Miranda Pendergrass
Ms. Ventre
4/28/13
Lack of Balance Leads to Medea’s Downfall
“At last I understand the awful deed I am to do; but passion, that cause of direst woes to mortal man, hath triumphed o'er my sober thoughts.”(2010). This is a quote from the character
Medea from the play Medea written by Euripides taken from Medea’s monologue where she is conflicted about killing her children to cause her husband, Jason, pain. Medea is an intelligent sorceress who was raised a respected princess of Colchis until Aphrodite cast a spell on her causing her to fall passionately in love with Jason as to help him complete a trial that he was not clever enough to complete on his own. After years of marriage and two sons Jason casts Medea aside and marries princess Glauke daughter of King Creon. Medea who had been completely in love with Jason is devastated at his betrayal and her passion shifts from love into an obsession for revenge. In her quest for revenge Medea goes so far as to murder princess Glauke, King
Creon, and even both her sons all for the sake of causing Jason pain. Medea is both a brilliant and passionate woman however upon Jason’s betrayal her passion becomes destructive and overwhelms her reason; as her passion becomes stronger than her reason she brings her downfall upon herself evidence of this that she goes so far as to murder and dismember her brother, betraying her homeland and family, to murder her children to cause Jason pain despite all the reasoning suggesting it will hurt herself by doing so, and she knows how her passion fueled desires will affect her after her heinous acts yet she casts reason aside , all of which will lead her to live a miserable life with nothing left but her fame as a murderer.
As soon as Medea falls in love with Jason she becomes much less reasonable and passion overtakes her, she is essentially used by Aphrodite as a tool for Jason to succeed and casts away all prominent priorities of her own in doing so. After betraying her family Jason is all she has as an outcast from Greek society and a traitor to her homeland this causes her to both emotionally
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Miranda Pendergrass
Ms. Ventre
4/28/13 and physically rely on Jason. It is essential to understand that passion comes in many forms and
Medea, a very passionate woman, mainly consisted of three forms of passion and went through stages of love, depression, and hate. In her love of Jason she willingly discards roles and people of great significance to her and upon his betrayal she “weeps, crying to herself for her dear father, her home, her own land, all those things she left behind, to come here with the man who now discards her” (980). After his betrayal she is immediately devastates her and she sinks into depression, an extreme change from her usual strong powerful mentality. Towards the end of her depression she becomes furious and at that point decides she deserves revenge. Jason leaves her with nothing but her children, wounded pride, and a great need for revenge that she is more than capable and less than reasonable of obtaining. Medea is so bent on revenge that she claims “if events force me to act openly, I'll use a sword. Even though it will bring about my death, I'll push my daring to the very limit and slaughter them.” (390). her life becomes expendable at the prospect of vengeance which contests with the extent she is willing to go despite what reason will tell her.
After planning the best way to hurt Jason Medea realizes she will have to murder her children though she claims “I understand too well the dreadful act I’m going to commit, but my judgment can't check my anger, and that incites the greatest evils human beings do.” She is still conflicted and almost abandons the wretched act till she realizes that her enemies might see this as weakness and laugh at her so Medea steel’s herself against the love she feels for her children and decides they must perish, for causing Jason pain is more important than the pain she will feel is what the audience will infer when Medea says “Pick up the sword, move to where your life of misery begins” (1240). She knows she will have a miserable life once she has her revenge yet her passion is so great that she will not stop. While convincing herself to murder her children
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Miranda Pendergrass
Ms. Ventre
4/28/13 however Medea uses reasoning for instance “They must die—that's unavoidable, no matter what.
Since that must happen, then their mother, the one who gave them life, will kill them” (1060).
This line stood out because she justified the murder of her children with the fact that everyone dies, saying that it is better she kills them because of her love for them so no one crueler could do so. Medea reasons away the death of her children yet she, a powerful and brilliant sorceress, uses a knife to kill them rather than a less painful, terrifying way which she in all her knowledge would know. The audience would find upon more contemplation that this choice is either a way to hurt Jason more, knowing there death had been brutal, or that her reasoning was rendered mute because she killed them to hurt Jason and in her hatred of him made them suffer; as she committed this act she was more of an enemy to her sons than the mother she claimed to be.
In Medea’s quest for revenge she is both brilliant and vicious from the moment she over comes her depression seen in Medea’s monologue as she says “ Let no one think that I'm a trivial woman, a feeble one who sits there passively. No, I'm a different sort—dangerous to enemies, but welldisposed to friends .
” (380). Using her passionate hate and brilliant mind to guide her tactics it is no surprise to the audience when she manages to succeed in the end causing Jason as much pain as she could, yet though she succeeded in the sense that all she wanted was accomplished the passion that drove her to her actions will inevitably leave her life in disarray. “I'll live my life without you both, in sorrow” (1030). In Medea the audience would not see one moment where she did not understand that she was hurting herself in the process from the murder of her children that will make her live in constant misery to the murder of the king and princess that will make it near impossible for her to be accepted in another land should she wish to leave Aegeus. The horrible crimes she committed in her past such as murdering her dear brother, betraying her
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Miranda Pendergrass
Ms. Ventre
4/28/13 family and country coupled with the murder of her beloved children will cause her grief and misery and haunt her always which in turn is her true down fall.
In conclusion Medea was cursed with an extreme unbalance of passion and reason; her extreme passion such as her love, grief, and hatred welled up inside her leaving her a hateful sorceress and murderer of kin and royalty. Medea’s passion has been a source of death ever since
Aphrodite’s spell in the events that transpire before Medea, however upon Jason’s betrayal her passion increases in its destructive nature overwhelming her reason. She brings her downfall upon herself with irrational emotion driven choices from murdering and dismember her brother, betraying her homeland and family, and the murder of her children. She knows how her passion fueled desires will affect her after her heinous acts yet she casts reason aside, all of which will lead her to live a miserable life with nothing left but her fame as a murderer.
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