Themes in Medea
There are four present themes in Medea, infidelity in marriage, being an outsider, gender roles, and a mother's role with her son. Each of these is portrayed greatly throughout this piece and prove to be significant in the meaning of the tale.
Beginning with infidelity in marriage, Jason holds many years of marriage with Medea, only to throw them away for a marriage with another woman, Glauke, daughter of Creon. He attempts to make it seem as though this has no real relevance to his life, and it is fine that he is jumping from one marriage to the other. Naturally, if a woman just finds out that her husband has married another woman without her knowledge, she would be furious, as Medea was.
Infidelity, however, comes in more forms than simply cheating on your spouse with another person. Betrayal in any form constitutes as infidelity. Although Jason did betray Medea, she in turn, through anger, betrayed his as well by murdering their two sons. The acts of manipulation and trickery Medea commits simply add to the back and forth negativity. This simply demonstrates that when one person is betrayed, there may be a continuous cycle of betrayal to follow.
Upon Medea finding out about Jason's new marriage, she was rightfully upset as previously discussed. She was married to Jason and upon his new marriage, Medea and her two sons were banished from Corinth. She was considered an outsider in a land that she did not belong to. This was not her city-state. Jason, while basically bashing Medea for reacting in the manner that she did to her new "sister-wife", states, " You have a home in Hellas instead of some barbarian land," (62). This demonstrates more of a sense that banishment is something that is greatly feared among the people. They have a desire to have a new home and since Medea is now exiled and banished from Corinth, she is an outsider. She has no home where she is and therefore she is not trusted by the people, and her actions cut sharper because of this.
Gender roles is another theme significantly present throughout Medea. Upon finding out about Jason's infidelity, Jason concludes Medea's reaction to be the same as all women, and that "what we poor males really need is a way of having babies on our own - no females, please. Then the world would be completely trouble free," (62). Continuing on a theme of being an outsider, Jason tells Medea that she she ultimately be grateful that she has had a home where she is and that Jason is to thank for that - even though Medea did a great deal to help Jason get to where he stands socially. Jason attempts to advocate that he only married for financial stability and to provide a better life for Medea, indicating that she alone could not do that.
Finally, a theme of motherly love is present between both Medea and Jason and their sons. Medea demonstrates love to her sons by describing them as "the bloom of children's skin - so soft...their breath - a perfect balm," (173). She also debates for some time about whether to complete the plan of killing her children. Ultimately she is classified as a monster, but the love for her children was still present, similar to Jason. He begged for the bodies of his children after Medea completed the murder, as he wanted a proper burial for them. He was attempting to save them, even though he was too late.
Beginning with infidelity in marriage, Jason holds many years of marriage with Medea, only to throw them away for a marriage with another woman, Glauke, daughter of Creon. He attempts to make it seem as though this has no real relevance to his life, and it is fine that he is jumping from one marriage to the other. Naturally, if a woman just finds out that her husband has married another woman without her knowledge, she would be furious, as Medea was.
Infidelity, however, comes in more forms than simply cheating on your spouse with another person. Betrayal in any form constitutes as infidelity. Although Jason did betray Medea, she in turn, through anger, betrayed his as well by murdering their two sons. The acts of manipulation and trickery Medea commits simply add to the back and forth negativity. This simply demonstrates that when one person is betrayed, there may be a continuous cycle of betrayal to follow.
Upon Medea finding out about Jason's new marriage, she was rightfully upset as previously discussed. She was married to Jason and upon his new marriage, Medea and her two sons were banished from Corinth. She was considered an outsider in a land that she did not belong to. This was not her city-state. Jason, while basically bashing Medea for reacting in the manner that she did to her new "sister-wife", states, " You have a home in Hellas instead of some barbarian land," (62). This demonstrates more of a sense that banishment is something that is greatly feared among the people. They have a desire to have a new home and since Medea is now exiled and banished from Corinth, she is an outsider. She has no home where she is and therefore she is not trusted by the people, and her actions cut sharper because of this.
Gender roles is another theme significantly present throughout Medea. Upon finding out about Jason's infidelity, Jason concludes Medea's reaction to be the same as all women, and that "what we poor males really need is a way of having babies on our own - no females, please. Then the world would be completely trouble free," (62). Continuing on a theme of being an outsider, Jason tells Medea that she she ultimately be grateful that she has had a home where she is and that Jason is to thank for that - even though Medea did a great deal to help Jason get to where he stands socially. Jason attempts to advocate that he only married for financial stability and to provide a better life for Medea, indicating that she alone could not do that.
Finally, a theme of motherly love is present between both Medea and Jason and their sons. Medea demonstrates love to her sons by describing them as "the bloom of children's skin - so soft...their breath - a perfect balm," (173). She also debates for some time about whether to complete the plan of killing her children. Ultimately she is classified as a monster, but the love for her children was still present, similar to Jason. He begged for the bodies of his children after Medea completed the murder, as he wanted a proper burial for them. He was attempting to save them, even though he was too late.
Ashley, you had made a great point when going into further detail about infidelity in marriage. Infidelity does come in more than one form. Although, Medea had every right to be furious the way she had conducted herself had provided a typical stereotype of women being portrayed as crazy. Medea continues to have one bad news after another when she was banished from Corinth which ultimately, added more rage to what she already have after the abandonment with Jason. Also, being an outsider can come from a relationship standpoint as well. Being excluded from a marriage after having a family can make someone feel like an outcast as well. When talking about gender roles a man has the role of a provider like you had mentioned but that does not give him an excuse for his infidelity. There could have been a more honest dignifying way he could have provided better income in order to support his family. For marriage is through good and bad times. Also when marrying another person you should have a pretty good understanding of a person and their financial status. Medea killing her children shows no love that she had for her children. Ultimately, she was selfish and did not love her children enough because if she did her murdering them would not have had happened.
ReplyDeleteHey Ashley, why do you think that the concept of being banished was so insulting to Medea? I personally believe it unnerved her because it would mean that (in her perspective) that her enemies would be winning over her.
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you believe that Medea's expectation for Jason to stay with her (loyally at that) because of what she has done for him (literally kill for him) is a reasonable expectation to have?
And lastly, do you truly believe that he was trying to save them by wanting to touch them after their deaths or was he merely trying to appease his own sense of guilt?