Medea

A detailed Summary of Medea

Since Euripides' play "Medea" is still one of the most controversial plays ever written about the evocations of women's rights, there are many dissimilar opinions on the justification for Medea's choice of infanticide. The two most distinct sides are, that her reasoning and her actions were completely vindicated and the other is that her reasoning and her actions were entirely erroneous and unethical.

Her severe anger and turmoil caused by Jason marrying another women was overwhelming and devastated her. The only thing that she concerned herself with was to make Jason undergo the feelings of pain and suffering, even surpassed her own. Medea states that by killing her children "is the best way to wound my husband," (line 817) and that "No compromise is possible." (Line 819)

Her first decision is to kill her children, but then when she is faced with them and their smiles she renounces her plan. At this point she says, "Why should I hurt their father with the pain they feel, and suffer twice as much pain myself?" (Line 1046-47) After she hears the news that the princess and Creon died, she realizes that because of this her children will be endangered anyway. She says, "to suffer my children to be slain by another hand less kind

These ethical concerns of Medea directly correlate with the shallow and scheming concerns of Creon and Jason. Jason's reasoning to Medea for marrying the princess is that, it would benefit their children and Medea by the royal connection and ample amount of money from it. However, his reason to Medea, although completely understandable and defensible, is bullshit. He was obviously bored and ashamed of Medea and saw the chance to marry a beautiful rich princess. As for Creon, when he says, "I am afraid of you," he is not lying, but he is also not telling the whole truth. Medea's reputation is not the best, she is a foreigner and a murderer and he does not want people to associate himself, his daughter or his son-in-law with the likes of her.

Medea basically tells it like it is, and knows all about the true intentions of the men she encounters. She is able to see right through their lies, no matter how viable they are, and either confronts them on it or uses their own lies and deceives them. Like when she used Creon's lie about his reasoning for her exile to give her one more day in order to kill him and his daughter. Also, when she confronts Jason about his lies by telling him that he is "confident in his tongue's power to adorn evil, he stops at nothing. Yet he is not really wise," and "there is no need to put on the airs of a clever speaker, for one word will lay you flat." She uses her own knowledge of the way the patriarchal society works to manipulate men to obtain what she wants, and depending on the situation will use different ways to get it.

At the end of the play all that is s

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Jason Jason's, Medea Medea, promise aegeus, mother murder own, mother murder, murder own children, bear child, hurt father, own children, freedom please, reasoning actions, murder own, princess creon, killing children,

Approximate Word count = 1078
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English