What Role Does The Chorus Play In Medea

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’s strength is portrayed as her madness as she takes control and decides the fate of her enemies. She is a strong character and Euripides allows Medea to have a voice by allowing the audience to witness her break from the norm of what a woman of her time is expected to do. After giving up her family and former life to be with her husband, Jason, he decides to marry a younger princess while still married to Medea. Medea realizes that women are left to face the most miserable situations and says, “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (229). Jason feels that Medea is to be grateful for what he is doing by marrying into royalty as it will afford all of them a better life. The representation of Medea by Euripides is powerful, manipulative, and extremely smart, yet because she is a woman she has limited social power.

What is evident on reading and listening to the play is that the chorus is a key character within the play with a number of functions, namely linking the narrative, introducing the historical perspective, action as a “devil’s advocate”/advisor to many of the characters and also serving as the voice of the city. It is clear that without the Chorus the play would have been quite unstructured and not had as much context within it. The chorus gave insightful historical and mythical

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.

Medea’s conflict with Jason proves to be the main conflict in the play, which really sheds light into the fact that Euripides created this play to challenge the notion of feminism. After Jason’s betrayal, Medea decides to take control. It is evident in the way she manipulates other characters within the play, and how she handles situations she is in, that she is quite intelligent. Her motivation and will to accomplish her own goals, portrays Medea as the complete opposite of a typical patriarchal woman who embodies the norms of patriarchy in Greek society. In the play, Jason says, “I married you, chose hatred and murder for my wife – no woman, but a tiger…” (1. 1343-44) This quote shows the misogyny with Jason, because he is saying that him and the society have made Medea this way. But maybe Medea started acting

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

In Euripedes’ play Medea, he depicts Medea as a woman who is consumed with vengeance and hatred after being betrayed by her husband Jason. This betrayal sparks a series of “unholy, horrible” murders. Medea’s actions can be justified through justice and revenge. Medea was motivated by Jason’s actions to pursue her own actions against Jason. Medea wanted revenge toward her husband for leaving her after she fully dedicated herself to Jason - and she also wanted to seek justice for the pain that he caused her. However, Medea went too far by killing her two children who were innocent in this matter. Ultimately, Medea’s final deeds are justifiable and outweigh Jason’s betrayal of his family.

There are also parts in the play where one may begin to have an understanding of Jason’s motives. In Jason’s first argumentative speech to Medea, he claims that money, possessions and social status is of no importance to him. He declares that his choice to marry the royal Glauce is of good intention, not merely because he is bored with Medea’s bed. Later, when Medea begs Jason to forgive her for her foolishness, he shows kindness and understanding towards her. After all that Medea said about him and his new wife-to-be, Glauce, he states that he is still willing to provide Medea and their sons with anything they may need. Medea pleads for Jason to convince Creon to let their sons stay in Corinth and Jason agrees to try to convince both Creon and Glauce to allow the boys to stay. Jason is still compassionate, showing at least some loyalty to Medea and his family. At the very end of the play, after Medea has killed Glauce, Creon and their two sons, Jason admits that she has ‘destroyed’ him. Jason is completely shattered; everything has been ripped away from him. It’s also unfair when Medea refuses to let Jason bury and mourn the bodies of their sons. Some may feel it is impossible to feel no sympathy for him.

Medea accomplished that by giving birth to two children for Jason. As the play slowly unraveled, it plainly displayed that she was faithful towards her husband, but being an ideal Greek wife was not her factual nature. She was independent and her qualities made her different from the Corinth women. In the opening sequence, the nurse introduced Medea as a frightening woman when someone wronged her. “Her temperaments are dangerous and will not tolerate bad treatment. For she is fearsome. No one who joins in conflict with her will celebrate an easy victory”, the nurse presented (page 2, line). From this, the reader can envision how ordinary other Greek women were. How they didn’t have a mind of their own and were defenseless towards those shabby treatments from men. These women were submissive and didn’t have any control over their lives. However, the protagonist Medea did. She took matters in her own hands when her husband betrayed her.

Lars Von Trier's adaptation of Medea combines many elements from the original plot line, but also differs significantly. Von Trier uses not only visual images to compel his audience, but also incorporates a vast amount of sounds and noises to create dramatic effect. The film follows a lonely Medea without her chorus of companions that an original audience of the play would be used to. Rather than seeming foreign, Medea seems well adapted to her new home and is often seen utilizing the lands bodies of water accordingly. Although it is not outwardly declared, Medea's main mission is to seek revenge and abolish Jason's new life. Jason is pictured as handsome and strong, following stereotypical gender norms. His new bride also is in

revenge on Jason by any means possible. Euripides voiced the fear of her cunning mind through Kreon when he said "I am afraid of you [...] Afraid that you may injure my daughter mortally. [...] You are a clever woman, versed in evil arts, and are angry at having lost your husband's love." (280-284, pg 622) The fact that a male character would say something of this caliber says something about the roles of women during this time. Even though they are still seen as second class citizens to the men, a smart woman is feared. Ultimately Medea's strength is tested and she becomes crazed with

Moreover, Euripides incorporates Medea into the relationship to convey the idea that females also possess power in an alliance, but the form of their authority is different compared to that of a male’s. Medea elucidates that even in arduous times, she assists Jason and supports their marriage. In a direct conversation with Jason, she tells him, “…after I’ve done all this to help you, you brute, you betray me…” (27). She explains that although she took care of Jason and supported him whenever he needed her help, he disabuses his power to overpower her and abandon her. Even after Jason abandons Medea, she thinks day and night of him. Medea demonstrates that the power females possess is not physical and totalitarian like the males, but rather is emotional and mental. She tries to keep the family together and in trying to do so, she does whatever Jason asks her to do. She is the important woman behind every successful man. Without her command, Jason would not be the person he is. Therefore, she can destroy Jason whenever she desires with her power. She can be a femme fatale and reduce Jason’s life to rubbles. Similarly, after Medea finds out that she is being cheated on, she quickly creates a malicious plan to obliterate Jason. She assassinates his new wife and his heirs. Although her love is “greater than

In addition to the interactions between Medea and the Greek Chorus, it is important to explore the scenes preceding the tirade. The nurse’s opening monologue offers great insight into Medea’s state of characterization prior to her newfound interactions. The nurse anaphorically describes Medea’s actions towards Jason. The Nurse begins, “She wouldn’t have made the daughters of Pelias kill him, she wouldn’t have had to flee to Corinth here, she wouldn’t have done all that she did for Jason, She wouldn’t have been so darned complaisant to Jason” (311). Euripides’ use of anaphora creates emphasis on everything Medea has done for Jason. The Nurse believes that upon meeting Jason, “she wouldn’t have” fallen in love with Jason. Medea’s motivation was a clear passion to woo Jason. Formerly, Medea completes Jason’s task of achieving the Golden Fleece, originally a man’s task. With her cunningness, she uses her witch supremacies to her advantage, acting on her desire for Jason. Furthermore, the Nurse foreshadows Medea’s shift in characterization from anguish to dexterity in her

In the tragedy Medea, Jason is faced with realization of the death of his twin sons who were killed by their, mother, Medea; he falls into agony as he laments, inspiring a katharsis in the reader. Jason cheated on Medea, assuming that it was okay with her, saying, “…I/ Grew tired of your bed and felt the need for a new bride” (18). Jason desired a bride of title so that his current children and future children could be brought up “worthily” (26). He betrayed his family and Medea’s love for another woman, causing Medea began to seek revenge. She decides to do two acts: kill her husband’s fiancée and kill her own sons. “…I shall kill my own children. /My children, there is none who can give them safety,” Medea expresses, as she plots her plan (26). Jason is unaware of this act that his wife is ready to commit. No longer does he have a fiancée, but now he has lost his heirs to the kingdom. The tragic act occurring among family members, happens in Medea, which was highlighted in Poetics. The death of Medea and Jason’s sons leads to Jason’s

In answering this question, I will look at the question in two ways. Firstly, I will look at the role of the chorus objectively, examining the basic role of the chorus in the play, and looking at the role of the Chorus as Sophocles would have intended the role of the Chorus to be understood. However, I will then look at how I think the Greek audience would have perceived the role of the Chorus and then how the role of the Chorus is perceived today by a 20th century and examine the key differences in the two different sets of perceptions. Finally, I will look at the importance of the role of the Chorus to a 20th century audience and a Greek audience respectively.