvious. However, her thoughts regarding the death of
Medea also uses her children by having them deliver poison in the disguise of gifts, as no one would expect the children to have ill intentions. The children present the gifts as a request to let them avoid banishment, but in reality the gifts have been sent not to aid the children's situation at all. Throughout the play Medea acts like a puppet-master using the children to get her
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