Euripides uses indirect/direct characterization of Medea, the plays antagonist, to help the readers understand a deeper reason for the things she has done, including kill her own brother and children. Through the use of the chorus, and other minor factors, we, as the audience, get to mentally interpret Medea’s side of the problems she and Jason undergo, and try to understand what she is going through and how she feels. Does she do it out of spite or out of revenge? Was she really in love with Jason, and was he worth killing all of these people she so deeply cared about? Although Medea is portrayed as the villain in the play due to her actions and rage, indirect/direct characterization from herself, other characters, and most importantly, the chorus, all reveal a deeper understanding as to why Medea did what she did and how she felt in the midst of all these problems she faced. The play, from the very beginning, opens with drama and tension; Jason has left Medea, as well as his two children, and he hopes to soon be able to marry Glauce. From the first dialogue, the Nurse, begins to slowly reveal Medea’s pain, her suffering, her loss of understanding why: “Then my mistress, Medea, never would've sailed away to the towers in the land of Iolcus, her heart passionately in love with Jason. She'd never have convinced those women, Pelias' daughters, to kill their father.” It is revealed and inferred throughout the play, possibly before the play even begins that Medea is head over heals in love with Jason. She would do anything in her rightful power to help and be with this man; which included killing her younger brother, Absyrtus, and scattering his decapitated body over various oceans and realms of land. Her action can be reflected wit... ... middle of paper ... ...racterization all combine to reveal Medea’s true character throughout the play. She is first revealed as an evil, wicked person that only seeks vengeance and revenge in order to get back at Jason for using then leaving her. Throughout the play different characters, especially that of the chorus helps contribute to how the different view of Medea’s character changes and develops. With the indirect/direct characterization of Medea with other characters being used to characterize her, the audience begins to develop an idea as to why she did what she did, and how she justified the mix of emotions she had. Medea is a women passion, so enraged by betrayal so dear to her heart, that she acts based on her passion and rage even when these irrational thoughts controlled her to kill her own brother, her own children, Glauce and her father, king Creon. She followed through.
Euripedes tugs and pulls at our emotions from every angle throughout The Medea. He compels us to feel sympathy for the characters abused by Medea, yet still feel sympathy for Medea as well. These conflicting feelings build a sense of confusion and anxiety about the unfolding plot. In the beginning, the Nurse reveals the recent background events that have caused Medea so much torment: "She herself helped Jason in every way" (13) and now he "has taken a royal wife to his bed" (18). Right away we are angry with Jason for breaking his wedding vows, and we are building up sympathy for Medea as the Nurse describes her acts of suffering. When we first see Medea, she speaks passionately to the women of Corinth and convinces them to side with her. She evokes their sympathy by drawing further attention to her suffering and speaking in terms that bring them all to common ground. Aegeus becomes Medea’s first victim when he, unknowingly, provides the final building block in her plan for revenge against Jason. We sympathize for Aegeus in his ignorance. Medea now has confidence in her plan, so she reveals it to the women of Corinth. She is going to send her children to Jason’s bride with a poisoned dress that will make her die in agony. We are still compelled to sympathize with Medea at this point because she has justified her reasons for seeking revenge. However, the princess is oblivious to Medea’s plot; she will accept the gift for its beauty then meet an unexpected, agonized death. The image of pain and agony elicits our sympathy as well. Medea presents her most perverse speech when she explains how she will kill her own children then flee Corinth. Alone, these acts provoke pure disgust, but Euripides has developed Medea’s character as a coercive force; we still sympathize with her for her plight, yet we also hate her for her decisions. The women of Corinth try to persuade her away from this morbid choice, but their arguments are ineffective. Euripides employs stichomythia in the exchange between the women and Medea to show Medea breaking down boundaries between self and other, which prevent sympathy (811-819). Euripedes focuses on suffering, ignorance, and rhetoric to leave us torn in our sympathy for every character.
*Although Medea is arguably the most intelligent character in Euripides’s piece, shown in her dialogue with Creon, she has become ridiculed, and viewed as barbarous and less desirable following her separation from Jason. She is no longer a wife to a Greek man. She is simply an outsider, and a burden on a prosperous
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
Medea first enters the play and greets the women of the chorus. The chorus has just witnessed her wild lamentations, where she prayed for death and threatened to avenge herself on Jason and his new wife. Medea proceeds to tell the chorus about Jason’s betrayal and her own humiliation. She explains how heartbroken she is and the difficulties of being exiled in a city were she knows no one. She has no family or friends in Corinth and has been completely dependent on Jason. She laments the gloomy despair into which she has fallen. During this exchange she reveals to the chorus that she intends to devise a plan to break up the marriage and seek revenge against Jason. She explains that while most women would not stand up to for themselves, she will not remain defenseless: “but, when once she is wronged in the matter of love, No other soul can hold so many thoughts of blood.” In this scene Medea is not speaking calmly or reasonably. She is undoubtable distraught, and her thoughts and actions are being controlled by her hatred. The ...
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.
Even though Medea’s crime are despicable, Jason is also a despisable character. When he encounters Medea for the first time in the play, he says, “Even if [Medea] hates me / I could never think badly of [Medea]” (Euripides 462-463). It is easy for Jason to say these kind words because he is not the one being abandoned for another spouse. He also undermines Medea again after she recites how she helped him in on the Ship Argo. Instead of giving her any credit or appreciation, Jason confesses, “since you make such a mountain of it, I think that Kypris, god of love, was the savior” (Euripides 525-526). It is not enough to leave Medea for another woman while allowing her and her children to be exiled, but Jason also felt the need to discredit her contribution to his
Medea is a tragedy written by acclaimed Greek playwright Euripides.fortunately, had the opportunity to view last night's performance. Euripides cleverly uncovers the reality of Ancient Greek society, shining a light on the treatment of women and the emotions and thoughts that provoked during their time in society. As they were voiceless, Euripides acted as a voice. The scene is set during a male- dominated society, Medea the protagonist challenges the views and chooses to ignore the normality of civilisation. Treated as an outsider her passion for revenge conquers the motherly instincts she possesses, provoking a deep hatred and sparking revenge towards her once loved family.
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 tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
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.
... takes matters into her own hands and doesn’t wait for a man to handle things for her. Also, her internal conflict that is visible throughout the entire play signify that she actually thinks for herself, and is strong enough to need to make serious decisions on her own, regardless of her gender. All of this goes back on the traditional Greek society, and helps make Medea into a play that is ahead of its time. With Euripides challenging the notion of misogyny, he creates Medea to show how powerful and dangerous a woman can be in a story, even though it was never heard of in the modern eras.
Although Medea killed and did things that people felt were wrong it is evident that through out the play that along with her other characteristics, she was a caring and loving person. The first time we are shown this is when we discover everything she did for Jason. If she did not love him she would not have done those things. We are also shown that Medea can be a caring person by the love that she had for her children. Although she killed them in the end during the play she was a mother to her children, she showed affection to them, and she did think twice before she killed them. It is because Medea was a caring and loving person that she did what she did. Her feelings were hurt and her heart was broken; and she did what she felt she had to do to hurt Jason for hurting her.
This mutual suffering between Medea and the Chorus raises issues such as the treatment of women at the time when this play was written. When Medea married Jason, she married herself to him for life. She was expected to be totally obedient and to accept whatever her husband willed. For her to look upon another man other than her husband would have been totally unacceptable. Whereas Jason marries another woman while he...
Medea is a tragedy of a woman who feels that her husband has betrayed her with another woman and the jealousy that consumes her. She is the protagonist who arouses sympathy and admiration because of how her desperate situation is. I thought I was going to feel sorry for Medea, but that quickly changed as soon as I saw her true colors. I understand that her emotions were all over the place. First, she was angry, then cold and conniving. The lower she sinks the more terrible revenge she wants to reap on Jason.