“Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women/ Are the most wretched” (Euripides 229-230). This first quote is spoken by Medea after she escapes her maudlin feelings and assesses her feelings on her situation with her husband. Before now, she showed no sign of overcoming her agonized spirit. She lay in her bed sobbing, and only spoke to declare her wish for immediate death. When she decides to make a statement, she addresses all women of Corinth. She describes the world to be unjust, especially to women. Medea believes that women are looked as inferior to men, and even so, men are quick to display their unlikely maltreatment. To her, women have little to no say in their marriage, their bodies, and general society. Medea’s outlook of women is first conveyed through this quote, bringing upon the theme of the state of women within Greece. This quote reveals the state of women within Greece, a leading theme of the story. Medea’s statement not only shows the obvious oppression of women, but Greece’s workings because of them. Greece would not be able to operate if it was not for the inequity to women. Medea exposes multiple injustices that women face as well. She protests of being treated as property to man and having zero control …show more content…
Medea has already lost her husband and her home so this decision is an obvious one for her. She wants to leave everyone in the same misery that she has been experienced and continues to experience. After this, she even plans to murder her own children just to distress Jason further. Medea knows that she will live in regret and misery by doing so, but her need to sadden Jason trumps her own future feelings. The murder of her sons also symbolizes the death of her marriage with Jason. In order to move past Jason leaving her, she must kill the people that remind her of him. Revenge is an important theme to the story, and is revealed through this
This is an ironic statement as Medea is actually planning to kill her children, a fact which the audience does not yet know about. Jason uses another form of rhetorical stretching, which includes his plea that leaving his wife and children was a ‘wise move’, and that the decision was made with Medea’s best interests at heart, as much an attempt to convince himself as much as the audience. The chorus is quick to point out that ‘You have betrayed your wife and are acting badly.’ The Nurse is our first instance of anagnorisis during the play. Though an ancient Greek audience would well be in tune with the stories in Greek mythology, the Nurse’s role would still have proved important, as she was a tool Euripides used to transport the audience
Thus Ward is able to address the double edge sword that presents females in stories as “weak” or built upon the “wrath of a woman.” The inclusion of the universality that is associated with Greek mythology allows Ward to shed off the label of blackness from her work. With China, Esch and Katrina all carrying some traits of Medea, it allows the reader to see all aspects of being female from being vulnerable, brave, nurturing and protective. Moreover, Ward insinuates that women should be presented as empowering to one another and through Medea paralleling story Ward articulates her
Medea husband’s leaves her for another woman. Medea is particularly hurt by this since she betrayed her own family to be with him. King Creon banishes her and her two sons even after she begs for mercy. She meets Aegeus who promises her and her children a place to stay and then begins to enact her revenge.
One of the most famous ancient Greek tragedies is Medea. Medea is most widely known for killing her children. According to Wikipedia, Medea killed her children in order to get vengeance on her husband, Jason, for cheating on her. However, I do not believe that Wikipedia gives all the motives behind Medea’s “ultimate sin.” Wikipedia should be inclusive of all possible forces that may have caused Medea to kill her children in order for readers’ to get the most accurate depiction of events.
Medea and the women of Corinth both share, to a different extent, the experience of being unfairly categorized as the caretaker of the family, which aids Medea in persuasion because she can be trusted as a woman to speak on the patriarchal society. She continues as ‘’of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the sorriest lot’’ (229-230) of all the living things Medea describes women as the ‘’sorriest’’ which suggests that women are pitied and helps Medea to allure the Chorus to be on her side. Medea suggests to the Chorus that Females ‘’must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body: this evil is more galling than the first. ’’(231-233) Medea is arguing that women must sacrifice a ‘’great’’ amount of money to ‘’buy’’ their partners. This conveys the patriarchal community in Corinth.
And then faces the tough act of murdering her own children who she loves dearly. She does the awful deed and refuses to allow Jason access to their bodies to bury them or the ability to say goodbye to them, “For I'll send the children to her with
Medea plots her revenge by murdering the king, the bride and her two children in order to make Jason suffer and take away everything Jason cared about. The Greek gods felt that Medea was in her right and they proved this by allowing and even helping her escape in the end of the play
In Euripides’ text The Medea, Medea can easily be painted as the villian. She is a woman who killed her own children in an attempt to spite her husband. But, by examining the text, we can see that she deserves some sympathy. She has little to no control over her own life and has to rely on the will of men. And as a foreigner in Corinth abandoned by her husband, she faces even more challenges than the native women of Corinth did.
Explaining why the women are being treated unfairly and the outcomes that can happen to women in the Greek society. How men are portrayed in Greek society. Explaining why men have different expectations than women and the political aspects of the male gender role in Greek society. The effects of the non-traditional roles the men and women played in the Medea play. Also, discuss the
Introduction The purpose of this essay is to investigate the women’s role in Classical Greece society and literature (5th/4th century b.C.). Therefore, I decided to discuss and analyse one of the most controversial comedies of that time, “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. This text shows how women, sick of their submissive and powerless position in the political scenario of Athens and Sparta, come on the scene and, through a smart stratagem, achieve their expected result.
However, this was clearly not his intention because he did nothing to prevent his children being kicked out into the wild. Unsurprisingly, Medea became enraged and sought to obtain the justice she was not able to obtain. She wanted to judge Jason based on his inexplicable actions. He abandoned his paternal duties and were willing to start a new life, while she and their children were left to
However, despite their warrior nature, they are never able to defeat men in battle. Medea is the epitome of ancient Greek fears of different people. She is a foreign princess and a sorceress. She is so different, she is capable of the worst murders, including burning of innocent girls and killing her own
Euripides created a modern day woman who seeks justice and revenge with her cleverness and power. Medea acted as a feminine heroine who established that women can also be as strong as men. The feeling of being left by someone you love is truly painful hence, Medea expressed her emotions as much as she can and mourned for her lost. It is true that women can be sensitive and emotional so there was Medea portraying a usual woman in an unusual manner.
The unfair treatment of women is discussed often in Euripides’ play, Medea. The play is set in ancient Greece, where society was completely ruled by men. During this time, women were seen and treated as second-class citizens whose sole purpose in life is to bear children. They had almost no rights, and were seen as inferior. The writer, Euripides, disputes the once widely-held belief that women are not equal to
Her ultimate revenge is to kill their own children. The theme is revenge because the whole play is about how Medea 's anger leads to her murder their own children to avenge her husband. The play begins with the Amman have a conversation with yourself about how she wished that Medea had never moved to Corinth, that is where the play is played out. Amman is afraid of what Medea will do to itself but especially toward her children which she is unable to look at because they remind her of her husband, Jason, who has had an affair with the daughter of the Greek King.