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.
Using Medea, Euripides reveals the potential power females may possess. He wrote with the mind of a feminist, a mind rejected by his society. Like Euripides, author Kate Chopin also wrote with a mind rejected by her time in "The Awakening." Edna portrays the modern day feminist in Chopin's story.
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ReplyDeleteI like how you describe Jason's hypocritical nature. I feel that through Jason and Medea's relationship Euripedes is trying to represent how women sacrifice so much for their husbands, yet husbands leave their wives on silly whims such as the lust for power and sex. It conveys how little regard mysognists have for women and how in patriarchal societies women are just objects pushed and pulled by the desires and lack of respect of men. Your post reminded me of the story _ANNA KARENINA_ in which a married woman is condemned by society for taking a lover and yet a married man's many affairs are regarded as the nature of man. Both authors, Tolstoy and Euripedes, display the inequities between genders in both class structure and marriages in the patriarchs of their feminist stories.
ReplyDeleteI love how you explicated Jason's hypocritical nature! Often people who seem to be an ideal figure in society are actually backed with corrupt morals. This concept is explored throughout the test of time. The pharisees in the Gospels were condemned because they made show of their "holiness" and flaunted their ability to get into heaven. When ideally, those who humbly chose to do for others were chosen to enter the gates.
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