Thoughts on my Medea essay? any improvements etc
What was your reaction to Medea and Jason by the end of the play? For whom did you feel sympathy and why?
Euripides’ tragedy, Medea is an exploration of the two main characters antipodal natures in the face of conflict—passion and reason, with passion being found in Medea and reason found in the Jason, which becomes more and more evident as the play progresses. Throughout the play Medea, the titular character is a frightening and passionate woman who once after finding out her husband and father of her children participated in adultery, lets her reasoning and logic disappear. With Medea by the end of the play performing one of the most atrocious acts a mother can do, murdering her children to spite her husband, Jason, a man not completely innocent in his acts. Towards the end of the play it is evident that Jason's manipulative actions led to his children demise by the hands of his scorned wife. Whilst Medea although being wronged by Jason still does not garner the audiences sympathy due to her committing the terrible crime of filicide even acknowledging herself that ‘my passion is master of my reason’, Euripides makes sure with this sentence that the readers be inclined to feel more sympathy towards Jason as the crime committed against him, the murder of his children being more severe and heartbreaking, then his abandonment of Medea.
Euripides character and the original ‘antagonist’ of the play, Jason commits many wrongs against Medea including infidelity with the princess and later on arranging a marriage with her. This marriage to Medea and the audience at the time can be perceived as a huge betrayal in which he claims to Medea as being a union, being both beneficial to him and his “family”, referring to the two sons he and Medea share. His acts against Medea although selfish and conniving are still outweighed by Medea's ultimate betrayal of murdering there children in order to spite and seek vengeance against Jason nullifying any initial sympathy readers may have had for her. Euripides also portrays the character of Jason as a sexist male character somewhat symbolic of the very patriarchal greek society. With phrases such as “You woman are all the same” after Medea angrily reacts to his new marriage and other sayings such as "What we poor males really need is a way of having babies on our own – no females, please. Then the world would be completely trouble free” validating Medea's feelings on her being ‘a woman’ highlighting his sexist nature in regard to woman. During these moments, sympathy for Jason is hard to find and easy to feel for Medea. Jason's seemingly sexist nature and reasoning for his marriage to Creon's daughter the princess is understandable. Jason tells Medea that "I was not […] tired of your attractions […] it was simply that I wanted above all to let us live in comfort, not be poor" . The use of the word ‘us’ when speaking to Medea about his upcoming marriage to Glauke (the princess) shows that despite his sexist nature and his insensitive actions to Medea, he still had Medea's best interest in heart, stating his marriage to Glauke as not only being beneficial to Jason and his kids but “us” Medea included in that equation, rescuing both himself and Medea from poverty and assuring their sons a place in society. Medea's banishment was not part of the plan, reminding the audience that Medea bought the punishment down on herself and her children. Medea chose revenge against Jason to be more important than protecting her own children, whilst Jason always had his children's interest at heart once again proving that the love Jason has for there children is more than the love Medea posses for them, once again forcing the audience to sympathise with the somewhat ignorant character that is Jason.
In the beginning of the play before Medea spirals out of control, the character in which the audience’s sympathies are extended towards is Medea, a choice which seems like an obvious one. With a prominent scene before Medea is even introduced, the Nurse explains the pitiful situation She explains how Medea and Jason once had a wonderful relationship. Speaking of Medea's current state, she says, “…she will neither eat nor drink, except her own tears, She turns her face towards the earth, remembering her father’s house and her native land, which she abandoned for the love of this man: who now despises her,” showing both how depressed she is and the ‘hate’ Jason presumably has for her. With statements like these and Medea's crying the audience is also more likely to sympathise with Medea rather than Jason in the beginning of the play because they have yet to meet the true nature of her character and see her determination for vengeance as well as only bing subjected to hearing about Jason's wrong doings from the nurse and the chorus. Medea is once again sympathised with when she is banished from Corinth because her children will also be included in that banishment, characters which the audience can view as the only true innocents in the play. Medea’s misery continues to be evident in her “lamentations” that “it’s death [she wants]” and that Jason’s actions “torment [her] heart”. She also states that she herself that her logic has been skewed by her intense feelings of contempt for Jason and that her ‘[my] passion is master of my [her] reason’. It is her fierce pride which clouds her judgement and leads her to commit filicide, as she “[would] not tolerate” being captured by her enemies and does not want to be thought of as “weak and feeble”. However, it is notable that Medea has moments of clarity where she concedes that she is “well aware” of the “terrible crime” she is to commit, highlighting how even in such a drastic state of mind unlike Jason, Medea is aware of the harm she is inducing yet does not care as long as she gets her revenge on Jason, enticing sympathy to Jason and none for her.
Ultimately Euripides tragic tale of Medea although does invoke feelings along the way of sympathy for both of the main characters, the titular character of Medea, the scorned wife and the ignorant Jason ultimately forces the readers to pick one of the characters as the most sympathetic, Jason. After making Medea perform the heinous act of filicide one even she cannot come back from any feelings of sympathy for her come character is eradicated, proving that even one of the most ignorant characters Jason can be the most sympathy worthy character over a abandoned wife.
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