Medea Gender Roles

Gender roles throughout history has placed an important value. In Euripides’ Medea, the main character Medea is a sorceress that has a valuable reputation, and is feared for her powers. Being emotionally distressed led Medea to commit a series of murders as revenge after Jason left her for a younger woman. Medea from the beginning is known to make others uncomfortable for her intelligence that is ahead of many. Containing various feminist qualities, Medea speaks out in behalf of injustices allowing her to overcome stereotypical gender roles. Starting over is hard enough. However, Medea took the risk of becoming a foreigner in Corinth for someone she believed was worth it. The agony Medea feels is justified because Jason betrayed his whole family insight of newly found power. Rather than accepting what has occurred, she asserts power over the situation, concluding that she has the right to act the way a man would if he were in her place. Instead of acting passively as any other women would, Medea takes action against Jason. After Creon banished Medea, she demonstrates no sense of hesitation to argue against the king on her behalf saying that, “when she is wronged

Medea persistently advocated for herself, blatantly throwing Jason’s betrayal to his face saying,“the vilest man alive, you have betrayed me and you have made a new marriage.” (Episode II. 487-488). She recalls everything she has done for him, and all the sacrifices made to get him to where he is, even killing her family and leaving her with no one else to confide in. Usual gender roles are seemingly reversed in their marriage, considering that men were the sole providers in their family and women complied to what was given to them. Additionally, Medea displays concern over the reputation she has the way a man would, “ You were not going to disrespect your marriage to me and lead a happy life, ridiculing me”