Essay - Medea Euripides - 1 Analyze Medea's Character Medea's Character Euripides...

Medea Euripides - 1 Analyze Medea's Character

***** Character

Euripides is one of the greatest writers of Greek tragedy because his characters are archetypes for the human condition. In ***** play Medea, Euripides explores the position of women in society, and the extremes that a woman can be led to within ***** *****. ***** is "No ***** from Greece," (Euripides, ln. **********), coming ***** an island of barbarians without civilization. She is intensely in love with Jason, and will make dec*****ions based on this passion. Jason ***** Medea are exiled, and he does not stay faithful ***** her, so as punishment Medea kills his new wife, fa*****r-*****-law, and even their own children. ***** is motivated by the encouragement she received from ot***** women, the expectations placed on women in ancient Greece, ***** her natural inclination towards murder as a solution.

Medea ***** not bound ***** ***** social norms of other Grecian ***** because she is from outside of that society. Her position in society is that of an outc*****t, *****d when confronted with maltreatment ***** responds with anger and violence. According to some people, ***** ***** is justified and represents a lack of inhibition ***** some ***** would encourage in all women. In the play, other women (in the Chorus) are sympathetic ***** Medea. "I'll do what you request... For you are right to pay back your husband. And, Medea, I'm not surprised you grieve at these events." (Euripides, ln 308)

In today's society, some women believe females should stop withholding their anger and to let themselves express every emotion fully. T***** shows the parallel between ***** ***** in ***** ***** all mistre*****ed women. The social contract is often broken with *****, and ***** m*****treatment leads them to acting outside of the expectations of that society.

The role ***** women in ***** culture is personified by Medea. In ***** times, ***** were believed to be very *****al and angry on the inside, but passive on the *****.

Some his*****rians believe that in ancient Greece, women ***** strongly associated with anger, but "this stereotype ***** the critique of ***** functioned as an *****strument of male *****mination." (Strijdom) Medea has this inner rage that was considered normal for all women to have. On the o*****r hand, "there was almost no legitimate place ***** women's anger." (Burnyeat) Women were expected to have strong feelings, but ***** ignore them outwardly and keep all rage bottled up. This double standard is prominent in Medea, for example when ***** admits that it ***** normal ***** women to get ***** angry ***** their ***** is be*****g unfa*****hful, yet he expects Medea to for***** about it. (Euripides, ln 908-910) This is yet a**********r way in which ***** parallels the ***** of ***** in our society today who ***** also expected to keep ***** feelings hidden.

Medea has an inclination ***** killing people as a ***** to solve problems. Long be*****e killing her husband's ***** or ***** own children, she had killed her own brot***** in order to escape