Euripides’ Medea begins in medias res as Medea is dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s desertion of her and their children. Immediately, several characters in the play foreshadow the effects of this betrayal by expressing fear of Medea’s wrath. The Nurse even solely states to herself “Now she hates her children. When she sees them,/ there is no joy in her. And I’m afraid/ she may be up to some new mischief.” (291). This prophetic fear offers insight and hints at Medea’s nature and the deaths of her need for vengeance. Medea, herself, expresses loathing toward her own children several times in the play: “Curse ye and your father too, ye children damned” (295). While most mothers would want to protect their children from their father’s deeds, Medea instead blames them for being apart of her misfortune. The only time she expresses even a semblance of concern for her children was when she used them as a tool to elicit sympathy from Creon: “Suffer me to abide this single day and devise some plan for the manner of my exile, and means of living for my children…Then pity them; thou too hast children of thine own” (302).
The first few pages of the play also begin to assert frustration over the treatment of women in the patriarchal Greek society. Euripides’ creation of a play with elements of women’s rights was peculiar for its time period, but he expertly wove these progressive statements about society into Medea. On page 298, Medea states “we women are the most hapless creatures” and then lists her grievances:
1. “First must we buy a husband at a great price”
2. “Divorce is not honorable to women”
3. “Must the wife…see how best to treat the partner”
She continues with a garb at men by claiming that they are immune to the consequences of their actions while women are subject to these actions.
First things first, I love the structure of your post and for using the term "in medias res." I thought it to be extremely strange that a woman could so easily "hate" her children and say it to them with so much truth. When two people are divorced, or basically divorced, and have children it can be hard to look at them because it reminds of the former spouse however I feel that Medea takes it to the next level. Seeing as Medea is not in the proper state of mind, I feel as though something will happen to the children or the children will do something. Medea, and Medea's Nanny's, constant reference to the hate of the children I believe that it is foreshadowing something to come.
ReplyDeleteBeginning in media res gives an immediate conflict and even shows Medea's means to get revenge on her cheating spouse, Jason. Medea also goes against the gender roles of her time. She claims she hates her children, but women of ancient Greece were supposed to be homemakers. Medea also throws jabs at the structure of Greece's patriarchal society. Medea's anger and frustration could be one of the key things that leads to her downfall as the play progresses.
ReplyDelete