Category: Medea

Medea, written by the infamous Greek tragedian Euripides, shines a light on the injustices women faced in Classical Greece. Throughout the play, Medea is constantly ostracized and villainized due to the heinous crimes she committed with Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Despite this, Medea “fights” back against the patriarchy, and shows that she won’t confine herself to gender expectations. Moreover, Medea consistently shows that she doesn’t consider herself an outcast, but a powerful independent woman.

Many people in Classical Greece regarded foreigners as barbarians, which made it taboo for any person to marry a foreigner, especially a person of royal status. Because of this, Medea was not only shunned but eventually was exiled due to Creon being afraid that she would kill his daughter. This common Greek opinion become clear when Jason tells Medea, “There is no Greek woman who would’ve dared do such deeds, out of all of whom I passed over and chose you, to marry instead a destructive bitter match, a monster not a woman.” (Euripides. 44)

Surprisingly, even though Jason committed the same crimes as Medea he is regarded as an honorable and trustworthy man. This represents a double standard in terms of gender roles because only Medea is held accountable for the crimes, and not only does Jason not receive punishment but is being crowned prince. This concept also ties into gender roles/ expectations in Greek society because women were expected to marry at the age of 14 and to produce children with a man usually much older than they were. Medea did not apply to any of these expectations which is why she was viewed in such a harsh and negative way.

Moreover, in Classical Greece women were under complete authority of their husbands and were expected to stay at home. Because Medea never followed any of her gender expectations and was considered a savage, many people viewed her in a negative light, including her servants who were paid by her and raised her children. This shows how strict Greek expectations were and how by not abiding to these rules could cause you to be looked down upon. This becomes clear when Medea says, “ How happy among Greek women you’ve made me, on your side for all of this! A distinguished husband I Have for breaking promises when in misery, I am cast out of the land and go into exile.” (Euripides 17). This quote is important because it shows that if a woman is not loyal in marriage she is forced to go into exile, however if a man isn’t loyal and even chooses to marry another woman there are no consequences.

The story of Medea by author Euripides conveys the loathsome side of human relationships, especially within a family. The society being presented in the story mirrors major situations happening in our society. Medea is a woman who has suffered a lot, and over time, she became twisted by her own pain. Euripides uses gender roles, love, marriage, and being a foreigner as a common motif in this short story. True power of love lies in the lack of protection and comfort it provides for the protagonist. She recognizes her marriage as a representation of betrayal and dishonor. She is clouded with thoughts of revenge, without realizing from the beginning that her love serves as a time bomb for her self destruction.

Gender Roles

There is a timeline of tradition that has enabled men and women to establish gender role in present society. Some people still argue that gender roles still exist, but others do not believe they do. Back then, men typically went to school and worked in the office, while females took care of the children and did household chores. Although these roles are less evident in some countries, these traditional roles are still practiced in other societies but tend to have similar meaning when compared to the past. Euripides lengthy express how gender roles and marriage affect women during the greek era and what hardship they face. In the beginning of the play, medea nurse voice some of the bad deed medea did to her own family for her husband jason: “ my mistress medea would not have sailed for the towers of the land of Iolcus, her heart on fire with passionate love for jason; nor would she have persuaded the daughters of pelias to kill their father, and now be living here in Corinth with her husband and children” (Pg 147, Five Great Greek Tragedies).

Just like many other women, medea had to give up her home, family, and body for marriage, she intended to devote solely on her husband alone. The author Euripidies use the play to convey that women in the greek society are so powerless, medea in the play was helpless, a foreigner in another country, and most important a woman in corinth. She felt that “of all creatures that have breath and sensation, we women are the most unfortunate,”(Pg 182,Five Great Greek Tragedies). and move on to discuss the hardship and partial situation women face like “for there is no easy escape for a woman, nor can she say no to her marriage”(Pg 182,Five Great Greek Tragedies). She felt that the corinth society was sickening, to the point that she had the mentality that what applies to the male in the society does not applies to females, in the sense of authority over their life. She is deeply jealous of the freedom men have.

Marriage

Moreover medea talk about marriage and how women do not have a say in the marriage but “ a man, whenever he is annoyed with the company of those in the house, goes elsewhere and let the soul of soul of his boredom”( Pg 183,Five Great Greek Tragedies). But we women must fix our gaze solely on one person only. Men constantly complain that we live a life free from danger at home, by being a housewife, while he exerts himself, I would be the voice of all women and medea say that women would rather stand three times with a shield in battle than give birth once. Gender roles were abandoned in ancient greek society, making it so that women have finite social and political power in the society. Marriage was never an option for women in greek society, it was a requirement to get married at a certain age. Always hoping love will come with the package called marriage was the dreams of the women in ancient greek.

Love

Aphrodite, goddess of love, was not held in high regard in the story. Everything she touches, always turns out to be a disaster, which will lead to the death of a loved one and unhappiness. Up to the point that the protagonist plead to the goddess to release her from the distress, love brings to her. As a reader I could analyze that the root of all medea’s anger is love. She fell in love with jason during his search for the golden fleece. The nurse noted that her mistress medea, would have never been hit with cupid’s arrow, if not for jason appearance. Her deep affection is the incitement for her inhumane act for revenge. Human beings have a tendency to think only about what benefit them. In the conversation between the nurse and the tutor; they were deeply converse on the irony of love: This started with the nurse stating what an enemy jason is to those people he should have loved, with the tutor replying that everyone loves himself more than his neighbor. (Pg 178, Five Great Greek Tragedies) Some people have a reason, why others get something out of it; so jason neglect his wife and children for the new bride​ ​for the opportunity to be king Creon successor.

Euripides seems to be connecting the medea play and analyzing the irony of love to the theory concerning humanity. He is set on portraying love as a force of destruction, by displaying that his characters affection are the reason for their tragedy. He criticizes love as a dangerous thing and also use the medea play to make a statement that a healthy relationship is absurd, because greak men do not trust greek women. The play on words between jason and medea proves that medea did not feel some kind of remorse after killing her children. This scene started with Jason sobbing over his dead children and Medea telling him that she killed them just to get at his heart, which ends with Jason stating that he wishes his kids are hugging and kissing him as he entered the room. Yet again, Euripides being redundant over the irony of love to humanity.

During this moment did Medea display happiness and satisfaction now that she completely demolish any source of “that thing” called love from her anguish soul. No matter what steps you take, love and marriage can not change one’s identity, and definitely can not clean the slate of one being a foreigner, but medea mentality proved otherwise.

Foreignness

Medea was accepted with open arms into the corinthian society. Despite her being a foreigner, they treated her like any other greek woman; but after her husband betrayed her in their holy matrimonial home, people of corinth started treating her as a foreigner, which is basically on the same level as a slave in corinth except with fewer rights. Jason felt the need to address to Medea that no greek women would have killed their children, but medea did it and not think about the consequences because she is a foreigner and an outsider to the greek society. In ancient greece, the citizen stand guard against foreigners or anything foriegn to them, and call the foreigners barbarians, because they feel like outsiders come into their society and become wild and unruly. Which will tarnish the epitome of the greek image; After marrying Jason, Medea had to work hard to break the foreigner stigma and had the mentality that she has to assimilate herself to be able to be accepted and fit in to the society. Euripides portray Medea as an intelligent woman; that acted weak to convince the chorus; which symbolize the women corinth, to take pity on her. She was able to convince the king of Corinth to let her stay one more day, just to execute her revenge. She played with everyone minds and used everyone like a chess piece. This play worsen the view of foreigners in the greek society.

Conclusion

Medea is a woman I feared and pitied as a reader, but at the same time, I admire her as a person for all her effort. She is basically a heroine that got away with murder, and which is no different from other male figures in her society. As a reader, a woman and a caretaker of children, I am bewildered on whether to say if she was guilty for the killings or not because love can make us crazy. Women should be pitieds because every step they take in life, there always seems to be unfair consequences drawn down on them. Madea fell in love and the time for her self-destruction started ticking. So many promises come up that are followed by disappointment; which causes her to blow up.

The play is actually reinforcing patriarchal ideology comparatively more than it’s undermining it. She’s healthy and decisive which are virtually believed to be male characteristics in a patriarchal society and she’s also mental like a female was believed to be. Patriarchy is a society that favors the men over the women. Guys would not be in an area to perform something that’s thought to be girly also. He would not have the ability to cry, show act or emotion too caring towards folks.

Medea is proven to be unstable mentally which supports the ideology of women during this time in literature. Medea is upset because Jason tells her he is marrying someone else to look out for him and his children. This pertains to the feminist theory because women never had the option to just up and leave relationships. Women were seen as monstrous for dating a man for his status or net worth nowadays. Medea is also limited once she is married and basical pays for her husband. Giombini states, “Medea refers to the suffering of women: a woman must pay to get married because her family is obliged to bring a dowry to her future husband, so her family must provide the dowry to the groom of the daughter. Furthermore, even after purchasing a husband, a woman cannot repudiate him, while the man can divorce his wife at will. In such a case, the woman ends up dishonored by a divorce, unwanted by her husband” Being mentally unstable was seen as a women characteristic. There is a social class put in place to attack the feminist theory and without that social class feminism wouldn’t thrive. Diane Reay states “without class or something to go in its place feminist theory will fail to engage adequately with the intricate web of inequalities that constitutes society in the 1990s and into the millennium”. Jason believed that her brain was ‘dangerous’. This explanation is actually displaying Medea’s hate and just the way she’s really angry she’s not thinking straight. Medea couldn’t look at her children without thinking of Jason which she despised and led her to kill them. All of these particular actions, portrayed Medea as just being stereotypically a’ bad girl’ who’s believed to be monstrous, worldly, aggressive, and violent. Medea was seen having these awful qualities and it took away from the traditional gender role of a women. This story was so impactful that there was even a disorder named after her. The author states, “The Medea complex refers to a disturbed mother-child relationship with obvious destructive aspects, and it evokes a central theme that Jung articulated in his writing about the Terrible Mother”. Though there were numerous patriarchal concepts in the play; feminist techniques are actually offered as well. There’s a social class structure put in place to strike the feminist principle, and without that public group feminism would not thrive. She’s an incredibly interesting concept that’s unbelievably incredible too. Medea figures out a plan, by herself, to solve this huge issue in her life. She finally decides to attack Jason’s heart instead of his physical body. Medea works through her pain in the play and her actions are clear as day to the people around her but it goes under the radar with Jason because of her decisiveness. She’s independent in supporting the choices of her and does not back out.

Jason pursued his own desires, while Medea ignored the stereotypes of many females within the Greek patriarchal world. She questioned female’s inequality within the patriarchal world, contradicted Jason’s motivational opinions and challenged the passive and weak stereotypes of women and totally ignored the job of maternal women. Many believe it’s among the very first works of feminism, as well as Medea is actually the hero of feminism. These females had been feared as well as enchanted by Medea, which rather replaced the life of her. All of them condemned her and shame on her bad conduct, though they didn’t try to understand her point of view. Fearless and powerful, Medea refused to deal with unfairness by males, and plans her revenge. It’s the role of an ancient Greek female, as he’s having to pay more interest to Medea himself. The simple fact that Euripides selected Medea to eliminate the infant is actually decisive for this conversation and will be pointed out. The meaning Goodman discovered that there are actually 3 important issues in defining a thing as a feminist, near to literature, with publication literature and gender.

Many would argue this Euripides Medea is actually an early representation of feminism even though this’s real as apparent by Medea’s quest and independence for equality, Medea doesn’t display feminist qualities until the first exchange of her with the females of the chorus. Many folks feel Medea’s bold choice to abandon her fight and fatherland with Jason reveals that she’s a feminist; however, the betrayal of the family of her just to be with a male shows that Medea is much more interested in experiencing a husband than becoming an unbiased female. When Medea will lose Jason, she suffers from grief which turns into rage that sparks the feminism which motivates Medea to get the justice of her. To obtain the chorus’s loyalty, Medea lures them inside with the woes of the life of her and potential in order to make the sympathy of theirs. Pity is actually an important thing; when folks have pity for somebody it is able to cloud the judgement of theirs and escape them weak to manipulation. Medea uses this expertise as being a tool to encourage the chorus to feel really sorry for her. Medea initially exclaims, ‘unexpected trouble/ has crushed the soul of mine. It is over now; I take/ absolutely no pleasure in my life’ (Euripides 226 228).

Jason’s beliefs about women’s role in society are examined in this play. Jason airs the views of his about what all females want: ‘If they are (females) satisfied in bed, they are happy everywhere’. By comparing Medea’s fresh feminism to Jason’s self-centered chauvinism, Euripides brokers sympathy as well as support for feminism in the market. Medea concerns the securely held belief in Greek modern society which females are actually passive and weak. Wanting payback on Jason for the betrayal of his or her, Medea should take control of the predicament, a stereotypical masculine quality. She’s in a situation in which she need to struggle between her would like for freedom as well as her motherhood instincts: ‘My center throughout the dagger. Do it. Do not flinch. You need to. Come, hand: the blade. This particular program must run. No weakness. No…memories. Flesh of the flesh of yours! Forget you enjoyed them for a particular very short day, forget. She should kill the children of her and shed the sympathy of the market. Nevertheless, at this stage in the play the chorus don’t sympathizes with Medea as well as the actions of her and really plead with her: ‘On the knees of ours we beg you think once again. Your kids mustn’t die.'(p.29, Medea). The’ motherhood’ and’ nurturing’ function are actually both qualities concerning femininity which Medea through rightly disregards when she gets rid of the children of her. Medea’s inquiries the inequality of females in a patriarchal world, contradicts Jason’s chauvinist opinions, issues the stereotype that females are actually passive and weak and totally disregards the feminine job of motherhood.

In conclusion, Medea is the trailblazer for feminism and represents it well within the story until she kills her children. Her reaction to her husband’s action paints her as a monster when in fact she was just reacting to her heart being broken. The way women are portrayed in this story corrupts the feminist theory because it doesn’t show women with individual liberty. Medea did not want to fall victim to the patriarch system so she decided to take matters in her own hands. Medea represents women without a voice that have been hurt or harmed by men and get blamed for the men’s actions.

Medea is a play written by Euripides that explores ideas of revenge and gender inequality that are prominent even today. In the play, the main character, Medea, has her heart broken by her husband, Jason, who cheats on her and plans to marry a princess while he is still married to her. As a result, she is exiled from her home. For this, Medea embarks on a voyage of revenge costs her the lives of her children. Throughout the play, the audience can see the influence of gender roles on the functioning of the society. In society even today, women are often regarded as the shadow that follows a man wherever they go, rather than another separate human being that is capable of making their own decisions and one that is deserving of the right to create and manage their fight. Furthermore, history has shown us that when this right is deprived from the hands of a woman, they will often times fight back. This is the same case in Medea’s story. Medea gave up everything for Jason but received only ingratitude, abandonment and betrayal in return. She was expected to give up everything to serve her husband and her children, but when she broke the societal expectation or norm and spoke out, people were afraid of the implications of her words and actions and thus, exiled her from society. The point of my paper is to analyze the impact of the emotional manipulation of a patriarchal society on the actions and behavior of a woman and how that further influenced the way in which Medea viewed herself. Medea claims that “women are the most unfortunate creatures” as women are forced to endure a test on self preservation and self-establishment every step of the way in life.

In the beginning of the play, the nurse portrays a tone of distress and fear concerning Medea’s murderous and suicidal thoughts, “She lies without food ad gives herself up to suffering, Wasting away every moment of the day in tears,” (Medea, 2) “I am afraid she may think of some dreadful thing, For her heart is violent. She will never put up with the treatment she is getting”(Medea, 2). This provokes the audience to show some sympathy to her while also recognizing that she is a headstrong woman who is capable of turning heads to be in her favor. It is clear that Medea demands respect. This quote in the beginning of the play truly highlights the true purpose of the text and introduces the allegory about how oppression results in rebellion. Euripides sets this up in order to portray Medea’s actions as a reaction to the injustice she faces. This is shown through the manner in which her anger, sadness, and feelings of betrayal drive her to a state of obsession; one with revenge in order to protect her dignity, if not for others then for herself.

The fundamental conflict that Medea faces within herself–that of her worth and importance–stems from the conflict between Medea and Jason as she believes that she has been faithfully devoted to him while he had not fulfilled his duties as a husband or as a man. Ever since day one, Medea had sacrificed her needs and desires to ensure that Jason attains his Kleos, “my mistress Medea would not have sailed for the towers of the land of Iolcus, her heart on fire with passionate love for Jason; nor would she have persuaded the daughters of Pelias to kill their father, and now be living here in Corinth with her husband and children”(Medea, 1). If it was not for the love and sense of duty that Medea had for Jason then she would not have ended up “…deserted, a refugee, thought nothing of By my husband–something he won in a foreign land. I have no mother or brother, or any relation With whom I can take refuge in this sea of woe” (Medea, 9). Medea had become a stranger in a place that was supposed to be her home. She gave up everything and now, she has no one. Her life is forced to be dependent on people that look up to Jason more, simply due to the fact that he is a man who has also gotten the Golden Fleece and two because it’s his homeland but not hers’, “When in misery I am cast out of the land and go into exile, Quite without friends and all alone with my children, That will be a fie shame for the new-wedded groom, For his children to wander as beggars and she who saved him” (Medea, 17). Often times in society, it is the woman that lives with the family of the man, it is the woman that sacrifices a lot, from her last name to her self of identity that changes as she serves her husband and bears his children. Medea feels as though she has no life of her own anymore, she lives for her husband and her children.

On page 17, Medea asks, ‘Why is there no mark on men’s bodies By which we could know the true ones from the false ones?’ She brings about the question of why women often fall prey to the actions of a man. Women in Greek society then as well as in society now are regarded as a man’s side piece and every day, women fight to have their birth rights. Medea argues that “ there is not an easy escape for a woman, nor can she say no to her marriage” (Medea, 8). In saying this, Medea disapproves of the marking of women. When a woman steps into a marriage, she is tied down to the man that she gives an oath to and in society, it is often acceptable for men to break this oath of marriage and unacceptable for the opposite sex to do the same. Women have no other option but to get married as often times, women get regarded as an anomaly if no man wants to marry her. Marriage often implicates a “mark” on the woman that lets others know that she is off the market. Whereas, for me, they have the freedom and are often regarded as supreme if they are associated with multiple women. Men have the liberty of denying another women while women do not even carry the right to choose if they want to be committed or not, far be it to have an expectation of choosing a man that is decent and “true.” This societal expecation and favoring of one sex over the other comes to prove the point made my Medea that women are indeed regarded as the inferior sex among the two.

Even as a woman, Medea strives to defy and denounce the life of a woman. Her insight on the lonely lives of women leads to the readers having a sense of sympathy for Medea. Medea’s loneliness is enhanced by her solitude, state of feeling like an outlander, the rootlessness with which a person who flees her homeland has to deal with. Medea sets out, in her own way, to break the stereotypical expectations of the role of women are the nurturing forces in society. She goes as far as to say that she would “…very much rather stand three times in the front of battle than bear on child” (Medea, 9). Here, we can witness Medea’s rebellious nature. She portrays her tiredness regarding the idea of obeying the laws of the society and she would much rather break the stereotypical gender roles of the woman being the nurturer and child bearer when the me fight to protect their city and family. Furthermore, Medea’s belief on defying the nature of gender roles is further highlighted in her description of regarding the union of Jason and Glauce, the princess of Corinth and the daughter of King Creon. She states that “It was everything for me to think well of one man, and he, my own husband, has turned out wholly vile” (Medea,8 ). She believes that Jason, the one man that was supposed to be her anchor is the one that has let her down. By associating with another woman while still being wedded to Medea, he has humiliated her and made her feel helpless and powerless and along with that, has left his children “to wander as beggars” (Medea, 17).This feeling of Medea’s is further reinforced in the play when Medea declares to Jason during their encounter, “What heavenly power lends an eat To the breaker of oaths, a deceiver?” (Medea, 45) making it clear that there are many reasons why Medea is truly distressed.

Medea is driven to revenge by her love of Jason who has not only destroyed the life that they built together but has betrayed and broken his marriage oath. Medea had become dependent upon Jason for a home and security; she cannot return to Colchis and has no other city where she can seek sanctuary. Medea explains that it is expected of the women of Corinth to take the position of a submissive mother and wife and she is determined to prove otherwise, “Let no one think me a weak one, feeble-spirited, A stay-at-home, but rather just the opposite, One who can hurt my enemies and help my friends; For the lives of such persons are most remembered” (Medea, 26). Here we see Medea break out of her expected role and take shape into the person that she wants to be. Now she has something to prove to the society, the men and especially herself. She is tired of being undermined in all facets of her life. Now that Jason has broken the oath of her sacred marriage, she has nothing else to lose because he seems to have destroyed every good thing that there was about her life. She is oe being forced to fight for herself in a land that seems to be completely against her.

Jason’s act of breaking the oath has a secondary effect in respect of Medea’s honor; she loses her place in society and home because of his actions. Euripides’ tale in Medea recounts the awful experiences that women generally had, and then to have even today, when they got married. Medea is portrayed as a woman that adopted the role of the Greek wife, wherein Jason and the children had been her sole focus, but, when Jason leaves, her world appears to be ending. Medea’s honor is important to her because of what she gave up for Jason and what she invested into their marriage. Honor was all she could regain following Jason’s departure; through carefully planning each detail of her revenge with a very gracious (in her books) flight from the scene. Medea’s revenge against Jason is in direct defiance of these roles and the oppression females faced. Medea is placed into a difficult, oppressive society where she is subjected to the harsh truth of human nature, but in a startling new range of external behavior; one of chaos. This is ultimately portrayed in Medea’s murder of her children that serves as a symbolic act of rebellion against motherhood.

Medea is a strong headed woman that gives up her life, willingly, in order to live with and serve a man that she thought was honorable. However, he ends up teaching her a lesson that makes her truly understand the nature of the separation that exists between the two sexes. Medea believes that the nature of women is submissive since birth and she finds a way, by rebelling against the gender roles, to instill fear in the community and show that she is much more than just a mother and a wife. She is a human. An individual that should have the ability to make her own decisions and live as an equal partner to a man rather than as a servant to a man.

As time evolves, society is forcing itself to create certain gender roles in civilization. While many people argue to disagree with this, certain individuals believe they subside today because, usually, in an ancient Greek household, the woman will cook, clean, and watch over the children while the man of the household was working. Even if these roles are on a lower scale today, they usually have matching meanings with gender roles long-ago. Nowadays, females are becoming doctors, can vote, and are becoming candidates for president. This is a big upgrade from years ago where women were forced to be under constant pressure by their husbands and practically couldn’t live their own lives. This is demonstrated on multiple occurrences in Charlie Perkin’s, The Yellow Wallpaper, and Medea by Euredipes.

In Charlie Perkin Gilman’s, The Yellow Wallpaper, gender roles are opened up to the reader almost instantly as, John, the narrator’s husband is a doctor which advocates those gender roles are most likely very severe. The story quite obviously puts the narrator in a second-class rather than uniform terms with the husband. As John strikes a dialogue with the narrator, he often refers to her with “childish names,” most of the time sounding like she is property to him: “He took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose” (Gilman 2). To go along with that, in the confined resort, her momentary mental state goes to the bad side of things. Living in a male-dominated society, a female’s job is to never inquiry upon the jurisdiction of the male, no matter the severity. This is the opposite of a male’s role in judgment, decision making, thinking, and not be interrogated by the wife. The narrator is regularly trying to scamper away from the mental lockdown that her husband is settling her in, while she is suffering from a bad case of depression. This is even harder, as she is constantly being treated like an infant. This is an impossible escape, as the male is the dominating gender in this scenario, and women are to never set boundaries for men.

This exact topic is ongoing in Medea written by Euredipes. The common setting is a male-dominated society where Medea, the main character is abandoning her role as a female and pushes to show how society doesn’t value what females can do. Instead of Medea using the female role in the story, she brings out masculine traits like killing. Medea brings empowerment to the female world by killing her children, while this is a trait of a man. Along with this, Medea can be physically, and emotionally controlled the whole time, which is rare if you are a female. This story is entirely different than most, because at times Medea completely is separating herself from her gender role to show that women can be stronger than men at times and she would rather rebel against society than be treated as property: “I’d rather stand my ground three times among the shields than face a childbirth once” (Euripides 31). This demonstrates Medea’s “masculine” qualities, rejecting the traditions of society.

Similar to Medea, The Wife of Bath’s Tale focuses on the empowerment of women, rather than the roles that are pre-assigned to them. The Wife of Bath is revoked the role of a traditional woman (sewing, cooking, cleaning, stay-at-home). We see the main character, the Wife of Bath interweaving herself into a lifestyle that would usually only be seen in a male’s life, traveling, businesswoman. Like Medea, she challenges herself to adapt to the opposite of gender roles to show what women are capable of. This is possible because not only is the Wife of Bath being fueled by independence, she also is being empowered by going against stereotypes. This is what makes the Wife of Bath a fighter, pushing gender roles aside, and outrageous contradictory degrees. She explains being married to rich men that support her is reversing gender roles, which allows her to travel the world anywhere she wants, as an independent woman.

Best Man Wins, by Fredrick Watermans, is about a woman who is married to one man, and the other man, she is cheating on her husband with. The main character gets to decide which man she wants to be with as it all unravels on a plane. At the restaurant when food is served, Carolyn’s husband decides to put poison in the cheaters food in order to kill him so that Carolyn will be forced to stay married to him: “I studied my wife’s face, the face I wanted to see every day for the rest of my life” (Waterman 5). Afterward, he lets his wife decide if she would like to be with him. This is extremely important because, in this scenario, Carolyn is empowered to the fact that she is the decision-maker that balances the power between the two of them bringing them even closer than before.

Sonnets, by Shakespeare, are compelling works of poetic art that depicts very depressed toned pieces where the features of the woman are not up to par, but Shakespeare disregards this, as they are still soulmates. This is strange because, on multiple occurrences, Shakespeare does not like the physical attributes of his significant other, and judges her based on her looks. At the end of this all, Shakespeare is still in love with his significant other even if she doesn’t look good: “In black ink, my love may still shine bright” (Shakespeare 130). In this sonnet, Shakespeare takes control of his wife in a manipulative manner, and he makes her feel insecure by judging her physical attributes, which gives him full control and power in the situation. This leaves the woman in a sticky situation, as she has no voice, or say in anything.

As time has evolved, society has forced itself to create certain gender roles in civilization. While many people argue to disagree with this, lots of people believe they exist today. Women are classified in a lower category than men, but nowadays, women are empowering themselves to a higher ranking in society than they came in with. This is a major turn in society as women can live their lives without constant pressure from their husbands.While select individuals argue to disagree with this, lots of people believe they subside today.

Introduction: An Inquiry on Representation in Theatre

Accurate representation in theatrical productions is one of the most popular controversies in Theatre presently; ranging from representations of gender, sexuality, race, age, and religion. As a 21st century theatre practitioner and newly found theatre historian, I am made curious about how various groups of persons are represented and whether the accuracy- or lack thereof -is attributed to more than just a playwright or director’s individual perception. Through the course of reading about and watching various productions, I can draw connections between the Greek play Medea by Euripides, produced in 431 BCE, and Bob Fosse’s 1975 musical adaptation of Chicago.

While Medea and Chicago: The Musical were produced almost 2,500 years apart, they similarly investigate the representation of women on stage. The literary development and staged portrayal of both the title character from Medea and the Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail from Chicago showcase the influence of socio-political climate on the representation of women. In this paper, I analyze women’s roles in Greek society in the 4th and 5th Century BCE and its relationship with Euripides’s rendition of the ancient Greek myth of Medea, and the 1970’s women’s liberation movement and its relationship with Bob Fosse’s adaptation of Chicago. The relationship between each production and its historical context shows how their respective sociopolitical and socioeconomic climate during their corresponding eras influenced the depiction of women in each production.

Medea: Overview

Princess Medea, an immigrant from Colchis to Corinth is married to Jason with whom she has two sons. Medea discovers that Jason intends to divorce her to marry the daughter of King Creon of Corinth. Creon informs her that she will be exiled because she potentially may cause his daughter harm. By the following day, she had poisoned both Creon, his daughter, and his daughter’s children in efforts to seek vengeance on Jason. Furthermore, she murders her own children so that she can leave Jason truly alone to suffer.

In Euripides’ rewriting of the myth, he changed a significant aspect of the narrative. George Gellie describes in his book The Character of Medea that there are various accounts of the death of Medea’s children in the archives of the original myth, “in all of which, Medea was innocent”. (Gellie 18) Some accounts attribute their death to Corinthians responding to Medea’s slaying of their king while others describe it as an accident in which Medea’s intentions were never meant to murder them. Euripides’s decision to adapt the ending portrays Medea as not only vengeful but as heartless and evil, as well.

Medea: A Historical Analysis

The sociopolitical climate of the time influenced the portrayal of women in theatre. Euripides was exposed to war for the entirety of his lifetime; first the Greco-Persian Wars from 492 to 449 BCE, and then the Peloponnesian War from 432 to 405 BCE. “Women in Greek drama often appear to stage a crisis in how the state imagines and justifies itself.” (Worthen 18) With this in mind, parallels can be drawn from Medea’s character with the societal role of women and the state of political affairs in Greece at the time.

Since women in theatre represented the wrongdoings of the state, the evidence of Athens’ role in the Peloponnesian War suggests that Medea’s character is analogous to it. Medea’s aggressive and vengeful nature is comparable with Athens’ ruthlessness in the refusal to let Sparta remain an independent dictatorial city-state after their collective victory in the Persian War. A well-remembered quote from Thucydides’ account of the Peloponnesian War is “The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” (Thucydides) This bears resemblance to Medea’s quote “I can speak ill of you and lighten my heart, and you will suffer while you are listening.” (Worthen 102, line 461) According to Thucydides account, Athens slayed multiple city states in 432 BCE including Corinth, when they refused to take part in the war against Sparta. (Thucydides) This commentary on Athens’ brutality at the start of the Peloponnesian War is analogous to Medea’s murderous desire for vengeance.

The portrayal of women in theatre is also a reflection of their socioeconomic status. Ancient Greek women, specifically women in Athens, were in low standing “legally, socially, and in general estimation” as described by A. W. Gomme in volume 20 of Classical Philology. (Gomme 2) In Professor Hoxworth’s World Theatre History lecture, it was emphasized that women’s rights were limited in ancient Greece; they couldn’t participate in politics, conduct economic transactions, and whether they attended the theatre or not is often debated. What is known for certain, is that women’s roles were portrayed by men. (Hoxworth)

In Athenian drama, female caricatures were often exaggerated and perverted through the male actors’ performance. “Drama, then, participated fully in Athens’ denial of equality to women.” Sue-Ellen Case’s analysis on the accuracy of the portrayal of women in Athenian theatre highlights the dichotomy between socioeconomics and what she describes as the “Woman”: the idealized theatrical role that is representative of the patriarchal perspective of women and their socioeconomic status. Since roles for women were written and performed by men, they would be influenced by Athenian’s patriarchal society. (Worthen 17, 165) Euripides’ Medea can be interpreted as a patriarchal cautionary tale. Medea’s character is depicted as outspoken, bold, and clever; all of which is against what Greek society deems as appropriate. Euripides’ decision to portray her as heartless, filicidal, and manipulative demonizes any woman in Greek society that may feel angry and betrayed in order to keep them inferior.

Chicago: Overview

Roxie Hart, a wanna-be celebrity, is having an affair with a man named Fred who she shoots and kills for insulting her talent. She is sent to the Cook County Jail while she awaits her trial where she meets Mama, the prison guard, and the Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail. The Merry Murderesses, one of which is Roxie’s celebrity idol: Velma, are a group of women in jail for murdering their lovers. The course of the musical follows Roxie’s desperate attempts to steal Billy Flynn, the notoriously sleazy lawyer, from Velma. Billy Flynn shows Roxie how to use her sexual appeal and newfound stardom to win her trial. The musical concludes with both Velma and Roxie set free and using their notoriety to fuel their fame and tour together.

Chicago: The Musical is one of the many adaptations of the original straight play of the same name by Maurine Watkins. There are significant differences between Bob Fosse’s version and the adaptations preceding it; specifically, when comparing it to the 1927 silent film of the same name. Contrary to the 1975 musical, Amos, Roxie’s husband, is significantly less pitiful. He is portrayed as dominant in the relationship; having Roxie call him Daddy, having violent outburst, and using her sexuality as reason for leaving her. (시네마빅풋) Rather than the narrative ending victoriously for Roxie like in the musical, the film instead chose to isolate Roxie from both love and stardom.

Chicago: Historical Analysis

The 1970’s socioeconomic influence on Chicago: The Musical is evident in the differences between it and the preceding adaptations’ character development, and lyrical additions. The representation of women as independent of and equal to men in Chicago is influenced by the changes in women’s roles in society at the time. Pre-1970’s, divorce and premarital/casual sex were unacceptable. But with the rise of 1970’s women’s liberation movement, that stigma was broken down. “The social stigma associated with divorce clearly has diminished, and this had contributed to a decline in legal barriers to divorce. The rise of individualism associated with urbanization and industrialization has meant increasing emphasis on self-fulfillment and growing intolerance of unsuccessful marriages.” (Ruggles 455) This influence is embodied in Roxie’s relationship with Amos. Like the feminists of the 1970’s, Roxie made the decision to leave her unhappy marriage in pursuit of here career as a performer rather than being meek and in need of Amos as was depicted in the 1927 film.

Feministic sentiments are also exemplified in the musical number Cell Block Tango and the closing number Nowadays. In the former number, the six Merry Murderesses, empowered by their sexy lingerie and crisp choreography, describe how they murdered their lovers and showcase their refusal to submit to guilt evident in the notorious lyrics “He had it coming. He had it coming. He only had himself to blame. If you had been there, if you had seen it, I bet you would have done the same.” While the extremities of their actions in real life are deplorable, what they are symbolic of is significant. The idea of independence and strong women figures is exemplified in the murderess’s indignant personalities and their willingness to step up to the injustice their lovers committed.

In the latter number, the 1970’s feminist attitude towards women sexual liberty and independence is reinforced when it is revealed that Roxie and Velma have reached their goals of stardom. In their final musical performance, they sing “You can like the life you’re living, you can live the life you like. You can even marry Harry but mess around with Ike. […] In fifty years or so, it’s gonna change, you know.” This shows stark contrast of the representation of women’s sexuality; in the film Roxie is shamed for her sexuality, whereas in the musical it is celebrated. The musical closes with Velma and Roxie thanking the audience for their faith in their innocence and reminds them that they are a “living example of what a wonderful country this is.” (Ebb et al. 18, 89, 90) While the narrative suggests the country is wonderful because it’s forgiving, the historical context beyond the text shows that the country they are referring to is the one with newfound women’s equality and sexual liberation.

Conclusion: A Reflection on the Evolution of Representation

It is evident in the analysis of Euripides’ Medea and Fosses’ 1975 adaptation of Chicago that there is a timeless relationship between women’s representation on stage and the sociopolitical/economic climate in which they are represented. The portrayal of women in theatre can only get more accurate as time progresses and as women play or more active role in the writing, producing, and performing of drama. Putting into perspective the changing perception of women in theatre from the 5th century to the modern age helps bring awareness to the effect society has on the art we leave behind. Looking back on theatre from the time of Euripides’ and comparing it to theatre now shows us how far we have come. As our society evolves, theatre evolves with us; there is a dignified sense of responsibility in knowing that we theatre-makers are responsible for that evolution and by extension are makers of history.

Work Cited

1. Ebb, Fred, Bob Fosse, John Kander, and Maurine Watkins. Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville. New York: French, 1976. Print.
2. Gellie, George. “The Character of Medea.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, no. 35, 1988, pp. 15–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43646205.
3. Gomme, A. W. “The Position of Women in Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries.” Classical Philology, vol. 20, no. 1, 1925, pp. 1–25. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/262574.
4. Hoxworth, K. ‘The Poetics of Greek Tragedy.’ THE3213, 3rd & 5th Sep. 2019, Florida State University. Lecture.
5. Ruggles, Stephen. “The Rise of Divorce and Separation in the US 1880-1990.” Demography, volume 34, issue 4 (1997): 455-466.
6. Thucydides. “The History of the Peloponnesian War.” United States, Edward Earle, 1818.
7. Worthen, W. B. ‘The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama, 6th edn (Berkeley, CA.’ (2011).
8. 시네마빅풋. “Chicago 1927 Original Version Full Movie.” Youtube, 25 Feb 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkuKjsSf_M8.

Greek Perspective of evil

According to Greek’s perception of good and evil, man is answerable to himself and his biggest mistake is doing contrary to the fate awaiting him. There is no reward or punishment after this life hence man must do his responsibility without any future expectations. Punishments or rewards are part of man’s fate here on earth with the aid of gods. The gods only intervene when requested by humans depending on one’s circumstances surrounding him. This is seen when Medea despite having murdered Talos by drugging him or hypnotizing him still asked goddess Hecate for revenge and she came to her aid. She killed Glauze and King Creon as a revenge showing the other side of gods as compromising and not just. Evil and good is just a perception on man’s mind (Richard, pg264) .Man should only accept that his life on earth is temporary just like for other creatures and plants that sprouts today and they are gone tomorrow. The Greek gods aged and died and were overthrown like Titans by Zeus and other generations taking over. Also man must also fight for his place in the society and allow his fate determine his course of action. In Greek mythology the gods are beyond human understanding as there are gods for both evil and good. In other instances a god who is depicted as good in his character is totally different as he aids the evil. They bring strife and discord in human beings life and without them there couldn’t be order. It depends on what one needs from the gods as they represent all aspects of life and it’s upon man based on her fate to request for their intervention. It’s not about good triumphing against evil but it a matter of what one seeks in time of need. There are gods depicted with pride, unfaithfulness, vain, jealousy, passive, vengefulness amongst others.

It’s in these line that Medea a Greek drama has numerous deities for symbolic purposes. The gods are symbol of emotional and natural forces beyond human understanding and Euripides invokes their names often in his writings. These clearly shows the diverse gods of Greek with their origins like Medea’s grandfather, their fight for control and dominance like in the case of Titans overthrow by Zeus with their different roles in human race. The same applies to human beings lives where control and dominance is Centre stage as depicted in the drama by Medea and her husband.

Apollo is depicted as second generation god of sun, prophecy, poetry and arts who replaced replaced Titans with the help of Zeus and that he existed with Helious as sun god side by side. According to Jason he believed the god gave him and Medea family security, wealth, power and children which Medea isn’t convinced it’s the case as he views these as basic material things (Eupides, pg58). This is well depicted when Apollo is accused of being a chauvinism god whose character supports men. In the chorus he is asked why he has not blessed women with poetry art.

Medea herself prefers goddess Hecate whom she describes as abiding in her inner hearth, the one she regarded more than other gods (Eupides, pg57). Being Medea’s symbol of revolt, she prays to her as she feels closer to her. She also believes in goddess Artemis who symbolizes virgins and nature. They represent the feminine power making them favorite for Medea. Medea favors Hecate who is much older than Artemis and who was also a foreigner just like her and that may explain her closer connection to her. Hecate was also a Titan like Medea’s father and had helped Zeus god to overthrow other titans. Hecate was also favorite to Medea as she was believed to be goddess of witchcraft which Medea was obsessed with as her skills of sorcery. She is seen as avenger of women as she summons all strength from women who had been wronged by men when Medea called for her blessings on revenge.

Biblical perspective of evil

In Jobs case, suffering is not as a result of evil but a test to the righteous. Evil exists and that we bear moral responsibilities and that it causes suffering. The Job story shows how God is on the righteous side and and how tests allows humans develop desirable virtues. The God is seen as sovereign and powerful and that at the end he rewards the righteous. God prevents evil from befalling his followers as Satan asked whether Job would still serve him if evil came upon him. God has given human being free will to either live righteous or do evil. Job chose to live a righteous life and to do that which is pleasing in God’s eyes.

The devil is the source of evil in Jobs case as he requested God permission to inflict Job with suffering. This shows how God protects the just and righteous and that the devil has no control or authority over them. He had to seek permission from God claiming that he was only faithful and trusted God because he was blessed. Even with permission Job remained faithful to God throughout his suffering period and didn’t sin before God or succumb to the devils expectations as everything went as per Gods plan. This clearly shows God prevails despite all suffering and that he is supreme beyond human and devil’s thoughts. Evil problem is not answered in the book of Job but it asks the righteous to keep trusting in God whether in midst of suffering, agony or pain, God’s will still prevail at the end. It shows that the suffering is temporal and that there is joy and triumph at the end of the agony.

Another source of suffering according to Jobs friends i.e. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar is that Job had sinned against God hence was being punished and that he deserved it. They passionately defended the punishment by God out of ignorance and out their human narrow nature of judgement. Eliphaz claimed to be a prophet and that God spoke through him condemning Job for his sins. Bildad insisted the Job should repent and that God would forgive him his sins and restore him back to his later days. Zophar on his case is least compassionate assaulting and refused to speak as he was convinced Job had sinned. At the end of it God condemned Jobs friends approach and proved Job was innocent and a man of integrity before him.

The devil is portrayed as an accuser as he questioned Jobs motives on devotion as he asked whether he feared God for nothing. God initiated the tests as he asked Satan whether he had seen anyone righteous as his servant Job on earth. The insinuation created by the devil is that if God could remove the veil hedge protecting him Job would curse God on his face which was proved otherwise by Job. Gods takes pride and affection in righteous people as we can see through job. In all these, Jobs saw Gods hands in his suffering and never blamed God for anything but continued to strengthen his trust in him even when he was deserted by his friends.

Why Jobs view is superior to Greeks view

In jobs case Satan is seen as the source of evil as he questioned God on whether Job would still serve him if evil befell him. God permitted him to inflict him with suffering but not touch his soul. God is proved to be righteous and supreme and fights for those with integrity and prides himself in his people. In the Greek scenario’s, their gods are part of the evil as Hecate who is a goddess of witchcraft who aided Medea in her evil ways.

Jobs God is eternal as he questions Job of where he was while he was laying the foundation of the earth. Job also asserts that he came to this world without anything and that he will leave without anything meaning that Gods creation is meant for generations and generations. In contrast Greek God’s ages and are overthrown by other superior gods. Apollo is regarded as a second generation god of the sun and another instance Titan gods are overthrown meaning they are mortal just like human beings.

According to the Greek’s and their belief is that there is no life after death and that human beings fate determines their existence. Their god’s intervened only when consulted by the humans either for good or for evil. In Jobs case, fate has no place in human beings life and God is supreme and determines the direction for his glory. God is the source of life and wealth as he restored Jobs health and prospered him. He protects his own and their ways from evil but sometimes puts them to tests with good intentions.

Citations

1. Euripides: Medea and Other Plays. Trans. J. Morwood OUP, 2009.
2. Hopkins, Richard R. How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God. , 2005. Print

In the play Medea, the author Euripides emphasizes that the harsh treatment the main character, Medea, receives throughout the play reflects how women are treated in Greek society. The hardships of women in Greek society can be mainly seen by Medea passionate soliloquies. Medea speaks about how looked down upon, due to the fact that she a woman from a foreign country that holds more intellect than most men in the city where she currently resides. Even Jason, her husband, betrays her trust by marrying another woman because he deems her as useless to him. Though it causes Medea great despair, the people around her do not frown upon Jason for finding another woman even though he already has one. Instead, these people advise Medea that she is overreacting and that she should forgive Jason so she can live a financially stable life with her children. These reactions show that is was normal in Greek society for a man to have more than one wife because they had the power to do whatever they pleased while women were given nothing.

During this time period, women were seen as inferior to men because they were considered weaker and were given no equal rights. Even placing a female as the main character in a story was unheard of during this time period because it was always educated, strong men that were the main characters of every single story. However, Euripides rejects societal views by showing how crucial women are to males through Medea. Even though he was looked down upon for bringing attention toward the treatment of women in society, he continued to create the path toward feminismReaders can interpret that Medea is a strong woman who can be perceived as ‘hero’ for speaking up about the inhuman roles that women are expected to do and their importance in the lives of men.

Deep in despair, she complains to the Chorus, a group of women that live in town, that men are ignorant so they cannot comprehend the difficulty of birthing a child. She states, “They say that we live lives free from danger while they go out to fight wars with spears, but their logic is flawed. I would rather stand shield to shield three times than give birth just once,” (258-261). Medea shows that the pain women must suffer through is dangerous when giving childbirth by saying that she would rather go to war three times than to give birth to one child. During this time era, there were no technological advancements like the ones we have today. Many times, women were likely to die during childbirth due to complications. Childbirth was very dangerous and more often than not, had effects on the mothers, such as death and paralyzation. So, Medea urges other women to wonder if childbirth is really worth the risk of their life if they are just doing because their husbands told them to. By saying “three times than give birth just once” Medea emphasizes that childbirth is not twice, but three times more painful than fighting in a war. Since fighting in wars is a man’s duty, the author’s choice of words shows that the job of a man is three times easier than the job of a woman. So women should receive the credit they deserve by men if they are going through the difficulty and excruciating labor of childbirth.

Medea continues to complain about the role women play in society without holding anything back by saying, “First, we must buy a husband at a high price and take a master over our bodies, an even more painful evil than the other” (242-244). Medea is comparing that the process of getting a husband is like buying yourself to be sold into slavery. Women cannot have the benefit of choosing whether they want a husband or not because having a husband is crucial in Greek society during this era. It was a law that women had to be represented by a guardian, who was normally the women’s fathers or husbands. Women were not given rights to be independent or take care of themselves. So in order for a woman to ensure her survival, she must flatter a man into becoming her husband with either money or personality.

Personality wise, women must be obedient because men view women as their trophy and believe that the only reason for their existence is to give birth. Men “take a master over our bodies’ suggest that a husband’s ownership even goes to the extent that the bodies of their wife/wives do not belong to them anymore. Men control what they want and put a label on what they deem is necessary to claim in order to make women feel dependent on them. The powerful diction of the use of the word ‘evil’ suggests that the thought of a woman’s body not belonging to them anymore is far worse than the process of gaining a husband. Taking possession of a body completely breaks a woman because it is their pride and joy. Once you break it, it will never be the same again and women will feel helpless.

However, They must comply with the wishes of their husbands or else they will face the dire consequence of violence and abuse.The roles are women are completely unjust and Euripides wants to show other men that women should be treated as equals rather than inferior. Medea contradicts the role of a typical woman in Greek society by showing off how important she is to Jason, her husband. When Medea and Jason are arguing, she tells him, “You got all this from me, you the worst of men, and then you betrayed me…” (514-516). Medea truly believes that Jason would not have been able to achieve anything great in his life without her help. For example, when Medea and Jason first met he tricked her into falling in love with him because he was on a journey to obtain the golden fleece from her father. After Medea played right into his hands, she stole the golden fleece for him and they sailed away together. She helped Jason achieve anything he desired because she was clouded by love. She did all the dirty work for Jason and gave him everything he could have ever wanted while he was off being praised for her gift of prophecy. She blindly followed Jason’s commands and it left her with nothing and him with everything.

The treatment Medea receives in the play does reflect how women are treated in society, but it does not mean that it has to continue this way. Euripides conveys to his audience that Medea represents the truth behind the woman in their society, they are strong and influential. Men need to learn how to appreciate women and realize their great potential. While more women need to understand how to stand up for themselves and what they believe in.

Works of literature are often framed to portray clear distinctions between heroic figures and those who are the complete opposite of them. Typically, readers know early on which character is the one they should be rooting for and are invested in seeing that person prosper. Euripides’ Medea complicates this notion. Medea betrayed her family, killed a king and his daughter and murdered her own children. However, Medea is undeniably the tragic hero of the drama. Throughout the course of the drama, despite Medea’s wrong doings, the play is written in a manner that elicits fear and pity for Medea. For every immoral act Medea commits, justifications for her actions are provided and readers cannot help but to empathize with Medea while also feeling immense fear and pity for the situations she finds herself in. By consistently emphasizing the reasons why Medea commits the acts she commits, the author was successful in ensuring Medea’s turmoil would arouse pity and fear in readers and the audience from the start of the drama to the end.

Early on in the drama, readers learn of the tragedy that surrounds Medea’s life. Her nurse explains “Poor Medea, mournful and dishonored, shrieks at his broken oaths, the promise sealed with his right hand(the greatest pledge there is) – she calls the gods to witness just how well Jason has repaid her.” (25) Her husband Jason used her in his quest for the Golden Fleece. Medea betrayed her family and used her powers to aid him on his quest. In her mind, it was all worth it because she genuinely loved him and wanted to spend her life with him. Once Jason completed his quest, he and Medea settled in Corinth with their two children. However, Jason left Medea to marry the princess of Corinth and to further his political agenda. This betrayal sent Medea on a vengeful and heartbroken path and it is because of Jason’s actions that Medea turned to murder.

Jason’s betrayal was too much for Medea to accept and she was committed to making him pay for the ways he ruined her life. Through foreshadowing, we are given a glimpse into how far Medea was willing to go in order to enact her revenge onto Jason. To Medea’s children, the Nurse exclaimed “Dear Children, your mother has stirred up her heart, she has stirred up her rage. Hurry up Now and get yourselves inside the house – but don’t get too close to her, don’t let her see you: her ways are too wild, her nature is hateful, her mind is too willful.” (110) The Nurse foreshadowed how Medea on her own quest to get back at Jason, would drag her own children into her plot. Medea doesn’t only kill her ex-husband’s wife and father-in-law, she also murdered her own children, all in an attempt to make Jason feel her full wrath. Despite this foresight, the nurse and other’s continued to sympathize with Medea because they also believed that her situation was indeed a tragedy.

It seems almost inevitable that Medea would continue to engage in immoral behavior, such as murder, as she planed her revenge on Jason. The use of dramatic irony in the play makes it clear to the audience that Medea would resort to whatever is needed to successfully achieve revenge. Other character’s in the drama were also made aware of this. While Jason remained unaware of Medea’s plot, the Chorus, who served as the audience in the play, were aware of Medea’s plan from the beginning. Despite having full knowledge of what was to come, the chorus continued to empathize with her. In one scene, the chorus remarked “Ill do as you ask. You’re justified, Medea, in paying your husband back. I’m not surprised you grieve at your misfortunes” (270) and in describing the Medea’s situation, they expressed “The streams of the holy rivers are flowing backward. Everything runs in reverse – justice is upside down.” (420) The chorus knew how desperate Medea was to seek revenge. However, they viewed Medea’s situation as a tragedy and felt she was facing a grave injustice. They didn’t intervene to stop her from committing a quadruple homicide because it many ways they believed her actions were the only ways that she will receive justice.

Medea committed murder in order to make Jason pay for what he done to her. Even though she committed heinous crimes, she continued to get away with them. After murdering her sons, she expressed to Jason “But you will never touch us with your hand. My father’s father, Helios, gives me safety from hostile hands. This chariot protects me.” (1365) Not only does Medea have a safe place to escape to, a golden chariot comes down to carry her away. It is very clear to the readers that the drama is not only set up to elicit pity for Medea, but to also showcase the ways that her actions are consistently deemed justifiable. This is not only made clear to the readers; it is also made clear to the chorus as well. In the last lines of the play, The chorus remarks “Zeus on Olympus enforces all things; the gods can accomplish what no one would hope for. What we expect may not happen at all, while the gods find a way, against all expectation, to do what they want, however surprising. And that is exactly how this case turned out.” (1465) It would appear that the chorus believed the actions that have transpired were the will of the Gods and although Medea’s behavior was immoral, there was justification to them. From the beginning of the play, Medea was facing overwhelming heartbreak and pain and it was through her vengeful plot that she could address the tragedy she was faced with.

Medea is a play about how far women are willing to go to seek revenge. Medea risked everything for her husband and he easily betrayed her without giving it a second thought. This betrayal led Medea onto a bloody path in which she murdered four people, including her sons. Under normal circumstances, Medea would not be deemed a tragic hero because of the fact that she committed murder. However, this drama conveyed a tale in which readers learn first-hand the reasons behind each murder and are forced to have pity for her because we know of how much she had suffered and lost. Medea is certainly a tragic hero, a flawed individual with a conscious who engaged in complicated behaviors, all in an attempt to right the wrongs that were done to her.

“Medea” is a Greek tragedy by Euripides detailing the journey of a woman and protagonist Medea. The play is an immaculate symphony of all the decisions and motivations of Medea and the sharp contrast of those decisions to the Antagonist and Medea’s husband Jason. In “Medea” Euripides explores the theme of rationality and reason contrasted by irrationality and passion through the two main characters Jason and Medea. Jason is a legendary hero and adventurer in many of Euripides plays but even as the Antagonist in “Medea” plays the role of reason as Euripides shows that all his decisions are based on what makes the most rational sense for him to gain fame and power, this is in sharp contrast to how Euripides shows Medea as always acting based on her base emotions of love, revenge, hate and even though she makes rational decisions in her attempt to satisfy those emotions of passion she brings death and destruction for all in the way.

The whole plot of the play kicks off on the context that Jason leaves Medea and her two children and goes off to marry the Princess and daughter of Creo. At a glance, this seems like a betrayal to us, but for the ancient Greek audience from when this masterpiece from Euripides has first performed this kind of a marriage would’ve been commonplace. This point is made by Jason throughout the play as he says he does not marry the princess Glauce, “because he was in love with her” but because the marriage made the most sense to his progression in the world. Jason is an adventurer a thrill-seeker, someone who always wants more than he has: through this marriage, Jason wants power and wealth as he says “a poor friend is shunned” and is on some level afraid of how a “marriage to the foreigner” Medea would hinder his progression in the world and takes this step even though he realises how much this betrayal would hurt Medea. By the way how the playwright showcases Jason as a man who priorities Power, wealth and superficial fame over things like family and love, show him as a man fuelled only by his progression in the world and the rational reasoning for it in contrast to Medea who puts love and family above all.

By starting the play by introducing Medea to the audience in a state of extreme emotional distress due to her betrayal by her husband taking a second wife the dramatist Euripides solidifies Medea as a character-driven by passion very early on. Medea is shown to be in a state of total depression and disarray almost hysterical. In her state of hysteria, she screams out her most vile thoughts like how she wanted “cursed children… to die”, these thoughts not only horrify the chorus in the play by also give the audience an almost shocking insight into the horrific act of child slaughter that takes place later on. In her passionate cries to disarray, Medea also says how she, “Betrayed” her brother instead of saying how she, “killed” him still trying to justify her prior act of unforgivable murder she did for Jason, giving the audience a glimpse that she still maintains a semblance of rationality behind the hysteria, as she paints herself as the victim of Jason. Later on in the play, as she is about to murder her children she tries to justify her actions to herself saying, “my passion is the master of my reason” further proving that Medea indeed is motivated and fuelled by passion above all.

In contrast to the logical reasoning behind Jason’s marriage to Glauce, Medea is very clear that her decision to murder her innocent children was based completely on passion. Even with that Medea uses logical thinking to achieve her goal of revenge on everyone. Even in a state of hysteria and disarray, she manages to use her logical reasoning to outsmart everyone else even at a dear cost to her. Even though she loses her kids and laments their death dearly by the end of the play she is the last man standing and gets out unscathed. Medea knew she had been betrayed and as a “foreign woman” and single mother she had a disadvantage but uses reasoning to manipulate both the king Argues and Creon to achieve her goal of revenge. Through this Euripides presents Medea as an intelligent and extremely cunning woman who will go to any lengths to get what she wants and will not be taken advantage of.

Through these we the audience are presented with Jason a man who uses logic and reason to guide him through his life but does not fully comprehend the consequences of his outcomes and contrastingly Medea a woman fuelled by her passion; her despair and a great need for revenge for betrayal, which leads to the death of both her beloved kids and many others but she thinks her actions through and makes smart calculated and extremely cunning and vicious moves against her enemies. Through these Euripides makes a very revolutionary point for his time that women can be emotional and sensitive but also smart and calculated and when it comes to things and people that they love be deadly, the play starts with Jason being the in the right and everyone saying that Medea is being unreasonable but through the great lengths she goes for revenge by the end she shows that she will not be pushed around.