Juxtaposition In Medea

The three heroines of the plays have reasons for their actions and doing what they do, so it can be explained why they are in the right. Their crimes in Greek culture include Medea killing her children, Antigone burying her brother while disobeying a ruler, and Lysistrata condemning sex from men in war of their wives. Medea is the wife of Jason, who she has supported all through her life by killing her brother, betraying her father, and making her own homeland hate her. All of this for the benefit of her husband, giving him fame and success.

In order to stop Jason from marrying Creon’s daughter, she kills her and Creon. Medea furthermore kills her children as a way to give Jason even more pain (and on some accounts, save her own children from the royal family’s vengeance). Through her murderous actions, Jason’s power is even greatly more diminished. At the end of

Jason tries to reason with Medea by showing that his betrayal was for the sake of the children “so [that] [they’ll] be well off” (326) and be brought up “in a way that’s worthy/ Of [his] family” (325). Medea consumed in her grief is still unable to mediate with Jason’s betrayal and is determined to kill Jason’s new bride by sending her a poisoned dress and tiara. Understanding that displaying fury towards Jason will not accomplish her plans, she chooses to show that she “agrees with him about his marriage” (332). Confessing to her own stubbornness and “bad temper” (334), she is able deceitfully continue on to say she “realizes how wrong [she] [has] been” (335). Furthermore, she uses the children to cumulate sympathy, similar to how she initially gained Creon’s mercy. By “[admitting] [she] was wrong” (335) and telling Jason she “supports [his] [plans]” of their children “having royal brothers” (326), he becomes persuaded by Medea’s thoughtfulness. After Medea allows the children to “come out” (336) and embrace him, she asks whether his “new wife” (336) could ask Creon to “let [the] [children] stay” (336). Medea takes advantage of knowing it would be difficult for Creon to refuse a request from his own child to resume her agenda. After spotlighting how concerned she is about the children, she recognizes that Jason

At the same time, in order to atone for the sin she has committed, Medea plans to “establish a holy feast and sacrifice each year for ever” (Euripides 45). She takes the bodies of her children so that she can protect them and grieve over what she has done. Both of these ideas follow normal ideology of human nature. Medea also stands up for her children when they couldn’t. During her argument with Jason, she accuses him by saying, “Now you would speak to them, now you would kiss them.

She continues to describe her state, “A typically unfair attitude, I suppose…” (316). Later, in the tragedy, Medea boldly leaves the house after murdering her own children in pursuit of satisfaction. Medea shows audiences the horror that can come when one lets the desire for revenge rule his/her life.

All of the past acts of betrayal that Medea did was in the cause of Jason but he chooses to betray her from the dearly-bought oaths. Jason status-seeking self no longer wants to be with his barbarian wife but he says that he still cares about the welfare of the children. None of that changed the Medea’s mind away from revenge. No matter how unholy it maybe, Medea still wants to give Jason a penalty which will cost him more than his death- no children to continue his heritage. This article helps me understand more clearly about how Medea was convinced to do such a crime. She knew that if she had to take her children with her during her exile, they had slim probability of survival. Also, if she left them behind, they would not be safe as the royal family wouldn’t like them after the death of princess. Even if they were safe, they would be helping Jason grow his lineage through them. With them being alive and in the care of Jason, she could still be laughed at through her children. With all of these reasons, she convinced herself that the children would in their own interests be better

As a mother, Medea on the surface is not the best, as she eventually kills her children, ignoring their pleas for mercy ("Mother, don't kill us"). However, we must not ignore the heartache and pain that Medea endures in killing them. It takes incredible conviction to carry it out ("parted from you, my life will be all pain and

Medea never goes through a dramatic, tragic realization. While she does question her actions temporarily before killing her own children, she never regrets it afterwards and knows that it must be done. It seems as though she knew that her children must die from the first instant Jason divorced her:

However, no one in the play except the Nurse thinks for a second that Medea could bring herself to murder her children. Medea even has an internal debate over whether she could bring herself to commit such a crime, showing once again that she is not completely in control of her emotions. In the end, she decides to go through with it rather than leave them “to the mockery of my enemies” (78). In the end, Medea appears in the sky in “a chariot drawn by dragons” (84). She has already killed the boys and she attributes their death to Jason’s “weakness” (86) and his “lustful heart and new marriage” (86). The play ends with Medea disappearing from view with the children.

She feels that if she left her children with Jason they would not be treated properly and mocked since they are part barbaric. Medea is a woman of pride and does not want to give her enemies a reason to mock or laugh at her in any circumstances (781-782). She would rather not leave them with Jason as she feels he would still have someone around him he loves and she feels like there is no place for barbarian children in the Greek city: “Children, there is none who can give you safety” (793). Since she needs to move quickly to Athens after she commits the murders of the royal house she decides it would be difficult to take them with her as they will slow her down and endanger her escape. For these reasons, Medea sees it fit to best kill her children to get revenge on Jason.

Medea was a troubled soul once Jason left her for a younger princess. When the nurse says “Rulers are fierce in their temperament; somehow, they will not be governed;”, it rings very true of Medea (Puchner 531). Someone so accustomed to getting her way will by no means let anyone, including her beloved Jason, treat her with any disrespect. She not only felt dejected by Jason, but she felt she could do nothing to change her circumstance but take out deadly vengeance against those that committed such a hiatus act towards her. With all things considered, Medea felt Jason took everything from her when he left. Jason became her everything. When she

From the beginning of the play the conflict between good and bad where Medea and Jason are concerned has been ambiguous. Both characters have done terrible things in order to attain what they want. Nothing could stand in the way of them including Medea’s father, whom Medea betrayed and to pile on the grieve she kills her brother and drops parts of him into the sea so as to delay her father thereby ensuring that Jason and his Argonauts could fulfil their quest to attain the Golden Fleece. When Jason betrays Medea and walks away from their marriage we immediately identify him as the villain, yet the reader fails to understand that during that time when this play was written it was still socially acceptable for the man to walk away from his marriage provided he gives back the dowry he attained from the wife’s father. In this case Medea did not bring any such items so it was even easier for him to leave her so as to empower himself. It was Medea’s role as a woman belonging to that age to accept Jason’s decision however she feels betrayed that he would break a vow made in front of the gods, and apparently she was not a regular woman even by the standards of that time as she had an intellect that could rival that of scholarly men. So to exact her revenge she destroys everything Jason loves leaving him to regret ever betraying the marriage.

Euripides also carefully reveals the elements of Medea's past that demonstrate her readiness to violate solidarity of family ties in order to pursue her intractable will; Jason and Medea's original tryst, for example, required that she kill her own brother, thus choosing marriage ties over blood ties. Secondly, Medea's selfishness provides power to her fatal flaw. Medea's selfishness and lack of humanity is displayed through the act of killing her own two sons. Medea understands that the slaying of her children will make Jason miserable. During this time, the chorus recognizes her self-worship and states, “But can you have the heart to kill your flesh and blood” (Euripides, The Medea, 816)? Medea does not stop to think what pain she may cause to herself by murdering them. She is only concerned about her happiness that will be derived from Jason's grieving. Medea comes to the conclusion that it is worth the suffering just to see her ex-husband unhappy. Medea states, “Yes, for this is the best way to wound my husband” (Euripides, The Medea, 817). This exhibits Medea's selfishness by the slaying of her sons just to cause sorrow to Jason for her own pleasure. Medea's rage also leads to her fatal flaw of excessive passion. Her excessive passion, fed by rage, leads Medea to do uncalled-for acts of violence and murder.

The mistreatment that both receive from Jason and Agamemnon despite all that they do for them contributes heavily to their vengeful actions as well. Medea used her magical powers, defied her father, and killed her brother to devote herself to Jason, is still treated coldly and is neglected by Jason, who abandons her and their two sons and leaves her for Creon’s daughter. She realizes that “to annihilate the past is not possible: but its fruit in the present” can be used at her disposal to fulfill vengeance (Medea 1.364-5). She decides to channel the woe she

The play Medea relates so much to conflicts going on today in all type of relationships. How would you respond to the betrayal from someone you love? Some would say that they would just walk away from the situation. Others would try to get revenge on that significant other. Medea is known to be the protagonist; the one who is in the external conflict with another character. The character she is in conflict with is Jason, known as the villain. The way Medea responded to Jason leaving her for another woman was very dreadful. Not only did Medea go after getting revenge for Jason, but she also went after everything Jason loved; his new wife, and her own kids. I guess you can describe Medea as very vengeful and violet.