Medea: A Controversial Revenge

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A Controversial Revenge Medea is a play written by Euripides and was first performed in 431 BCE where it won third place in the annual theater contest. The play is centered on the plight of Medea, a foreigner from Colchis, and her struggle with Jason, her Greek husband, after he marries another woman. Medea is outraged when she finds out and then creates a plan to kill everyone involved in the conflict. She poisons a dress that kills the bride and the father-in-law, the king of Corinth, and she stabs her two children to spite Jason. The play ends with her taking the children's’ bodies from Jason and flying to Athens, where she is granted safety by the king, in her dragon pulled chariot. Medea’s reaction to the infidelity of her husband is controversial, and the reader cannot help but wonder whether she took the right course of action. Euripides presents the play so that Medea is wronged and not wrong; her actions are justified by the way she is treated. Medea is seen by the nurse as an unfortunate woman, whom Fate has brought the greatest grief to. In the opening scene she says, “And poor Medea is slighted” (1). She presents her opinion that Medea has been dishonored. She knows that Medea has been a good wife who supported and saved her husband throughout their time together. Medea has followed all the rules that society presents as a wife and mother, and it is Jason who is not fulfilling his; he has decided to cause Medea grief in the one of the few areas of happiness in her life. Therefore, she has every right to be angry and furious at Jason for his actions. The nurse also warns of Medea’s violent nature. She says, “I am afraid she may think of some dreadful thing, for her heart is violent. She will never put up with the treatment she is getting.” (2). If the nurse, who is simply the caretaker of the children, knows of this aspect of Medea’s character, then
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