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.
Manipulation plays a central role in the play, especially when it comes seeking revenge. For instance, Jason manipulates Medea into marriage and Medea manipulates Jason to plead to Creon that their children live with him rather than being in exile. Also, Medea's revenge is a little ironic. In order to get back at Jason, her children are killed as collateral damage which not only crushes Jason's heart, but her own too.
ReplyDeleteIn the play the idea of opportunity and manipulation is seen among the characters, for example when Medea "used her children to kill Creon's daughter and as Jason used Medea to get the Golden Fleece." Medea was not strong enough to take her emotion out on Jason in any other way but emotionally, but within a deeper emotion. She killed their own children to hit Jason's deepest emotions. She used her children to get back at Jason in an opportunistic kind of way.
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