Medea (#4)

            Medea, despite having practically all her assets and honor taken away from her, still is able to make a sacrifice. She is willing to sacrifice her reputation and morality all for exacting vengeance upon her husband. However, she does not falter at sacrificing these, since they mean fairly little to her. Instead, her true sacrifice comes in making her children martyrs to her cause. This does align with true sacrifice, as she encounters a moment of emotional dilemma – “[her] heart is not in it,” (1041) and relents to “have twice as many woes” (1046). But, with her dismissal of this as cowardice, she resumes her sacrifice with sending them to deliver death and walk to their own. She retains her pride this way, by lifting herself up via lowering Jason and destroying all that he loves – be it a mutual love between the two or not.

            However, this is not the only time she has sacrificed family for her own benefit. She betrayed her own blood in her homeland to help Jason out of love. Thus, Medea’s own pride and childish selfishness are contingent on how far she is willing to sacrifice her own physical and metaphysical assets. She is willing to cause damage to herself, so long as it helps her reach her own ends. As such, her murdering of her children is her final sacrifice – she has no more to give, and thus she can gain no more. She will only have a fall from grace from here, until she obtains something else to burn in sacrifice to the goddess of her own pride.

            

Sly as a...

           Medea was able to fulfill her vengeance by using her cunning abilities. Similar to Iago and Odysseus, she was not able to defeat her opponents through pure strength and power. Instead, she lied to Jason and used her children as mere tools. Medea begged Jason to tell Creon, "not to exile the children from this country" (943). However, she does not care if her children get exiled or not. She only needed them for her plot to "kill the king's daughter" (783). After Medea killed Jason's new wife and father-in-law, she decides "to kill [her] children and leave" Corinth (1237). She does this to inflict more pain upon Jason.

            There is a contradiction in Medea's idea of revenge and justice. Medea used her children to kill Creon's daughter, just as Jason used Medea to obtain the Golden Fleece. After she accomplished her vengeance, she tossed her children away, just as Jason remarried a new woman after he no longer saw any value in Medea. By killing her children, Medea is not better than Jason. A righteous mother would have escaped with her children instead. It's also worth noting that Euripides never showed the tragic death of Creon, Jason's wife, and Medea's children. Instead, a servant describes the death of Creon and his daughter. This is similar to Mystic River's use of implied violence. Dave's death and Katie's death were never shown in the movie.

Medea's BFF

Throughout the play, the Chorus serves as a narrator and voice of morality for Medea. At first, they sympathize with her situation, saying “But still to me — even if I speak out of character —

you seem, in abandoning your wife, not to be doing the right thing” (577-578). However, as the play progresses, their support for the strong female wanes. Medea’s decision to murder her children causes a change in sentiment towards her. From then on, the Chorus repeatedly begs her to reconsider her choice. This change in tone by the Chorus serves to emphasize the dramatic effect of the play. The events become even more tragic because the Chorus voices the opinions that most of the readers have. They become a megaphone for the audience but are still tragically ignored. Interestingly, despite their protests to Medea’s plans, the Chorus does not notify Jason of his children’s impending deaths; they are loyal to Medea. After she murders her children, the Chorus then speaks to Jason, saying, “Your children are dead, killed by their mother's hand” (1307). Even this statement is devoid of criticism. The Chorus disagreed with Medea’s actions, but they still refuse to betray her. Because they are composed of female members, this gives the Chorus the character of a female best friend. Throughout the dramatic unfolding, this group of female confidantes give Medea advice. This creates the image of a community of women working together to combat they wrongs committed against them (in this case, adultery). Perhaps, Euripides created this effect to make a statement about the strength of women.

Euripides uses Medea to show the power of an individual angry woman while Medea and the Chorus demonstrate the depth that female secrecy and loyalty transcend. This contrasts with the disloyalty shown by Jason.

Medea's story ft. Jason

Medea's heart was aching in sorrow caused by Jason. The fact that he left her to get remarried was something Medea could not bare. She wanted Jason to feel the pain that she felt. She wanted Jason to know how much he hurt her. What better way was there than her way? Sure it frowned upon to kill anyone but if you think about it and get past all the morals and things... She was kind of smart about it. Medea could not physically harm Jason because he was a stronger man. He no longer was in love with her and she's the one who got left so she can't emotionally do anymore damage to him that he hasn't already don't to her. So she hit him where it hurts, hit him in his soft spot. His kids. Medea killed her own kids. So you would think that it would emotionally scar her but I think her apetite for revenge fairly outweighed her love for her kids which was extremely selfish of her. Her actions showed why holding grudges against anyone only eats you up inside and causes you to do things that are out of character to people who you never wanted to harm. I believe Medea's reasoning and her pride was always her downfall since the beginning. Now, she just proved how she really is and showed her true colors.

Medea: A Woman Hidden by a Facade of Stereotypes

Due to her crimes, Medea is perceived as a "sorceress". However, after reading Medea, readers may not be able to find the qualities that could allow Medea to be described as a magical entity. Medea's behavior as a psychopath could be mistaken as that of a "sorceress". She has no connection to her children, showing no signs of maternal love towards them: "she hates her children, takes no pleasure in seeing them" (35). The only connection Medea makes is with Jason. She is fixated on him to a point past obsession, which leads to her motives behind her conniving revenge. Her psychotic behavior is previously evidenced by a major aspect of Medea's background: she kills her own "brother in cold blood" (166). Medea has no respect for human life, declaring herself free from the burden of living a life of morality.  Yet, the obdurate crimes she commits afterwards come as a surprise to many. The general perception of Medea's story may be a masculine reaction to Euripedes's rally for gender equality. Mysoginists seem to be stereotyping the passion of a woman and the murderous behavior of a psychopath as the actions of a godless witch, instead of realizing that the stress they put upon women within patriarchies may be the cause of such erratics. Euripedes's message in Medea may be similar to that of Walt Whitman in his poem "The Sleepers": "I hate him that oppresses me, I will either destroy him, or he shall release me". Whitman seems to be following Euripedes's crusade by showing that oppressors must either practice equality or be crushed under the numerous, penetrating heels of the oppressed, crazed with a thirst for revenge.

Justifications and Selfishness

     Both Medea’s logic and reasoning are always poorly justified. The simple fact that she always needs to justify her decisions says something about who she is and what she does. When she said that she must kill her children she said that it is because “no one..will rescue them.” (792) That statement is very ironic considering that their mother, who is supposed to be their primary protecter, is the one saying that no one will be able to protect them, so the logical thing would be to kill them obviously. All of her justifications are furthering the assertion that she only cares about herself, especially when her pride is on the line. Her pride is built on being a woman who men fear, woman scorn, someone who can not let someone get the upper hand on her in any way. She  does not feel the least bit sad about killing her “own flesh and blood” (816) because on the positive Jason will feel even sadder than she ever will. She values her opinions, her revenge, and, most importantly, her pride, everything else far and in between are matters that will sort themselves out as far as she’s concerned. 

Rage

Medea responds to the limitations set on women in this time, in a quite vengeful way. Refusing to take care of the children, while her husband goes off to marry someone else, she makes the decision to kill Jason's new bride along with her own children. Medea inflicts the suffering Jason has made her feel onto him. This can relate to the political cartoon because after a world of only men becoming US presidents Hillary is stepping up with a vengeance to take down her competition.
Medea is driven to do these irrational actions because of the rage that has built up inside of her. This relates to the Buddha quote very literally. Medea is drinking her own poison of rage, and expecting Jason's bride and her own children to die. This is exactly what happens, but it does not dawn on Medea that the rage inside of her is poisonous. She finds that the only way she can cope with the pain Jason has caused her is to transfer that pain over to him by killing everything he has. Medea didn't take into consideration that this plan also involved killing any sense of morality she had left. In the end, she feels no remorse for Jason for she feels this is equal the amount of pain he had inflicted upon her. She wants nothing of Jason's sobbing as she says "Your words are thrown into the empty air." (1403) This poison Buddha speaks of has truly blinded Medea, and there is no going back to the days before her rage.

To Kill or Not to Kill

Towards the end of Medea, Medea is at stalemate with her decision of whether to kill her two children. In order to kill her children, Medea had to trick herself into thinking “Do not think of your children — how much you love them, how you gave them birth”(1246-1247). In that moment, Medea’s children were seen as the key to destroying Jason, even if she was hurt by their deaths.  Medea still chooses to kill her children because her love of revenge was greater than the love of her children.

This quote relates to Medea’s thought process. One of the main reasons Medea wanted to  kill her children was to get revenge on Jason is because he made Medea look weakened from heartbreak. Medea has a strong personality and hates when anyone looks down on her. Medea had to kill Creon’s daughter and her kids to prove that she wasn’t a weakling. Medea’s need to want to prove herself is her hamartia, easily present throughout the course of the play. In the battle of love and revenge, Medea let her heart guide her, when in reality, the most efficient ideas come from the heart and mind working together. If Medea made decisions with her heart and mind, she would’ve found a way to get back at Jason without murdering his (and her) loved ones. Because of Medea’s inability to control herself, she will only be remembered as a monster and a child(and royalty) murderer. Medea went through all the effort to get back at Jason, but it still seems that Jason has “won”.

Sacrifice

In ancient times, the Greeks valued three things, Honor, Loyalty, and Sacrifice. Out of all of the values, sacrifice plays the most central role in Euripides’ play, Medea. As the story unfolds, it becomes evident that sacrifice is the root of all conflicts. The character's value of sacrifice, especially Jason and Medea’s, proves their willingness to accomplish their goals and desires. As she formulates her plan to murder her children, Medea states “do not think of your children- how much you love them, how you gave them birth” (1245-1246). Medea’s hesitation proves that she is not taking the situation lightly and provides an explanation for her sacrifice. Furthermore, the fact that Medea murders her own children merely “to wound [Jason]” (1398) shows how much she values revenge and sacrifice over the well-being of her children. Medea’s actions perfectly depict the obstacles the Greeks are willing to go through in order to uphold their values.

The dictionary defines sacrifice as an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. According to Mother Teresa, however, a sacrifice must cost, hurt, and empty ourselves in order to be considered real. Medea’s sacrifice at the conclusion of the play can be labeled as real because she fulfills all three components of Mother Teresa’s definition of sacrifice. Medea’s sacrifice cost her the lives of her children, hurt her by having to murder the children herself, and emptied her by having to mourn them and losing a piece of her herself in the process.

Symbols of Murder

Euripides develops a symbol in choosing to have Medea kill her two sons.  By destroying the fruit of her and Jason’s loins, she is representing the destructive demise of their marriage. Her decision is out of hatred for her husband that inherently transferred to them, and also her desire to destroy every living remainder of their relationship. On a larger scope, the murder is retaliation to the patriarchal society in which she lives. Perhaps she feels as though she did not have the choice to subsume the duties of motherhood, and she is demolishing her obligatory identity. To her, motherhood is “endur[ing] the useless pangs of childbirth” (1030). Also, killing her sons is destroying the next generation of male dictators. Overall, Medea’s revenge is representational to the oppressed women who suppressed their feelings of injustice and explode in vengeance.

 Sylvia Plath’s Poem "Daddy" also can be seen as a symbol of feminine rage.   Like Medea, the speaker is a woman who allegedly “murders” two men in her life: her husband and her father. Her need to overcome male dominance leads the speaker into an eruption of viciousness. Plath remarks, “Every woman adores a Fascist,” because she is acknowledging the rigid stereotype of men as forceful, and women “adoring” their demands. The tone teeters back and forth from personal anger for submitting to masculine force and recognizing how women find comfort and normality in gender roles. Consequently, the speaker in “Daddy” learns brutality from the men in her life, and therefore finds “equality” by employing a belligerent retaliation.  

Hypocrites!

Before Medea actually begins, Medea “[betrays] her home, her father, [and] her [brother]” (43) with the hope that she will gain Jason’s affection. Jason supports her savagery so he can complete his quest. However, at the end of Medea, when Medea murders Glauce, Creon, and her two sons, Jason condemns the very savagery that he supported before. This reveals his hypocritical nature. Jason even says that “it was not my hand that murdered them” (44), yet his betrayal is the reason his sons are killed.

 The hypocritical political cartoon above perfectly describes Jason’s behavior throughout Medea. Jason says he has “kindness for [Medea]” (31), but it is his lack of kindness that forces Medea to act so destructively.  Jason is revered by the Greeks as a hero. He embodies what all Greek men strive to become. By revealing Jason’s hypocritical nature, Euripides is condemning the nature of Greek men when it comes to women. These men look to Goddesses for Wisdom, Love, Harvest, Inspiration, however, the women in their society are not respected. Medea is the embodiment of feminism and female power. At the end of Medea, Medea gains the upper hand over Jason. She enacts her revenge leaving Jason broken. She is only human yet her revenge leads to the death of four people. Euripides wants to show that ordinary women can be just a powerful as the men. This role reversal, in which the woman comes out on top, was practically unheard of during Euripides time -which is probably why he was not the most popular playwright.

Revenge

Revenge is a key aspect in many forms of Greek mythology.  From the beginning of the play Medea is immediately introduced as a jealous character that wants nothing more than to gain revenge on her ex husband. Revenge has been introduced in Greek mythology through Zeus, Uranus, Althea, and now Medea.  Revenge functions throughout Greek culture and often reflects the Greek values of loyalty. If the loyalty is broken the Greeks tend to seek revenge immediately. “It is the supreme way to hurt my husband.”(141) Medea knows the only way to truly hurt/seek revenge on Jason is to kill everyone he truly loves, which even means Medea’s own sons.  Medea expresses how she has so much hate towards Jason that she will go through any lengths just so that Jason feels the pain that he caused her. Medea believes the revenge would not be complete if their sons were not murdered. “ But, Medea, what is this—these dewy eyes, these tears; […] it is nothing. I was just thinking of our sons.”(150-151) The tears Medea produces during this scene provokes the idea that Medea’s mind is so clouded by trying to seek revenge that she is even starting to believe her craziness.  The tears are meant to convince Jason that she is sincere in wanting the best for him. Even though this is not the case the “sincere” tears contradict the fact that she is going to harm Jason in the worst way, by killing everyone he loves and cares about.

The Contradiction

Although Euripides is known to be controversial in his writing choices, employing stories permeated with large numbers of female characters, his messages in Medea appear to contradict. Medea clearly emulates a strong woman, advocating the rights and independence for females through her actions. However, her overwhelming wish to “wound [her] husband” (26) clouds her sense of reality and causes her to seek vengeance, no matter what the cost.

Today’s society tends to label women as crazy or obsessive, stereotyping females to be dependent on men. Similar to ancient Greece, many people today remain misogynists with patriarchal views. As seen in the play, Medea’s characteristics depict some of these common misconceptions about women, contradicting her feminist, independent attitude. She states, “I may kill the King’s daughter” (25) and “She and all who touch the girl will die in agony” (26), showcasing the extensive measures she will take to have revenge on her husband. She also declares, “For I shall kill my own children” (26). Medea is willing to murder her own kids, and many other people, just to inflict pain upon an unfaithful man. In addition to her ominous plans, when speaking to Jason, Medea’s tone is depicted as enraged and insulting while Jason’s remains calm and collected. Medea’s words serve as evidence to prove the extent of which Jason’s affair has affected her life. Was Euripides utilizing female roles solely to add “drama” to his plays? Did he intend for Medea to truly stand as a passionate woman fighting for justice? Or is she meant to represent the actions of a dramatic, foolish girl? Although writing lead roles for women is a revolutionary act, there still seems to be a sense of superiority of men over women in the lines of Medea.  

Medea (blog #4)

Euripides utilizes symbolism throughout Medea. In the play, Medea’s right hand embodies all of Medea’s major sufferings. Medea cries to her right hand twice, demonstrating to the audience how she only has two significant upsets in her life. When Medea first pities her “poor, poor right hand,” she reveals her first affliction: Jason’s unfaithfulness (28). Prior to the beginning of the play, Jason “did cling to [Medea’s right hand]” and induced Medea to fall blindly in love (28).  However, Medea’s extreme devotion to Jason leaves her “citiless… [with] no mother near, no brother, not one kinsman anywhere” (16). She relinquishes all of her possessions and all of her bonds to ultimately fail to attain her one true desire, to be with Jason. Medea fixates on the idea of how her and her right hand “are unclean” (28). They “have caught the stain of bad men’s flesh… and dreamed [their] dreams in vain” (28). Living in happiness with Jason is a far-fetched hope for Medea.

The second time Medea howls, “O poor right hand of mine,” is after the tragic play’s point of no return (69). Medea’s “mind is clear,” and she commits to “[slaying her] children with all speed” after the messenger delivers her exile (68). There is no more hesitation within Medea as she says, “For one brief day, forget thy children” (69). The audience discerns Medea’s second misfortune: the demise of her children. She is “sore unfortunate” when she commands her right hand to “take up [her] sword,” forcing herself to “weep” after their death (69).

There is a “thin-drawn line where life turns agony” (69). Within the play, Medea experiences trauma whenever she calls out her right hand.

Medea vs Jason

     Jason's arguments in response to Medea show how much he is an opportunist. He uses his "rhetorical skills" to "outrun" Medea's "tongue lashing," in order to sound organized and relevant. Medea had done so much for Jason; such as killing Pelias or killing the dragon for his protection. Jason tells Medea that it is her own fault for her to be exiled. Jason says things such as if he had children with his new marriage they would be protective siblings of Medea's children. He even offers her money but Medea declines. Medea shows her pride when she rejects his offer, she would rather suffer than have anything to do with Jason at this point. Jason used Medea as she did all these things for him, and now uses his new marriage for personal gain. He doesn't seem to understand the value of a marriage, he sees more money and materialistic ideas while Medea believes in a closer, dependable bond, which Jason lacked. The depth of Jason's arguments was shallow compared to Medea's it was clear that Medea valued their marriage a lot more. Medea has so much rage in her and Jason has her last on his priority list.

     The balance scale represents how Medea carried more weight in their marriage, she protected Jason more than he protected her, she still feels emotion from his betrayal and he acts so nonchalant about it. Jason did not give as much into their marriage as Medea did, therefore making an unbalanced relationship.

Stop Stressing, You're Free Now!

Medea’s emotions are destroyed by Jason’s betrayal.  Medea is so deep into the pit of despair, she is having suicidal thoughts. All the nurse can hear is “the sound of laments, full of despair; as she cries out shrill sad sounds of mourning at the betrayer of her marriage-bed”(203-206). Medea wasted her time trying to pleasure Jason, and it was all no use. Jason's betrayal taught Medea the reality of women's status in society from a first-hand experience. Along with betrayal, Medea's sadness and anger is caused by her realization of how insignificant she is in Greek Society.

Instead of being heartbroken over Jason, Medea should feel relieved because now she is liberated. Greek women had little say in politics and were a sort of domesticated slave used only to take care of a man and children. "Women are the sorriest lot: first we must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body"(231-234).Medea sacrificed so much for Jason, including the fact that Medea “killed my brother in cold blood for him!(167).” Without Jason, Medea can finally live a life for her self; No more sacrifices. Liberation is supposed to be exciting! Jason is ungrateful for all that Medea has done for him, and if Jason cant appreciate the sacrifices Medea has made for him as a woman in love, then he doesn’t deserve her at all. Jason, an ungrateful, cheating man can now bear a burden on another woman, instead of on the loving Medea.

"You, the vilest man alive, you have betrayed me"

After postponing her exile, Medea makes the statement, “And besides we are women,/most helpless for the good,/but skilled craftsmen of all that is evil” (407-409). These three lines, spoken in retaliation for her husband’s betrayal, demonstrate the extent of Medea’s desire for revenge which is further reinforced when she announces her plans to kill her own children and Jason’s new bride. She ironically chooses to betray her blood, proclaiming “I grieve over the deed I must do” (791), to gain vengeance for her husband’s betrayal of her. Medea contradicts herself by telling Jason, “If you were still childless/ you could be excused for craving another marriage bed” (490-491). This statement suggests that Medea wants revenge for her children and not herself. She puts on a facade for Jason, pretending to be the “concerned mother” who is seeking to right the wrongs committed against her children, however, a few lines later, she   states, “For I shall kill my children” (791). This hypocrisy detracts the readers’ sympathy from Medea and reveals her true manipulative nature.

However, it can be argued that her anger is justified. The argument for Medea rests solely in the her own words in Episode II when she confronts her husband with their past. Although Medea and Jason share this past, they are clearly divided on which details are most important. Medea’s remembrance of their history together entails a depiction of her as his hero. She even dares to emasculate him by proclaiming “I saved your skin” (476) and taking credit for his great deeds. She “held up the light of safety for [him] (482). Meanwhile, Jason holds much less sentimentality towards their past together and believes he is securing their future. This divergence on key beliefs is the basis of Medea’s anger. Adultery was common in the patriarchal Greek society, so in my opinion, Medea is truly angry about her position in life as a woman and Jason’s lack of appreciation for her.

(Medea and Jason need to read this book.)

Female Aggression: The Equivalent of Hysteria?

Throughout the story, Medea puts on a guise, making Jason believe that she truly agrees with his misognyst actions and regrets her reaction -- "A mere female is naturally given to tears" (927) -- which she considers to be "excessive". Medea does this to trick Jason and to easily carry out the crimes, "[killing her] children" (792), that she plans to commit as an act of revenge. However, by doing this, Medea is further deprecating the way men regard women in this patriarchal society. It seems like she is empowering herself, but she is actually thickening the line of inequality that exists between men and women. If the women who speak modestly and are obedient to their husbands are looked down upon by their society, how will society perceive a woman behaving erratically and wildly, the complete opposite of what society expects from women?

Hysteria is a movie based off of true Western history that explores a fragment of females' path towards gender equality. Just like the men in Medea, the men in Hysteria belittle the struggles of women. The movie directly approaches the made-up mental ailment, "hysteria", that physicians claim to be real in order to trivialize the wantons of women. The men, who are more comfortable and open with their sexuality, do not want women to become sexual beings, making them equal to men. The women's attempts to claim their sexuality and physical pleasure is reminescent of Medea striving to claim her equality and right to anger. But, just like the women diagnosed with "hysteria", Medea's conflicts with society will most likely be dismissed as some sort of mental illness that clouds the judgement of women.

Medea (#3)

Medea has remained true to her new, revengeful self for most of the play, and has devoted herself to creating a master plan. She succeeds in devising one, along with evaluating every consequence, including the necessity of “[killing her] children” (792) in order to prevent [leaving them] in hostile territory for [her] enemies to abuse” (780-781). Arrangements are made and the plan is about to be set in motion when the woman of unfaltering hatred and revenge falters. This ironic moment shows how Medea is only pure cold within the recesses of her own calculating mind, but when presented with reality, must face her own emotions. The visage of her children’s faces poisons her will to simply use them as pawns in her plan, and so she “will take [her] children with [her]” (1044) when she flees Corinth. This one break in her persona is the one point in which she can reform her deeds and intentions. The gods give her this moment to put life and love into perspective – she loves her children, and so she moves spares them from harm. She still loves Jason to an extent, and so this moment is where she can turn all on its head and spare him by dissolving her plan. However, she (un-ironically) refuses this opportunity of salvation, denoting it as “cowardice,” stating that “these things must be endured” (1050). She continues with her plan as intended, continuing down the tragic spiral, choosing revenge over her love for her children.

Gender Inequality: Unethical?

            The first and second episodes in Medea highlight the unjust structure and view of women in the Greek society. In the beginning of Episode I, Medea remarks the unfair conditions that women are forced to endure in Greek culture.  She explains to the chorus, “we women are the sorriest lot: first we must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body… it is not possible to say no to one's husband” (231-237). The lines demonstrate the harshness surrounding Greek females. They are not allowed to be independent and must always rely on and abide to their husband under all circumstances. Most people may think that Greek women have an easy life since they are completely reliant; however, Medea, a strong female protagonist, disagrees with this concept. She claims, “I would rather stand three times in the line of battle than once bear a child” (250-251). Due to this statute of limitation, Medea is trapped in a situation where her husband can leave her while other people view her as a “foolish woman” (333) for complaining.

            In Episode II, Jason lashes at the role and existence of women. He boldly declares, “There should be some other way for men to produce children. Women would not have to exist at all. And then humanity would be saved a lot of trouble” (573-575). In this statement, Jason asserts his belief that women were created only for the purpose of giving birth to children. He thinks the world will be more fortunate if woman are nonexistent and implies they don’t deserve an equal treatment as men. Discriminating ideas, like Jason’s belief, are the reason why there is a gender barrier between men and women.

Justice Impairment

Medea's concept of justice has been blurred by her wrath against Jason and his new royal family. Justice usually coincides with the concept of peace. What Medea has plotted to do is the complete opposite. Her definition of justice would be to avenge the pain that Jason has put upon her by leaving her for a new wife. She wants to inflict this amount of pain back on Jason. That is not justice. Justice is overcoming wrong doings, and doing what is moral. When Medea reveals what she plans to do, the chorus comes in as the voice of reason saying "we beg you not to do this." They see the morality that Medea is too enraged to see.
 http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/the-meaning-of-justice
Medea is carrying out her form of justice by poisoning Jason's new wife, then after killing her own children. She will then let Jason live through the rest of his miserable days. Justice always seems to be a debatable topic in society, but in no way are any of Medea's plans moral. She is willing to go all the way in killing her own kids just to get her revenge on Jason. She just wants him to feel how she feels now they he has abandoned her. Medea's plot is a clear representation of how revenge often very much differs from justice. Jason may have done wrong, but he even offers Medea money to take care of their children. She is too enraged to take this offer, and only has her eyes set on killing him. Her anger overrides any form of morality, leading to justice impairment. Although she believes she's doing the right thing, it is actually the complete opposite.

Ironic Teardrops and Use of Empathy

Medea plays the sympathy card all too well in her apology to Jason. Her phony tears cast her as a sensitive, submissive damsel. When she weeps for her children, she explains, "A mere female is naturally given to tears" (927). It is not coincidental she concludes about her actions,  "But we are what we are: we women," (888). She is appealing to Jason's belief that all women "think they have it all" only if their marriage is "in good order" (568-569). She acts as though Jason has swayed her opinion and proved her wrong, and she is being completely illogical. She takes advantage of her role in a patriarchal society to weaken her prior argument whilst boosting Jason's ego. In this she provides a stark, contrast to her true vengeful self.

Medea's appeal is also a pivotal point of dramatic irony that further advances the plot. By her feeble plea for Jason's help, she turns him into an accomplice of his own fiancé's death. Medea's plan twists Jason's perception of reality where he becomes so moved by the bountiful and bright future his children could have. As their father, he is compelled to "do right by them" (925). The stakes at which Medea will choose to kill her children become even higher now that she appealed to her and Jason's parental instincts. 

The following political cartoon emulates the concept of empathy applied to agressors. In these circumstances, Medea is the aggressor and she is a rebuttal to the cartoon's claim. She is scheming to take the life of her own children. She contradicts the power of the empathy gun because her victims are her own kin.

Jason isn't THAT bad

It's funny, the prejudgment that can be made about a character before even having read a line from him/her. Before even having had the character Jason introduced, the readers are met with many castigations on his behalf by Medea, who labels him as "the vilest man alive." (228) However, when he enters in Episode II he seems less "vile" then was to be expected. Jason's tone is quite relaxed even though he is angry about the topic of discussion, and he seems to be very unperturbed about all the events that have, and will, occur in his life.  This shows an immediate contrast from his character and that of Medea's. Jason is much more confidence in his choices and level-headed. The way that he expresses how unhappy he is that Medea must leave the land, saying he "tried to assuage the passions of the rulers" (454, 455) is said in a way that one would believe he was being honest.  What was even more surprising about his demeanor was his response to Medea's diatribe against his character. Euripides uses many metaphors when Jason speaks, adding to the assertion of his level-headedness and overall sensibility. After Medea berates him, exclaiming that he is endowed with "shamelessness" (471) and a "lack of manliness" (465), Jason proceeds to take a calm approach once more. He casually brushes aside the words of Medea’s outburst and tells her that he  “..must... practice [his] rhetorical skills,  and...outrun the blasts of [her] tongue-lashing,” (521-524) because she makes a “mountain of it.” (525) His speech did not come across as condescending, but differential. Jason’s arrival makes the reader’s question whether Medea’s persona has a lot to do with her own life problems. 

Though comical, this picture relates to the scene of Medea and Jason in Episode II. Medea boils over with anger whilst Jason keeps his composure with little known frustration.

What Would You Do?

Medea faces more challenges than one right now I'm her life. She is about to be abandoned from the country, she doesn't have a plan b regarding her evil plan to kill Jason and his new wife, she is stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to taking help from Jason. She also has to figure out how she will keep her children safe.
      Medea has been enraged from the beginning, and now with Jason sharing his side of the story we finally get to his reasoning for his actions. He actually seems like he has some sense out of the two of them. Here you have Medea, this mad and stubborn woman who will not open her mind and listen to what anyone has to say to her. All she wants is to do what she wants to do. Then you have Jason, he's being reasonable about the whole situation and trying to explain to her why he did what he did. He tells Medea in spite of her wishing bad things on him that "I care for your well-being"(line 460). Here, Jason is being the bigger person and putting how mad he could get aside. If he wanted he could just argue back with her and that would get them nowhere. Jason even goes as far as offering her resources once she is exiled because he could never think badly of her. However, Medea is too stubborn and too prideful to accept his offers. Medea here is not thinking with a clear mind and how much he wants to help her. She's only thinking of her being betrayed and hurt. But she has to also think about her kids which is what she's failing to do. Now with hearing Jason's side it's arguable that what he did was wrong. He could've gone about leaving her in a different way or personally told her but he had valid reason to do so. Is Jason really wrong for what he did? Or is Medea handling thesituation wrong?                                     

Here is how Medea's trait of stubbornness is effecting her and how it can effect her in the long run also. 

Gender Roles

Gender roles continue to be an ongoing issue throughout not only Medea, however, in the present day society.  Throughout the time period of  431 BC males are the superior human.  Simonides (a poet during the time period) describes woman, “Yet, this is the worst plague Zeus has made, and he has bound us to them with a fetter that cannot be broken. Because of this some have gone to Hades fighting for a woman." Simonides like many other people of that time period compare woman to a dark plague that has taken over the world. Simonides thinks woman do not have good intentions and are a nuisances to society. In Medea’s first long speech to the chorus she exclaims. “For a woman and it is not possible to say no to one’s husband”( 236).  During 431 BC woman are not valued enough to form their own opinions. If the wife disagrees with the husband she must learn to agree and never say no to her husband. In Medea there is an obvious double standard between men and woman. “But the man, when he is bored with things at home he can go out to ease the weariness of his heart”( 243-244). Medea states that even though some woman may be unhappy in their marriage they will have to find a way to deal with it and live their life to the presence of the husband. However, if a husband is unhappy in a marriage he will not be looked down upon among his peers and most likely will be able to cheat on his wife freely.


http://phys.org/news/2016-03-gender-stereotypes-years.html