Towards the end of the play the chorus refers to Medea as "this pitiable bloody handed fiend of vengeance." Is this how you see Medea?

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Mr Cole        The Peninsula School        Kamran Jamshidi

English

Medea presents a complex character!

Towards the end of the play the chorus refers to Medea as “this pitiable bloody handed fiend of vengeance.” Is this how you see Medea?

Euripides central character, Medea, provides the audience with an intently complex individual. Having been used, rejected in love and deserted by her husband she is intent on revenge. While initially we are able to side with Medea and, in fact, feel sympathy for her, as the play progresses this character’s true treachery is unveiled. Her cunning and calculating nature, although engage the audience, also strike fear into their hearts. It is ultimately the proposal and eventual act of infanticide that cannot be understood by the audience. Though this treachery is predominant throughout the play, at times we are shown glimpse of compassion and conscience from Medea, not to mention – at least in the eyes of the gods – a degree of heroism. Therefore it would be too simplistic to merely suggest that Medea can merely be described as a “bloody handed fiend of vengeance”.

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Primarily in the early stages of the play we are able to sympathize with Medea. Her offstage monologue immediately portrays an enraged, wronged woman, overtaken with the grief of her husband’s fundamental betrayal. “Oh how I hate living! I want to end my life, leave it all behind and die!” is a passionate cry from a woman who has been deeply offended. She has sacrificed so much for Jason, betraying her father, murdering her brother, deserting her homeland only to have her love rejected. In the name of love she has done so much for Jason and yet his ...

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