Medea By: Euripides Jonathan Youngman pd5
The play was originally written in 431 BC The play was originally written in 431 BC. The title is significant because of it’s simplicity. It is focused mainly on one person. That being Medea.
The Setting!!!! The setting takes place in Corinth, Greece. Likely during ancient times. The setting is significant in that; 1) It takes place during Euripides times. And 2) The character Creon rules Corinth.
The Main Themes!!!! One of the main themes is revenge. Medea wants to get revenge on her ex-husband for leaving her and marrying Creon’s daughter. She does this by poisoning the princess and killing her sons. Hate is a big theme. Medea’s hatred led to the deaths of her sons, the princess and Creon himself out of anger towards her ex-husband Jason. Trustworthiness is key as well; Jason married Medea and broke his vows. His lack of trustworthiness has caused him to lose everything.
World War Medea The main conflict of this play is that Medea is abandoned by her husband and is to be exiled. Before she is exiled she wants revenge on Jason. So, she kills his new wife and her own children. Before she goes through with this she has a moral dilemma and also has to find someone to take her in after being exiled. Interestingly, Medea is both the protagonist and the antagonist of the play. She is the victim of Jason’s mistreatment. And at the same time is planning to kill her and Jason’s children and the princess which she does.
The War Path This crime against humanity begins as a nurse speaks of the wedding between Jason and Creon’s daughter. Poor Medea having been kicked to the curb. When Medea begs Jason not to abandon her, he says it’s for her and the children’s safety and to make the new brothers kings. She then begs with Crayon to not exile her and he refuse. She then meets her friend Aegeus from Athens, who promises to take her in. Then she plots to kill. She first lies to Jason, saying that her exile is for the best. She poisons a golden fleece meant for the princess and then plans to kill her sons. The fleece rapidly ages the princess and then she catches on fire and burns to death. Creon tries to pick up the body but he’s too weak and dies right next to her. And that’s how the crayon melts. Medea then tears her sons to pieces and they die. Jason finds out and goes into a crazed lament and Medea has won the war.
The Quotes “ The gods came down today and heaped on Jason a terrible punishment, but it was deserved”. Yes, Jason absolutely deserved to be punished for breaking his vows, but was the punishment too severe? “ Children, your father was ill with love: you died of it” Love sometimes does kill out of jealousy. Or a broken heart.
The Perpetrators !!! Medea: The killer wife; hell bent on revenge and decides that culling the herd would be the best way to get back at her husband. Jason: Medea’s ex-husband, who breaks his vows and suffers the consequences of his unjust actions. Creon: He’s the king of Corinth. He’s too weak, feeble, diseased by now. He has planned for Medea to be exiled and for Jason to marry his daughter. Aegeus: Medea’s friend from Athens. He offers to take her in after exile.
The Verdict!!! I judge this play to be interesting. The killer wife had my attention. I was stuck wandering what was this woman thinking. Was murder the best answer to her problems? Why didn’t she just kill Jason? Medea honestly didn’t have to go that far. It’s sad to see a marriage fail. You know; divorce rates in this country are up to 50%. This play somewhat reminds me of this fact. I enjoyed the plot. And I really liked the character development of Medea. How she could go from good to evil is fascinating. If you’re interested in psychology, this is the play for you.
The Words Our spies have retrieved the documents and, we are un able to find anything that would suggest that the enemy has other secret plans. We now know the enemy’s plan and there are no secret codewords. That is all.