In the play Medea by Euripides, Medea is abandoned and betrayed by her husband, Jason, with the King’s daughter. Devastated by Jason’s decisions and Medea is consumed over by anger, rage and jealousy. Medea seeking for revenge against Jason, she plots an evil scheme that involves a lot of trickery and persuasion. Her plot will result in the death of the King’s daughter, The King, Creon, and Medea’s two children, which Jason loved dearly. This essay will show how gifts are more persuasive than words to Medea and how Medea is persuasive.
To Medea gifts are more persuasive than words. Through her whole life, she been giving gifts to express her feelings rather than words. For example, is when she falls in love with Jason. During Jason hunt for
…show more content…
In Medea, Creon, afraid of Medea’s wrath, arrives and plans to send her and her children into exile. Medea not willing to give up her desire for revenge, she is able to plead Creon to delay the exile by a day. She convinces Creon that she has no grudge against his family and that her husband is the one she hates. She also uses Creon’s position as King to convince that there is no way a person like herself can offend a noble of his position. “It’s my husband I hate. / You’ve acted sensibly; I won't stand in your way.” (Medea 318) This quote has a few half truth while Medea hates her husband, she also hates Creon’s daughter for taking him away. It also shows that Medea is very cleaver able to use people’s rankings to give them a sense of confidence that nothing will …show more content…
Medea having her plot for revenge already plan is able to persuade Jason into trying to convince Creon’s daughter to allow their children to stay and not be exile. “but what about the children? / if they don’t stay how can you look after them?” (Medea 336) Medea uses Jason’s love for his children to her advantage and baits Jason into trying to convince Creon’s daughter to let his kids stay. By doing so she also persuades Jason into accepting her gift to Creon’s daughter. At first, Jason was a bit hesitant in accepting the gift but gives in the end. “There’s something very persuasive/ About a gift. / The gods can’t say no to a gift. / They’re more persuasive than words” (Medea 337) this is significant because when one is giving a gift they are showing a sign of respect and acknowledgement to them. It is hard for one to reject a gift than one is to reject words that could be lies because words could have thousands of meaning but a gift only has one meaning. But in this case, Medea uses the how people think gift are to show sign of respect to her advantage and is able to murder Jason’s new
While some people may believe that Medea crossed the line when she had killed four people, including her children, in order to get revenge, others view this killing as justifiable because it was the only way to truly hurt Jason. Yet, because of how emotional Medea was and where she came from, readers believe her to be demented and barbaric. However, readers will have to take into factor the actions that Medea took before this story took place and is told throughout the story in Medea’s own confession, “Love for you was greater than my wisdom. Then I killed Pelias in the most agonizing way, at the hands of his own daughters, and demolished his household, all of it. Now, after I’ve done all this to help you, you brute, you betray me and help
To begin comparing Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7, we need to look at three components: context, characters, and themes. Both Euripides and Ovid tell the story of Jason abandoning Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female protagonist’s traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to discrimination by beginning a battle to gain revenge all who harmed her, which she is prepared to follow through with even if it means resorting to the most despicable methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less severe figure whose modest goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these written differences, both of their Medea’s create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in undesirable situations. Euripides and Ovid present two different sets of motivations for Medea's behavior wh...
Medea has a conversation with Jason at the end of the story he tells her that he hoped the children who bring down curses on her; she looks at him and says “the gods know who the author of this sorrow.” (Lawall 719) Medea killed his children and yet she’s blaming him for her doing it. The conversation just got uglier and ended with her leaving.
She gave the children the dress she made and the diadem, submerged with poison and instructed her to give these gifts to the princess under the false impression that she wants to please her so she may convince her father to allow the children to stay in Corinth. After the death of the king and the princess, Medea kills her two children. The only time the children have spoken and they plead to live. There is no future for the children, to escape their mother’s wrath and anger and her drive to hurt and destroy everything and everyone that Jason loves and cares about. Medea contributes to the work as a whole because we see her side of the story and understand the motives behind her action and the consequences as the result of her madness. Medea is the rising action and the climax of the play. We also see Jason side of the story from his conversations with Medea and his explanation was awful. He is the reason for the conflict and issues for Medea but Jason does not take care of the problems he created nor does he take the responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He married a sorceress and not a normal Greek
Later in the story, our sympathy transfers from Medea to Jason. Her revenge turns immoral, leaving readers with a sense of uneasiness. It is not so much the fact that she kills Creon and his daughter, but the fact that she slays her children in cold-blood.
The problem set at the beginning of the play is that Jason has decided to marry another wife, Glauce. Medea is angered and will not let Jason off without punishment. The loss of Jason is not only a matter of passion; Medea has been completely humiliated by Jason's decision to take a new bride. Her pride shows again when she refuses Jason's aid. Though her situation is difficult, she would rather destroy all than accept help from one who has wronged her so horribly. Living as a barbarian among Greeks has made her more defensive, more full of hurt pride. To punish Jason, Medea had her children deliver poisoned gifts to the new bride, to kill her children, Glauce, and Creon. . Medea is not without feeling, nor is she a sociopath. She comprehends the difference between right and wrong, but chooses to follow the dictates of rage.
In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children and now wants to banish her. Medea plots revenge on Jason after he gives her one day to leave. Medea later acts peculiarly as a subservient woman to Jason who is oblivious to the evil that will be unleashed and lets the children remain in Corinth. The children later deliver a poisoned gown to Jason’s new bride that also kills the King of Corinth. Medea then kills the children. Later, she refuses to let Jason bury the bodies or say goodbye to the dead children he now loves so dearly. Jason is cursed with many catastrophic flaws that lead to his downfall and that of others around him.
With no husband, no country to turn to, and no one she can really depend on for rescue, Medea is trapped by her circumstances. Instead of becoming crushed, however, Medea turns it against those she hate. She attacks the weaknesses in her enemies’ character. Knowing Jason would feel guilty about his abandonment, Medea sent her own children to deliver the poisoned gifts, despite the certain death her children would face being involved in such a plot. Knowing the princess would not resist flashy gifts, she cursed the dress and crown. Knowing the king’s love for his daughter would cause him to rush to her aid, Medea formulated the curse to spread to those who touched the daughter as well. As each facet of her plan had to be executed perfectly to succeed, Medea demonstrated the full potential of her capabilities. She proves that when a society completely scorns and devalues women, everyone will pay as women are incredibly strong.
Because she does not hold the same beliefs and ideals of the women in her new society, this escalates the Greek’s skepticism of her and leads to further rejection. Jason explains to Medea that Greek women accept traditional societal roles and the duties placed on them by men when he says, “It is only natural for your sex to show resentment when their husbands contract another marriage. But your heart has now changed for the better. It took time, to be sure, but you have now seen the light of reason. That’s the action of a wise woman” (Page 209-210), but Medea strongly refutes these beliefs.
Medea is outraged that she sacrificed so much to help Jason, only to have him revoke his pledge to her for his own selfish gain. She asks him whether he thinks the gods whose names he swore by have ceased to rule, thereby allowing him to break his promise to her. Medea vows to avenge her suffering by destroying Jason's new family and his children. When Jason curses his wife for her murdering at the end of the play, she says to him, 'What heavenly power lends an ear / To a breaker of oaths, a deceiver?
In The Medea, Medea gives up her home, murdered her brother and tossed the pieces of his corpse and betrays her family to escape with her lover Jason. Against her father's wishes she helps Jason recover the Golden Fleece. Afterwards, Medea and Jason fall in love, get married and Medea gives birth and raises two sons. Unfortunately, Jason abandons Medea and marries King Creon's beautiful daughter. Medea alternates her role from a lover and partner in crime to an obsessive prideful monster. Me...
... knowing the ironic truth, and when he asks her why, she replies, "I'm their mother." She grieves for what she will lose in seeing them grow up, seeing them "[become] prosperous. I shall never see your brides, adorn your bridal beds, and hold the torches high." Through all this it is evident that the loving aspect of the Great Mother is still present in the drama. Though this loving characteristic is present, it is the persuasive and manipulative facet of Medea that is most important in terms of plot. If Medea had not been so able to persuade the other characters, then she would not have been able to stay in Corinth for the day it took her to carry out her plan, and would not have had a refuge in Athens. Thus, the Great Mother's manipulative aspect was the propelling factor in Medea and all else sprung from the effects of this manifestation of the Great Mother.
When Jason left Medea to marry Glauce, Medea was plagued with sadness and then with anger. The man she loved, the man that she gave up her life for, had betrayed her. In the patriarchal society that Medea lived in, it was not acceptable for a woman to protest any decision made by her husband. Medea went against all social standards and took revenge on Jason for the wrongs that he had committed. She was willing to take any chance and sacrifice even her most valued possessions. Medea knew that the best way to avenge the wrongs of Jason was to kill Glauce and the children. It was a huge sacrifice for Medea to kill the children that she loved, but she allowed herself to look past that love and only see her hate and contempt for Jason. Medea was willing to go against every rule that society set, so that her husband wouldn't get away with leaving her for political reasons.
Medea’s illegitimate marriage and the betrayal of Jason drive Medea to extreme revenge. Medea chooses to act with her immortal self and commit inhumane acts of murder rather than rationalize the outcomes of her actions. Medea see’s this option as her only resort as she has been banished and has nowhere to go, “stripped of her place”. To create sympathy for Medea, Euripides plays down Medea’s supernatural powers until the end of the play. Throughout the play Medea represents all characteristics found in individual women put together, including; love, passion, betrayal and revenge. Medea’s portrayal of human flaws creates empathetic emotions from the audience. The audience commiserates with Medea’s human flaws as they recognize them in themselves. Medea plays the major role in this play as she demonstrates many behavioral and psychological patterns unlike any of the other Greek women in the play; this draws the audience’s attention to Medea for sympathy and respect.
Medea's plan was set into motion. She has nothing to loose. She is even angrier because she betrayed her own father and her people for him. She even bears the burden of having Pelias killed by his daughters for Jason. She decides to take revenge out on Jason's bride and poisons her. She also doesn't want Jason to take the children from her. She decides to kill them, but agonizes over this decision before killing them. Some critics view this as a pathetic attempt at motherhood. I know there is a certain bond between mother and child. She just wants to hurt Jason as much as she has been hurt. "She first secures a place of refuge, and seems almost on the point of bespeaking a new connection. Medea abandoned by the entire world, was still sufficient for herself." (blackmask).