Hi,
I did a Medea essay on this topic: Medea is right in her anger and wrong in her response. Do you agree?
My teacher gave me a 'high' range mark. Other than the fact that I completely agreed with the question, what could I do to make it a 'very high' or A+?
Medea is right in her anger but wrong in her response. Do you agree?
Euripides’ tragic play, Medea, portrays a strong-willed woman and her transformative and transgressive journey of revenge. Set in patriarchal Ancient Greek society, the play cautions the Athenian audience of the pursuit of violent desires. The eponymous protagonist, Medea, has just cause to be angry towards her husband, Jason, as she fulfilled her duty as a wife. As a foreign woman in Corinth, she is victim to several social grievances which enrage her even further. However, Medea’s immoral act of filicide is in inappropriate punishment for Jason’s infidelity. Moreover, her response is in error as it is motivated by her immoderate passion. Euripides intends to explore the extreme conditions of human emotion and its moral repercussions.
Medea’s desire for revenge is understandable because of Jason’s insensitive betrayal of their marriage and the oaths that they made. Wild in her love for Jason she “willingly deceived [her] father” and “shamefully murdered [her] brother” but Jason does not give her any "thanks". The Nurse describes Medea as “scorned and shamed” which depicts the impact of Jason’s “treachery”. In addition to this, the play opens in medias res, which heightens the tension and drama of Medea’s anguish. In the Nurse's monologue, the Nurse laments that "Poor" Medea's "world has turned into enmity" after informing the audience of how Jason has “crushed [her] heart”. In this way, Euripides positions the audience to initially sympathise with Medea. Although the male Athenian audience may have viewed Jason’s decision as sensible, because Medea was of no advantage to his reputation as a foreign woman who was also an exile, Euripides portrays Jason’s betrayal as callous because of his abandonment of Medea and her two sons. This ignorance of emotions allows Euripides to highlight how Jason could have avoided the final tragedy if he had moderation between his logic and emotions. By crafting King Aegeus' character to side with Medea and label Jason's treatment of her as “disgraceful”. Euripides may have intended to sway the Athenian audience to view Jason's abandonment as detestable. In Euripides’ depiction of Jason’s cold-hearted treachery and the impact it has on Medea he suggests that Medea is justified in her fury towards Jason.
Furthermore, the "unhappy woman from Colchis" is reasonable in her rage against the Corinthian society’s perception of her as a barbaric foreign woman. King Creon acts on his own self-interest and preconceived ideas when he banishes Medea. He is fearful but also presumes that because Medea is from Colchis, known to the people of Corinth as a “barbarous land”, that she is also vicious in nature. Her status as an exile makes her pitiful as it is a dishonourable and alienating punishment in Ancient Greek society. The patriarchal society that subjugates and deprives women of the rights that men do have also infuriates Medea. Medea speaks against the unjust and inferior status of women in Greece in her first soliloquy, as she entreats the Chorus, and through them the audience, to sympathise with her. She espouses that “women are the most wretched” because they must accept their husbands as “possessors of [their bodies].” Euripides explores the social grievances that women in Ancient Greece experience, by giving Medea and an all-female chorus a voice with which to seek sympathy. It is possible that the filicide Medea commits can be seen as feminine revolt against the patriarch by committing a shocking act of resistance and subverting the role of a mother. Thus, through the illustration of Medea’s victimisation as a female outsider, Euripides censures Jason’s mistreatment of Medea thereby portraying her situation as sympathetic.
Euripides illustrates Medea’s act of filicide as transgressing the boundaries of humanity. This consequently positions the audience to view Medea as ultimately unworthy of their sympathy. Although Medea attempts to validate the reasons for her murders her immoral and inhuman actions cannot be condoned. Her “justice”, of killing her own children and “[wrecking Jason’s] life” by ending his patriarchal line, is not a suitable punishment for Jason’s “treachery”. The Chorus states that “[destroying] your own increase” is uncivilised and against maternal instincts. Therefore, Euripides portrays the moral repercussions of partaking in violent crimes. The juxtaposition of Medea’s triumph and Ino’s suicide after committing prolicide further emphasises the horrifying nature of her decision to kill “the babes [she] bore”. The innocence of the children additionally highlights their unjust deaths. Euripides’ decision to have the children appear on stage amplifies their vulnerability and exploitation. Euripides dramatically emphasises Medea’s unjust and cruel method of exacting revenge on Jason.
The irate protagonist’s lack of the virtue sophrosyne, seen in her excessive passion, emphasises the extremity of her revenge. In the Nurse’s prologue, it is evident that Medea’s actions are driven by her intense love for Jason as she fears that some “dreadful purpose is forming in her mind”. This excess leads to Medea’s immorality and dehumanisation. Her passionate lust for revenge outweighs her maternal love as she seeks to deal Jason the “deepest wound” as she can endure “guilt however horrible” but not the “laughter of her enemies”. The heartless mother’s deliberate decision to “slaughter [her] children” establishes her immorality and guilt. She is portrayed as sadistic in her desire to know of the details of King Creon and Glauce’s deaths as it gives her “double pleasure”. This moral degradation positions the audience to agree with the Chorus’ description of Medea as a “pitiable bloody-handed fiend of vengeance”. Euripides suggests that Medea’s extreme love has warped the nature of her character. Therefore, the portrayal of Medea’s detachment from morality depicts her horrific vengeance as reprehensible.
The tragic heroine’s unjust victimisation initially garners the sympathy of the Athenian audience, however her intense emotions and her desire for revenge drives her to commit heinous acts, which are worthy of the audience’s contempt. Euripides depicts Medea’s moral disintegration as a consequence of her immoderate passion in order to condemn her brutal murders. It is her wicked act of filicide, not her lust for vengeance, which ultimately transforms the audience’s view of her from one of pity to disdain. Ultimately, through his illustration of the harrowing effects of succumbing to extreme love, Euripides endorses moderation in both one’s emotions and reason.
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