Medea Loss Of A Child Essay
The Loss of a Child
In most circumstances, it is difficult for one to feel sympathy for a character that is the cause of their suffering; however, in Medea, this is not the case. Although Jason can root the causes of his sufferings to his own wrongdoings, with the loss of innocent children, he certainly suffers the most out of the characters in Medea. Because Jason is not entered into the play until far into the plot, the audience has a biased opinion of him from the start. This time allows for other characters to depict him as they see, without Jason there to defend himself. After reading the first few pages of the play, we already have a bias against Jason and believe he is immoral. These beliefs are predominantly based on the statements of the nurse and the tutor. He is depicted by the nurse as a man that has betrayed his family, “Jason has betrayed his on sons and my mistress” (Lines 16-17). This line provokes the audience and turns them away from Jason.
When Jason finally makes his appearance on stage, he still is not a likeable character. He is very arrogant, ignorant, and manipulative. He tries to persuade Medea that divorcing her and remarrying was actually benefiting both …show more content…
of them. “But in return for saving me you got far more than you gave” (Lines 484-485). He believes his decisions are always the right ones, comparing them to Medea’s saying, “I shall show you that my action was wise, not swayed by passion” (Lines 496-497). Why should we sympathize would such an unlikable character?
To determine who has suffered the most in Medea, we must view the play without emotional bias. Medea and Jason had the greastet sufferings out of all the characters.
Medea suffered from two main injustices. The first, that she suffered from being deceived and betrayed by her husband, Jason. Although Jason’s actions are not excusable, this was very common in Ancient Greece. The chorus even commented that this should not anger Medea, because of its commonality. Secondly, Medea suffered from being banished from Corinth; however, this cannot be seen as too great of an injustice, because Creon had great reason to ban Medea from Corinth. He needed to protect his daughter, Glauce, from being Medea’s plot to kill her. Therefore, this act can viewed as just by Creon.
Now, let us further discuss Jason’s sufferings.
What pain did Jason deal with? First, Jason’s second wife and father-in-law were poisoned and killed by Medea. Murder is the epitome of a lack of human moral, certainly lower than infidelity. There is no excuse for Medea’s murder. There will not be an excuse grand enough to take another’s life, especially an innocent child’s life. Jason had to suffer the death of his children, also killed by Medea. Murder alone is the most inhumane act possible, and the cold-blooded killing of innocent children shall be deemed callous and merciless. Comparatively, Jason’s sufferings outweighed Medea’s sufferings in large. While Medea simply lost the role of her husband, she did not physically lose a loved one. That is a much greater
suffering.
Medea committed such horrific crimes with no remorse. She certainly did not suffer more than Jason by the loss of her children, and could have prevented such passionate, dark acts. Medea brought this suffering onto herself; on the other hand, it was forced upon Jason. He did not have control over the situation. Medea willingly slayed her own children simply to get revenge on Jason. Jason was also denied a proper burial for his children.
Jason’s anguish is seen when he says, “I long to hold them in my arms; to kiss their lips would comfort me” (Lines 1175-1176). It is an unbearable thought to not be able to hold a child in your arms that you love. It is an even stranger, terrible thought to know this is because their mother has killed them. He committed acts of imprudence that left him with the consequence of no family, no friends, and no play to go. Although Jason made mistakes such as deceit, divorce, and remarrying that inflicted pain upon Medea, it would never amount to the suffering that Jason must endure due to the loss of his own children.
Word Count: 709
In most circumstances, it is difficult for one to feel sympathy for a character that is the cause of their suffering; however, in Medea, this is not the case. Although Jason can root the causes of his sufferings to his own wrongdoings, with the loss of innocent children, he certainly suffers the most out of the characters in Medea. Because Jason is not entered into the play until far into the plot, the audience has a biased opinion of him from the start. This time allows for other characters to depict him as they see, without Jason there to defend himself. After reading the first few pages of the play, we already have a bias against Jason and believe he is immoral. These beliefs are predominantly based on the statements of the nurse and the tutor. He is depicted by the nurse as a man that has betrayed his family, “Jason has betrayed his on sons and my mistress” (Lines 16-17). This line provokes the audience and turns them away from Jason.
When Jason finally makes his appearance on stage, he still is not a likeable character. He is very arrogant, ignorant, and manipulative. He tries to persuade Medea that divorcing her and remarrying was actually benefiting both …show more content…
of them. “But in return for saving me you got far more than you gave” (Lines 484-485). He believes his decisions are always the right ones, comparing them to Medea’s saying, “I shall show you that my action was wise, not swayed by passion” (Lines 496-497). Why should we sympathize would such an unlikable character?
To determine who has suffered the most in Medea, we must view the play without emotional bias. Medea and Jason had the greastet sufferings out of all the characters.
Medea suffered from two main injustices. The first, that she suffered from being deceived and betrayed by her husband, Jason. Although Jason’s actions are not excusable, this was very common in Ancient Greece. The chorus even commented that this should not anger Medea, because of its commonality. Secondly, Medea suffered from being banished from Corinth; however, this cannot be seen as too great of an injustice, because Creon had great reason to ban Medea from Corinth. He needed to protect his daughter, Glauce, from being Medea’s plot to kill her. Therefore, this act can viewed as just by Creon.
Now, let us further discuss Jason’s sufferings.
What pain did Jason deal with? First, Jason’s second wife and father-in-law were poisoned and killed by Medea. Murder is the epitome of a lack of human moral, certainly lower than infidelity. There is no excuse for Medea’s murder. There will not be an excuse grand enough to take another’s life, especially an innocent child’s life. Jason had to suffer the death of his children, also killed by Medea. Murder alone is the most inhumane act possible, and the cold-blooded killing of innocent children shall be deemed callous and merciless. Comparatively, Jason’s sufferings outweighed Medea’s sufferings in large. While Medea simply lost the role of her husband, she did not physically lose a loved one. That is a much greater
suffering.
Medea committed such horrific crimes with no remorse. She certainly did not suffer more than Jason by the loss of her children, and could have prevented such passionate, dark acts. Medea brought this suffering onto herself; on the other hand, it was forced upon Jason. He did not have control over the situation. Medea willingly slayed her own children simply to get revenge on Jason. Jason was also denied a proper burial for his children.
Jason’s anguish is seen when he says, “I long to hold them in my arms; to kiss their lips would comfort me” (Lines 1175-1176). It is an unbearable thought to not be able to hold a child in your arms that you love. It is an even stranger, terrible thought to know this is because their mother has killed them. He committed acts of imprudence that left him with the consequence of no family, no friends, and no play to go. Although Jason made mistakes such as deceit, divorce, and remarrying that inflicted pain upon Medea, it would never amount to the suffering that Jason must endure due to the loss of his own children.
Word Count: 709