Meditating on Medea
Meditating on Medea
1. Who is to blame for the tragedies that occur? This is a difficult question, because there is more than one character that can be blamed for the tragedies that occurred. First of all there is Jason who could be blamed, because he betrayed Medea by marrying the daughter of king Creon. Medea was hoping to spend a happy life with him and she betrayed her family by killing her own brother only to support Jason. Therefore he is somehow responsible for the anger that Medea feels. On the other hand there is Medea to blame for the things that happened, since she actually carried them out. She poisoned Jason’s new wife and king Creon after that she murdered her own children in order to hurt the feelings of Jason and to make his life miserable. She definitely felt betrayed, but there is no reason to kill everyone else but Jason, since the people she killed are the least responsible for her anger. It would have been wise to take the offer of Aegeus and follow him to Athens while leaving Jason and his new family in Corinth. That is why Medea is to blame the most of all characters. However, it is also possible to blame king Creon for what happened since he should have sent Medea away the day before, but he was nice to her and let her stay for one more day. This turned out to be a big mistake.
2. Can you identify deus ex machina in this play? If so, where does it occur/ what exactly is it? It is difficult to identify a deus ex machina in this drama since there is no real solution for the problem. The only part that could be seen as such is the part when Aegeus, the king of Athens, comes to Corinth. This is the situation where Medea gets the chance to continue her life in his city, so he gives her a plan for the future. However, it was no real solution for the problem since Medea is still going to kill Jason’s wife and her children.
3. Is the ending satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Why? For me as a reader the ending was more unsatisfactory than
1. Who is to blame for the tragedies that occur? This is a difficult question, because there is more than one character that can be blamed for the tragedies that occurred. First of all there is Jason who could be blamed, because he betrayed Medea by marrying the daughter of king Creon. Medea was hoping to spend a happy life with him and she betrayed her family by killing her own brother only to support Jason. Therefore he is somehow responsible for the anger that Medea feels. On the other hand there is Medea to blame for the things that happened, since she actually carried them out. She poisoned Jason’s new wife and king Creon after that she murdered her own children in order to hurt the feelings of Jason and to make his life miserable. She definitely felt betrayed, but there is no reason to kill everyone else but Jason, since the people she killed are the least responsible for her anger. It would have been wise to take the offer of Aegeus and follow him to Athens while leaving Jason and his new family in Corinth. That is why Medea is to blame the most of all characters. However, it is also possible to blame king Creon for what happened since he should have sent Medea away the day before, but he was nice to her and let her stay for one more day. This turned out to be a big mistake.
2. Can you identify deus ex machina in this play? If so, where does it occur/ what exactly is it? It is difficult to identify a deus ex machina in this drama since there is no real solution for the problem. The only part that could be seen as such is the part when Aegeus, the king of Athens, comes to Corinth. This is the situation where Medea gets the chance to continue her life in his city, so he gives her a plan for the future. However, it was no real solution for the problem since Medea is still going to kill Jason’s wife and her children.
3. Is the ending satisfactory or unsatisfactory? Why? For me as a reader the ending was more unsatisfactory than