“The Medea of Euripides” and “Layla & Majnun” Review

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As an introduction to this essay, it is important to briefly discuss the position of women in these societies. The status of these women in the society greatly influenced their behavior when pursuing love. In these societies, the main function of women was to do house chores. These functions included preparing food, giving birth to children and taking care of their husbands. Women could not have property, pick a husband, and they could not enter into any legal relationship. In a number of ways, women were considered as lesser beings. For instance, Jason makes a decision to divorce Medea and tie the knot with the princess of Corinth. This as a result he shoves Medea away as if she was never married to him. This kind of behavior was conventional by Greek principles. This depicts the subordinate status of the woman, who had no voice in such matters. Medea notes that average people are frightened by people with exceptional learning. It is worse if they are women, because women are always considered stupid. Medea’s cruelty is the consequence of oppression. When faced with this unwarranted treatment, Medea reacts with an appalling act of bloody resistance. This shows that she is revolting against the main role of women in her time. This role happens to be motherhood. In addition, one should take notice that the children she murders are both male. Layla was also a victim of the subordinate status of women. Layla was not allowed to choose a husband for herself. Instead her father chose for her a husband. This was without care of Layla’s feelings and happiness. Therefore, there is a strong connection between this subordination of women and their behavior in pursuit of love.

It is important to take note that the two stories have tragic endings. Both women did not end with the love they so desired to have. However, both women took different approaches when they were pursuing this love. All the women lived in an era when men dominated women. The paper will seek to discuss how these women behaved in pursuit of love. This essay is divided in three parts. The first part will analyze Medea’s character in her pursuit for love. In this part, I will discuss Medea’s assertive nature. The paper will continue by discussing Medea’s manipulative nature. This manipulative nature makes Jason fall in love with her. Her manipulative nature compliments her cleverness. The paper observes that Medea’s extreme passion for Jason makes her commit certain atrocious acts. The second part of the essay will discuss Layla. At this point, the paper will further contrast Medea with Layla who is a timid woman. Though passionate, she is not as assertive as Medea is. However, Layla is a patient woman. We note that Layla and Majnun are eventually together after they die. This paper will later discuss this. The third part of the essay will be a discussion of the poem Chastity. Here the paper will compare, contrast Medea, Layla and the woman from the poems of Chastity. The paper notes that the woman discussed in chastity is as assertive as Medea.

Medea is a woman of radical character and extreme feeling. She has an infatuated passion for Jason. In the quest of pursuing her love, she forfeits all. She commits atrocious acts on Jason’s behalf. According to Euripides, Jason notes, “Well, as far as I’m concerned it was… passion, that drove you [Medea] to save my life” ( Euripides,62). However, his unfaithfulness changes her love into anger. Her vehement and immoderate heart, previously dedicated to Jason, now is determined on his destruction. In the play, the leader states, “But, my lady, to kill your own two It is the supreme way to hurt my husband” (Euripides, 140-141). Medea is an illustration of infatuation carried too far. This is in a woman defiantly determined on choosing rage over compassion and logic. In illustrating her betrayal, Medea laments, “Woman, on the whole, is a timid thing: wronged in love, there is no heart more murderous…. I can unload some venom from my heart and… begin at the beginning, I saved your life” ( Euripides, line31, line 60). Medea’s anger at Jason’s disloyalty is worsened by the fact that she had scarified a lot for him. This includes Medea killing her own brother. Without Medea’s help, Jason would not have obtained the Golden Fleece. This as a result, he would not have accomplished his status.

It is important to keep in mind that the cause of all Medea’s rage is love. Medea had a strong passion for Jason since the Golden Fleece days. This intense passion is the stimulant for her heartless need for vengeance. According to Euripides Medea laments, “Love, did you say? It is a mighty curse” ( Euripides, 44). Medea phrase demonstrates that love can be destructive. Furthermore, the leader laments, “How frightening is resentment how difficult to cure, lovers hurl past love at one another’s hate” ( Euripides, 61). Again, we note that Euripides shows love as the cause for the most horrible kind of abhorrence. Jason and Medea’s hatred for each other is so strong. This is for the reason that their love was once zealous.

Medea is prepared to forfeit everything to make her vengeance complete. She kills her own children, ironically, to guard them from the counter vengeance of her foes. In addition, she murders them to upset Jason. However, killing them is destining herself to a life of regret and sorrow. However, part of Medea’s urge is the power of vengeance. Just like Medea, foes whose power is institutionally guarded have at one time or another overwhelmed all.

In her pursuit for love, Medea uses manipulation. She is a clever and cunning woman. All the major characters try their luck in manipulation. Jason exploited Medea earlier. Jason was now influencing the royal family of Corinth to guarantee his own achievements. On the other hand, Creon makes a gainful union between Jason and his daughter. He desires to gain from Jason’s prominence as the conqueror of the Golden Fleece. However, Medea is the queen of manipulation. Medea takes advantage of the flaws and desires of both her foes and her friends. Medea acts to Creon’s sympathy. In addition, she takes advantage of Creon’s misjudgment of her. Together with Aegeus, she uses her wit as a negotiating piece. She uses the king’s sympathetic heart to earn a binding oath from him. She takes advantage of Jason’s superficiality, his undeserved self-importance, and his longing for supremacy. She plays the flattering and obedient woman. This is to her husband’s happiness and satisfaction. Jason believes the act, indicating his lack of good judgment. Furthermore, indicating his readiness to be fooled by his own vanities.

Medea strongly disapproves of the male influenced society of her time. Its central character is a revolutionary brave woman who persists to encourage both respect and terror. We feel sorry for Medea’s broken state and admire her strength and astuteness. However, her gory and ruthless revolt surprises and perturbs audiences to this date.

Medea is a representative of the smart woman confined in a world of men. Her astuteness arouses both doubt and careful respect. In the end, her craftiness becomes her ultimate weapon in her pursuit for retribution. None of her opponents stands a chance against her great mind.

Medea is a very assertive woman. In her desire to love, she laments about the male dominated society. Medea’s starting words to the Chorus is the most articulate assertion about the injustices that happen to women. According to Euripides, Medea laments:

“Of all creatures that can feel and think, we women are the worst treated things alive. We [women] bid the highest price in dowries just… of our bodies […]. How that compounds the wrong! Divorce is a disgrace (at least for women), to repudiate the man, not possible: I had rather stand my ground three times among the shields than face a childbirth once” (Euripides, 31).

Medea acknowledges the place of women in the society, and their subordination to men. Other societies were more liberal in their handling of women than the Greeks were. Medea was concerned of these pretenses, and the injustice committed.

On the other hand, Medea is not precisely a feminist paradigm. Medea is perfect illustration the problems that happen to women. Medea is not an innocent virgin hero. She is a genuine woman, who has suffered in the name of love. As result, she has become cruel by her suffering. What we observe is not a tale of female empowerment, but a war of love and betrayal.

As noted earlier, Medea is a woman with great intellect. Her enormity of intelligence and vanity are beyond uncertainty. These qualities are the ones that make her have pride. Pride is strongly related to greatness. Likewise, pride also distorts greatness. Medea’s pride drives her to unreasonably evil action. There is a remarkable feeling of waste. She meticulously executes her vengeance, and then takes her cruelty to an extreme level. She demonstrates this by killing her own children. Hers is the dented and hazy pride of a woman. Her pride is patronized by her love and her barbarian origin.

On the other hand, Layla express her love and desires differently. Unlike Medea who is assertive, Layla is timid. She does not fight for her love. It is important to note that both women lived in a male dominated society. Layla’s father restrains her from seeing Majnun. She does not protest. Hence, she suffers silently longing for Majnun. Layla sits back and watches men controlling her love life. Medea on the other hand publicly expresses her dissatisfaction of living in a male dominated society. Majnun expresses his love to Layla. He does this by writing poetry. Majnun sings of Layla’s beauty and composes love poems for her. Nizami notes,

“Love was glowing in Majnun. When it burst into flames it also took hold of his tongue, the words streaming unbidden from his lips, verses strung together like pearls in a necklace. Carelessly, he cast them away … Was he not rich? Was he not free? Had he not severed the rope which keeps men tied together?” (Nizami,126)

However, Layla on the other hand was silent about her love. She was not expressive of her emotions. Nizami notes, “Layla holds their love quietly so none will know she lived between the water of her tears and the fire of her love….Yet her lover’s voice reached her. Was he not a poet? No tent curtain was woven so closely as to keep out his poems. Every child from the bazaar was singing his verses; every passer-by was humming one of his love-songs, bringing Layla a message from her beloved… Refusing suitors, she writes answers to his poems and casts them to the wind”(Nizami, 40).

We note that Layla is a passionate loving woman, yet not overzealous. Unlike Medea, she pursues love differently. It is important to note that Medea commits atrocious acts in the name of love. Layla on the other hand, does not desire vengeance. However, she defiantly refuses to love her new husband. She refuses to consummate the marriage with her new husband. Being in love, her partner agrees to her state of a superficial marriage only. She keeps her faithfulness to Majnun even when married. Layla demonstrates her defiance and her love for Majnun when her husband passes away. This author illustrates this after the death of her husband. During this time, she openly grieves for her love for Majnun. She passes away shortly afterwards.

Like Medea, Layla is a clever intelligent woman, but not manipulative. She uses an old man who helps her exchange letters with Majnun. The old man eventually helps them to see each other. Majnun unexpectedly sings his love poetry to her. Later at dawn, they go their different directions. Nizami asks:

“For how long then do you want to deceive yourself? For how long will you refuse to see yourself as you are and as you will be? Each grain of sand takes its own length and breadth as the measure of the world; yet, beside a mountain range it is as nothing. You yourself are the grain of sand; you are your own prisoner. Break your cage, break free from yourself, free from humanity; learn that what you thought was real is not so in reality….burn but your own treasure, like a candle – then the world, your sovereign, will become your slave” (Nizami, 148 )

In her pursuit for love, Layla is a patient woman. She does not push for love with Majnun. However, at the end she emerges the winner. After Layla and Majnun’s death, Zayd sees a vision of both them in heaven. In the dream an ancient voice tells zayd that:

“These two friends are one, eternal companions. He is Majnun, the king of the world in right action. And she is Layla, the moon among idols in compassion. In the world, like unpierced rubies they treasured their fidelity affectionately, but found no rest and could not attain their heart’s desire. Here they suffer grief no more. Therefore, it will be until eternity. Whoever endures suffering and forebears in that world will be joyous and exalted in this world” (Nizami, 176).

Layla maintained her loyalty to Majnun. Even after getting married, she did not give up on him. She remained faithful and she did not consummate her marriage. She refused to have intercourse with her husband. This was for the reason that she loved Majnun. Layla understood that the love on earth was perishable. She wanted her love with Majnun to be everlasting. At the end, she achieved that love. Zayd demonstrates this after he woke up. He realizes that:

“Whoever would find a place in that world must tread on the lusts of this world. This world is dust and is perishable. That world is pure and eternal…. Commit yourself to love’s sanctuary and at once find freedom from your ego. Fly in love as an arrow towards its target. Love loosens the knots of being, love is liberation from the vortex of egotism. In love, every cup of sorrow which bites into the soul gives it new life. Many a draft bitter as poison has become in love delicious…. However agonizing the experience, if it is for love it is well” (Nizami, 176-7)

Medea in comparison is an impulsive woman. Hence, the end was tragic. She did not want to hear Jason out, when she learnt of Jason’s betrayal. Jason tries to explain himself and he states, “I wanted above all to let us live in comfort, not be poor” (Euripides, 62). I suggest that Medea should have looked at the greater good of them all. Maybe the outcome would have been different. Even more, this would have justified Medea’s actions. This is in the event Jason does not keep his word.

Moving on I will discuss the third part of the essay. The I will discuss the poem Chastity. In this poem, we note that the woman is willing to give herself to the man. The narrator states, “She was a field of fruit and flowers offering one like me no other end of me than sight and scent” (Faraj, 3-4). The woman does this in the name of love. The narrator describes her as beautiful. The narrator states that the woman’s glance makes hearts turn. The society was very conservative, at the time these poems were being written. A woman’s reputation was very important. Society emphasized on a woman’s virginity. Yet, here is a woman who is willing to give up her virginity. One would ask why. The answer will be she did this all in pursuit of love.

This woman can be compared to Medea. As discussed earlier Medea is a woman of extreme passion. She is willing to do anything in the name of love. The woman in chastity is the same as Medea. She is willing to give herself to a man. She does not care of her reputation. Layla on the other hand is a reserved woman. She does not go to extreme measures in pursuit of love. Even with Majnun, she does not get intimate.

In conclusion, these women lived in different societies. Therefore, the way of pursuing love definitely was be different. However, the most common feature is that these women lived in a male dominated society. Hence how they pursued love varied from person to person. While Medea and the woman from chastity were assertive, Layla on the other hand was a patient woman.

Works Listed

Euripides, Mnesarchus. The Medea. Trans. Richmound Lattimore. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1958. Print.

Faraj, Ibn. Poems of Arab Andalusia. Trans. Franzen Cola. San Francisco: City Lights Book Store, 1989. Print.

Nizami, Ganjavi. The Story of Layla and Majnun. New York: Omega Publishers, 1996. Print.

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“The Medea of Euripides” and “Layla & Majnun” Review

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