Strategic Use of Dialogue in Euripides' Medea
Euripides employs the technique of dialogue between two solo actors on stage throughout Medea to dramatize the core values underlying these conversations. In particular, through the conversations that Medea holds with three different males, she shows herself to be a person of great intellect. Females were rarely valued for their intelligence because the Athenians had a "complacent pride in the superiority of the Greek masculinity" (page 641 ). Men and women were considered to have very different roles in society with men being the far superior species. Thus, Euripides uses Medea's [Note the specific claim/thesis conversations with Kreon, Aigeus, and Jason to showcase her
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Thus, Medea gains control of the conversation, and she is able to make Kreon conform to her agenda. Throughout this dialogue, Medea : I maintains her composure, which allows her intelligence to become apparent through her persuasive speech.
Yet the way in which Medea boldly interacts with Kreon would most likely be a shocking sight for the audience. Remember that Kreon is the King of Corinth, the most powerful man in the nation-state. Yet Medea, a foreign woman, is standing before him in an attempt to persuade him to alter his decision about her exile. Furthermore, Medea manipulates their conversation, so that Kreon will verify her ultimate wish. As the importance of the discussion increases, the dialogue becomes a series of single lines spoken back and forth between Medea and Kreon. With the level of intensity rising, Medea first seems to plead with Kreon to allow her to remain in Corinth permanently. Kreon refuses the proposal because he knows her to be a powerful woman capable of great evils; however, she then states that her true desire is to stay in Corinth for "this one day" (337). This seems like a minor request to Kreon, so he surrenders his will and grants Medea the right to remain in Corinth for one more day. Thus, Kreon gives Medea the window of time that she needs to murder his young daughter and himself. Kreon's decision will lead to his demise and is the stepping stone on which Medea will be able to accomplish her revenge in
More importantly, she seems to be able to identify the flaws that lead her astray. The first mistake Medea traces her current predicament back to is her vulnerability to be manipulated when thinking with her emotions instead of her better sense. On first falling in love with Jason, she recalls "I was ensnared, girl that I was, by your/words" (86), words tapping into her emotions. This of course inspired the all the more magnanimous goof of replacing her family with her husband who as the queen describes "alone...took the place of/ all!" (164-165). For the Queen of Colchis, bad decisions have been her major shortcoming, a fact that she both realizes and takes responsibility for. Thus acknowledgment is the first step towards her redemption. Evidence for this can be seen through her pathological appeals to Jason which illustrate how the Queen has used her emotional mind-set as a strength instead of a weakness. Medea "betrayed [her] sire" (109), "lost [her] throne" (163), and killed her own brother for Jason. She reminds him that, in addition to all the sacrifices she made for him, her devotion has not faltered when she says, "At your bidding I have withdraw from/ your palace...and --/ what follows me evermore -- my love for you" (140-143). After winning Jason's sympathy, the humble woman concludes "by my favours to you...restore me to the bed
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.
In Medea, Euripides uses irony to convey the fact that the female protagonist is strong in the androcentric society and the male protagonist is weak. In the article “Male Medea,” Nancy Rabinowitz describes the protagonist as “the transgressive woman, [or man] inside the woman's body, and her story gives the lie to the gender story--of the woman as victim” (16). Medea, the female protagonist, has the power to control and manipulate any character in the play. This is proven when the Tutor says “Madam, your sons do not have to go into exile; the royal bride gladly took the gifts in her hands; there’s peace now, with her and the children” (1001-3). This represents irony because the sons do not go into exile, but are instead killed by their masculine,
During the time of Euripides, approximately the second half of the fifth century B.C., it was a period of immense cultural crisis and political convulsion (Arrowsmith 350). Euripides, like many other of his contemporaries, used the whole machinery of the theater as a way of thinking about their world (Arrowsmith 349). His interest in particular was the analysis of culture and relationship between culture and the individual. Euripides used his characters as a function to shape the ideas of the play (Arrowsmith 359).
The duty of women portrayed in Greek society is a major subject in Euripides Medea. In old Greek society, ladies are delicate and compliant as per men, and their social position is viewed as exceptionally mediocre. Feminism is the hypothesis of men being viewed different in contrast to women and the male predominance over ladies in the public eye. Women's lives are spoken to by the parts they either pick or have forced on them. This is obvious in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the medical attendant. During the day and age which Medea is set ladies have exceptionally restricted social power and no political power by any stretch of the imagination, despite the fact that a ladies' maternal and residential power was regarded in the protection of the home, "Our lives rely upon how his lordship feels." The constrained power these ladies were given is diverse to present day society yet parts are as yet forced on ladies to acclimate and be a devoted spouse. Ladies have dependably been dis engaged because of their sex in present day and antiquated circumstances alike. In Corinth they are required to run the family unit and fit in with social desires of an obedient spouse. Medea, being an eternal and relative from the divine beings has a specific power in insight and guileful keenness. Being an outsider, Medea's wayward nonsensical conduct was normal in this play as she was not conceived in Greece and was viewed as an exotic foreigner. She goes over to the group of onlookers as an intense female character regarding viciousness. Some of Medea's responses and decisions have all the earmarks of being made a huge deal about as creators for the most part influence characters to appear to be overwhelming; this makes a superior comprehension of the content and the issues which are produced through the characters. Medea's ill-conceived marriage and the double-crossing of Jason drive Medea to outrageous vengeance. Medea acts with her immortal self and confer coldhearted demonstrations of murder instead of legitimize the results of her actions. Medea see's this choice as her lone resort as she has been exiled and has no place to go, "stripped of her place." To make sensitivity for Medea, Euripides
<br>Medea dwells in self-pity until contriving a scheme that will avenge her hurt. Wallowing in self contempt is generally a quality attributed to women by society. Medea is so unhappy with herself after her marriage with Jason ended that she wanted to die.
Medea after being betrayed by her husband Jason, she takes advantage of the sympathy of others to carry out her agenda. As an outsider and “non-Greek” (326), she understands that the people of Corinth do not reserve much sympathy for Medea herself. However, she recognizes there is a possibility that people will take pity on her children, therefore she takes advantage of this knowledge by using the children as bait. Medea persuades Creon and Jason to sympathize with her predicament by acknowledging their decisions and actions, meanwhile using the children as a commoMedea’s
Medea questions the firmly held belief in Greek society that women are weak and passive. Wanting revenge on Jason for his betrayal of her, Medea must take control of the situation, a stereotypical masculine quality. Though she cannot become a man or take power like a man, she perceives her
In Euripides’ Medea, Medea is very furious because Juno left her and her children to remarry the princess. Medea does not accept the betrayal and demands punishment for leaving her after all she has done for him. Creon is aware “I’m afraid of you. You could hurt my daughter, even kill her. Every indication points that way”(793). Medea knew she was going to exile and pretended to be a victim and swore that all she said was just out of anger. Little did the king know that she had a vicious plan to kill his daughter and Creon as well. Medea indeed got what she wanted. She obtained revenged by killing her children on top of the bride and the king.“Forget your children. Afterward you’ll grieve. For even if you kill them, they were yours; you loved them. I’m a woman cursed by fortune”(817). This shows how woman did not have power over their children. Medea’s husband was the owner and that’s why she killed them because her children were not in reality hers, she just gave birth to them.
After Kreon grants her one last day before exhile, Medea uses her cleverness to produce plots of revenge. '... he has given me this one day To stay here, and in this I will make dead bodies Of three of my enemies, --father, the girl and my husband. ';(Medea 369-379) Medea never lets societies norms of a female discourage her from doing the justice she sees fit.
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.
She helped him in every way possible in his quest for the Golden Fleece, “Her heart on fire with passionate love for Jason... But now there’s hatred everywhere. Love is diseased.” (1) However, in a tragedy, the hero is supposed to make a single mistake which ultimately leads to their downfall. In this case, Medea is not a heroic character as she is a sorceress, murders her brother, and her own children. The hamartia is intended to bring down a character of high morality, but Medea can be viewed as a wholly evil character who is not guided by any moral principles. She is also manipulative and deceptive in the way that she treats the men around her, Creon, Aegeus, and Jason, while involving them in her plan for revenge. Euripides has shown this aspect of her personality through lines such as “Do you think that I would have fawned on that man unless I had some end to gain or profit in it?” (12) and “by a trick I may kill the king’s daughter” (25)
They were expected to do take on the accepted role of a woman. In most cases, a
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
While both versions care for speech more than actions, the Norton version puts a bigger emphasis on it. When speaking, Medea is exceedingly deliberate in getting the response she craves. “Women of Corinth, I have stepped outside so you will not condemn me. Many people act superior- I’m well aware of this. Some keep it private; some are arrogant in public view” (Page 751 Lines: 212-215). The act of stepping out into the light is a form of acknowledging the women already view her in an ill manner. She clearly concocts a scheme, in order for the women to not perceive her as the guilty one. Moreover, Medea continues to