Unspectacularly, the Jeffers adaptation of Medea is quite a disappointment painting Medea as an animal with no “reason” or human-like thought in regards to her decisions. “QUOTE”. Consistently compared to animals, Medea rarely gains the respect as the incredibly intelligent human-being that Medea should have. On countless occasions, Medea remains seen as an animal, including, “I shall not die perhaps as a pigeon does. Nor like an innocent lamb, that feels a hand on its head and looks up from the knife to the man’s face and dies – No, like some yellow-eyed beast that has killed its hunters let me lie down” (Jeffers, 28.)
In ancient times, all over the world, woman were considered inferior to men. Woman in ancient Greece, as well as in other religions, did not have any political rights, official power, and were not educated. Becasue of this, Antigone’s gender is a problem from Creon since he does not recognize her
In Ancient Greek Civilization, women were viewed as submissive. A man always controlled the women; that either being the Father or Husband. Women were forced to stay in the house and complete all household duties. Women were not even granted the right to attend assemblies, participate in politics, or even represent themselves in court. Having little to no overall power in your society can have a huge burden on Women but this can also fuel certain Women to strive to change the society they live in.
She is not blameless, in what she did, but she deserves some sympathy because of how she was immobilized by all the duties thrown on her by her society. Medea voices how she has been suppressed in her society. She notes, “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (L 231). Medea’s tone throughout her speech is proper, confident, and angry.
Medea and the women of Corinth both share, to a different extent, the experience of being unfairly categorized as the caretaker of the family, which aids Medea in persuasion because she can be trusted as a woman to speak on the patriarchal society. She continues as ‘’of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the sorriest lot’’ (229-230) of all the living things Medea describes women as the ‘’sorriest’’ which suggests that women are pitied and helps Medea to allure the Chorus to be on her side. Medea suggests to the Chorus that Females ‘’must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body: this evil is more galling than the first. ’’(231-233) Medea is arguing that women must sacrifice a ‘’great’’ amount of money to ‘’buy’’ their partners. This conveys the patriarchal community in Corinth.
When I think of Medea in the play I see her going downhill from the princess she was with a more royal gown to show her station in her life to when she was exiled the first time her costume would have become more simple but still has more going for it than a plain white dress but when she is going to be exiled again and then decides to kill everyone but Jason I see her in a black dress to kinda represent her morning the loss of her children and morning the loss of her own life in the process. But the video showed a plain white dress which was a little too plain for my liking and what I thought of for this play and the blood and mud the blood I could understand why they did that and why they put as much on there as they did but the mud was
The author Richards of "Review/Theater; Amid Pain and Din, A Mighty Medea," describes the male characters as arrogant, condescending and egotistical. During the play Medea, the males are characterized as only interested in what will give them power and they are not concerned with the feelings of the women or Medea in the play. “The male characters in "Medea" don 't come off well. But then they never have, and Alistair Elliot 's stripped-for-action translation of the play further emphasizes [Euripides] ' feminist sympathies. Either the men are smug and patronizing (like John Turner 's Creon) or else they 're smug and self-serving (like Mr. [Tim Oliver Woodward] 's Jason).
Medea was treated unfairly in the patriarchal society that she lived in and due to the circumstances she was forced to abide by, she sought to achieve her own form of justice. Women were mistreated and regarded as inferior to men. In fact, Medea mentioned how women were like foreigners forced to abide by their husband’s laws and remain subservient. Essentially, women were treated as outsiders and were thought to need constant protection from male figures. So, when the King of Corinth kicked her and her children out of Corinth and Jason left them, she wanted revenge since she felt she had been wronged.
As the play begins, Medea has stopped eating and spends her days locked within her own house. She can be heard moaning and rambling from within her home. She even wishes she would die, saying things like, “I am miserable, unhappy in my labors! Oh me, I wish I were dead.” As we as, “I wish I could cast off this hateful life and take my rest in death!”
As the play starts, the Nurse tells the audience that Medea constantly “cries aloud … Wasting away every moment of the day in tears” (Euripides, 59). She also “Moans to herself” (60). This is a clear picture of a person in desperation, uncontrollably upset. Nonetheless, fewer than a dozen lines later, we are also told of Medea that “her heart is violent” (60). In tandem with her depression, she also has the fury of revenge inside of her, ready to erupt.
She describes the world to be unjust, especially to women. Medea believes that women are looked as inferior to men, and even so, men are quick to display their unlikely maltreatment. To her, women have little to no say in their marriage, their bodies, and general society. Medea’s outlook of women is first conveyed through this quote, bringing upon the theme of the state of women within Greece. This quote reveals the state of women within Greece, a leading theme of the story.
Euripides’ The Trojan Women expresses the disbelief and hope of ancient Greek women during the Trojan war. The characterization and dialogue between Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra, shows the role of women in society during that time, as well as their different prerogatives towards the war and its consequences. Likewise, The Odyssey by Homer uses the main female character, Penelope, to convey the role of women and their opinions towards the social changes from the war. Both texts, collectively, use dialogue to develop hopeful and hopeless ideas within the women of ancient Greece. Euripides’ The Trojan Women tells the story of three women, Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra, who struggle with their lives after the murders of their husbands
Her despair and grief intrigued everyone in Corinth which led to the appearance of the chorus. Since Medea is a foreigner in their city, it was easier for them to judge Medea for they do not know her. They thought that Medea’s reaction was too much and since she is a woman, she had no rights to act that way. Medea was too devastated to show up yet she wanted to point out her side. She shared her heart breaking story of how Jason left her and their children for Princess Glauke.
The most direct reference to Medea comes when the Teacher says “You are an injured, loving woman. You demand absolute justice. You
The nurse is explaining the root causes on how Medea became so vengeful. Medea is a very passionate and prideful woman. Medea was different from other women in Greece. “She has a temper that is vile and violent”( line 35) says the nurse. These feelings Medea had caused her to form the most devious plan she could think of.
