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The theme of revenge in media
The theme of revenge in media
Medea as revenge tragedy
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Imagine if a romantic relationship collapses as a result of getting seduced by a younger person. Which is better to seek revenge or be the bigger person? Medea is a tragic play about a heartbreak who is seeking revenge as her own pleasure. She uses different techniques to cause her ex-husband to suffer for example, killing the mistress and killing her own children. She is a cruel mother who was selfish enough to behave in this way than accepting reality. Jason is willing to take care of his loved ones even after the betrayal, but Medea closes the doors and takes matter into her own hands. She commits 3 different crimes as she feels betrayed and heartbroken. As this situation could have been in a peaceful way, she is a lunatic for killing innocent souls. Medea in psychological lens, suffers from ID, Parental Alienation Syndrome and has a crisis. ID is lead to a …show more content…
Medea uses denial by blocking all the thoughts that are stopping her from committing her crimes. She refuses to think about her wrongdoing and how her children should not pay the price for what their father did. While she is trying to neglect reality and just focus on her revenge, one way or another she will grief for what she did and never forgive herself. When she was about to kill her children, she was denying all thoughts and disowning them by saying “…Do not weaken, don’t remember that you love your children dearly, that you gave them life. For one short day, forget your children. Afterward, you’ll grieve.” (817). She was aware that after all she will end up grieving, but she wasn’t going to let go of her enemies without punishing them. An action that Medea should have done is being true to herself. When it came to recovering her heartbreak it was best to have positive thoughts and even thought she did not have anyone to grieve on, she could have picked herself up and be a better
Personal Development, one of the core values at Saint Leo University, plays an important role in students’ daily lives. From the moment you step foot on campus to the day you graduate, you automatically become a different person. As a first year student, you are entering a new life and not knowing what to expect. Once you are in college, it is the start of a new chapter. You will become more mature and all the obstacles that you will go through will make you a different person. In order to have a successful Undergraduate experience, it is crucial to have a balance between personal life and school. Your personal development will strengthen your academics and the community. The Campus Life Handbook states, “Saint Leo University stresses the development of every person’s mind, spirit, and body for a balanced life. All members of the Saint Leo University community must demonstrate their commitment to personal development to help strengthen the character of our community” (Saint Leo 1). Based on the Saint Leo core values, personal development, responsible stewardship, integrity, respect, and community exemplifies Medea’s character as a Hero devolving throughout the play.
The exchange that takes place between Medea and the Chorus serves several purposes in Euripides' tragedy, The Medea. It allows us to sympathize with Medea in spite of her tragic flaws. It also foreshadows the tragic events that will come to pass. Finally, it contrasts rationality against vengeance and excess. The Chorus offers the sane view of the world to the somewhat insane characters of Medea, Jason, and Creon. As the passage begins on page 176, the leader of the Chorus reveals that she has high regards for Medea despite the fact that she is "savage still." She acknowledges Medea as a foreigner and an outsider and yet is sympathetic towards her. This alliance is apparently based on female bonds rather than on any kind of national loyalty. Medea wastes no time before she begins lamenting and cursing those who "dared wrong me without cause." The Chorus tries to comfort Medea, hoping that this might "lessen her fierce rage / And her frenzy of spirit." They show real concern for her well-being, as well as for the well-being of her loved ones. This unselfish attitude is in stark contrast to the attitudes of the main characters in the tragedy, who all seem to be extremely self-serving. So in just a few short lines, it's already become apparent that while the chorus doesn't necessarily agree with the way that Medea is handling her situation, they are sticking by her and supporting her. This idea supports one of the important themes of the play: the battle of the sexes. Medea now has a chance to get a few things off her chest. She addresses the "Women of Corinth," reminding them that of "all things that live upon the earth and have intelligence we women are certainly the most wretched." She discusses the sad lot that women must deal with in marriage and again stresses the fact that she is an outsider, "alone, without / a city. Her speech is clever and compelling.
The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea. Euripides created a two-headed character in this classic tragedy. Medea begins her marriage as the ideal loving wife who sacrificed much for her husband's safety. At the peak of the reading, she becomes a murderous villain that demands respect and even some sympathy.
The scene from Medea’s Children that I chose to adapt is the divorce scene. The dramatic conflict that I chose to focus on is Little Jason’s want to understand what’s going on, but not being given any straight answers, if any answers at all. In this scene, Little Jason asks Jason and Medea what divorce is, but they pay no attention to him. He asks Little Medea, who gives him an assortment of situations that she describes as “divorce”, including divorcing one’s spit, running back and forth between a doll and herself, or splitting up space and possessions. This scene is very important to the overall story, because it starts to build the characters’ foundations, as well as sets up Little Jason’s dramatic conflict over the course of the play. Little Jason wants to know what divorce is, but Jason and Medea ignore his attempts to understand, and Little Medea fills his head with nonsense.
Under the virtue ethics category, Plato, Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ theories will be used to analyze Medea’s deeds. Medea sought “justice” for Jason’s wrongdoing. She wanted revenge by harming Jason and Glauce. However, Plato in the Republic rebuked the idea that is is right to “do good to a friend, provided he is good, and to harm an enemy, provided he is bad.” (Plato, p. 14) Plato’s counterargument was that it is possible to misinterpret who is a friend or is an enemy, and that bringing harm is against the nature of a
As the play unravels, the audience is introduced to a woman who has been abandoned by her husband and is left with nothing. Like any good tragic hero, Medea has two major flaws that cause a mistake in her judgement and lead to the downfall of herself and those around her; rage and jealousy. These two qualities eventually lead to her committing multiple murders, most shockingly including her two sons. (56)
Revenge is a desire by human nature. Someone does something to you that you don’t like you would want to proceed with taking revenge automatically. Revenge is an emotion and a demand for justice. Women have the desire to seek revenge far more than men. Women will go far as they wish as for men will let conflicts slide off their backs. An example of this is shown in the play Medea, Medea retaliates at a far greater impact than her ex-husband, Jason. Medea played the role of being a woman that is ex-wife and a mother that is faced with seeking revenge throughout the play. She is a woman that definitely acts one way, and turns her back and acts a different way. At the end of the play, it was revealed what type of person she truly was. Although Medea sought to have a process of vengeance on Jason that consisted of her determination to have a set plan to stay in Corinth,
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.
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.
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.
Throughout the whole story, you are torn with emotions between the characters. At first, you feel sorry for Medea. Her husband, who she has saved from death, has left her for another woman. She has been "all/obediant" their entire marriage, transforming herself into the sort of wife required by society. You can't help but sympathize with her.
The Greek playwright, Euripides, is considered one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens. His individuality is attributed to the way he “pushes to the limits of what an audience can stand” . His masterpiece Medea , a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea, is a prime example of this. During his time, Euripides was unpopular since he defied the commons themes of tragedies during the 430s B.C.E.; he instead introduced a nihilistic and disturbing tragedy focused on women, slaves and persons from the lower class. His mastery shines through as he guides the audience to sympathize with Medea even when she commits filicide, a seemingly horrendous act. He utilizes the Chorus, the Nurse, and the Children-which are all minor characters-to induce compassion for Medea, establish the development of her emotional state, and ascertain the importance of her pride. Although these characters guide the audience towards similar concepts, they represent a contradiction when it comes to the slaughter of the Children.
Internal conflicts within Medea shed light on her true character and her difficulties to make decisions. Throughout the play, there are many cases of Medea contemplating her decisions and this is done so the readers can see that Medea thinks for herself, and doesn’t let any male control her life. In the play, Medea states, “I had rather stand three times in the front line than bear one child” (1. 249-50). This shows that her internal conflict with not wanting to go through childbirth again is proof that her character is a little bit of a “masculine” woman. In the quote she is saying she’d rather battle than give birth. In a way, it is an example of Medea’ rejection of the foundation of the typical role of woman. Another example of Medea having an
Even in today’s society, gender roles play a part in how people view the world. Although more important than the gender roles are the emotions that antagonize the psyche of the human. Medea shows how jealousy can lead to revenge and influence bad decisions and ruin or even end lives. Ironically, the decisions she makes to kill her children, leaves Jason helpless much like a Greek wife during this time. She removes the opportunity for him to voice his opinions, needs, and desires. This flip of traditional gender roles shows how gender roles are not a reliable way to view a society.
As the famous Greek playwright Euripides once said: “Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make.” Such ideas are portrayed in one of him most famous plays, Medea. This play is a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea. Despite its recent fame, during his time, Euripides was unpopular since he used what would be considered a ‘modern’ view where he would focus on women, slaves and persons from the lower classes. In the play, Medea commits filicide, which initially appears extremely horrendous, but as the audience is guided through the play, they develop sympathy towards Medea. In order to achieve this empathy and enhance the understanding of Medea’s pride and ideals, Euripides utilizes the Chorus, the Nurse, and the Children- all are which minor characters. Granted that these characters overall have overlapping roles and guide the audience towards the same concept, at some topics they disagree or contradict each other.