Medea's Revenge Analysis
Euripides’s creation of a character who thirsts for vengeance was groundbreaking. Medea stopped at nothing to settle the score with those who had wronged her, even if that meant sacrificing her own children. In Medea, Medea specifically wants to exact her retribution on the man that left her, Jason. She has lost everything, whether it be her home, her marriage, or even her sanity. Medea must question herself why this desire for vengeance is so potent. She decided that killing her children was necessary in order to gain the last laugh, and she suffered no consequences for it. Many steps also had to be taken in order for Medea to achieve her ultimate goal. Vengeance may have been seen as justice in the eyes of Medea, but the two are very different.
…show more content…
Her multitude of steps toward revenge shows just how elaborate and demented her plans are. Medea first starts with convincing King Creon to let her and her children stay one more day in order to prepare for exile. Medea never intended to use this day to prepare, for she used it to plan her revenge. Medea devised a plan to kill Creon’s daughter in order to make Jason suffer. Creon’s daughter is Jason’s new love interest, and her untimely death would leave Jason heartbroken. Medea also conceived a new procedure that involved the death of her own two children. She would kill her children in order to make Jason suffer and leave him with unimaginable grief. Medea needed to come up with a way to kill the princess without actually directly committing the act. She decides to use poisoned gifts that the princess could not refuse. Medea also undertook an escape plan in which she would flee to another city, and was promised to be safe there. She strikes this deal with Aegeus of Athens who promised Medea safety in his city in exchange for her to work her magic to help him with fertility issues. Medea must then commit the acts, and does so by sending in the poisoned gifts with her two children as a peace offering. The gifts not only kill the princess, but kill King Creon as well. She then kills her own children, and must plan a way to escape to Athens. Medea does this by flying away in a chariot pulled by dragons. These
Her multitude of steps toward revenge shows just how elaborate and demented her plans are. Medea first starts with convincing King Creon to let her and her children stay one more day in order to prepare for exile. Medea never intended to use this day to prepare, for she used it to plan her revenge. Medea devised a plan to kill Creon’s daughter in order to make Jason suffer. Creon’s daughter is Jason’s new love interest, and her untimely death would leave Jason heartbroken. Medea also conceived a new procedure that involved the death of her own two children. She would kill her children in order to make Jason suffer and leave him with unimaginable grief. Medea needed to come up with a way to kill the princess without actually directly committing the act. She decides to use poisoned gifts that the princess could not refuse. Medea also undertook an escape plan in which she would flee to another city, and was promised to be safe there. She strikes this deal with Aegeus of Athens who promised Medea safety in his city in exchange for her to work her magic to help him with fertility issues. Medea must then commit the acts, and does so by sending in the poisoned gifts with her two children as a peace offering. The gifts not only kill the princess, but kill King Creon as well. She then kills her own children, and must plan a way to escape to Athens. Medea does this by flying away in a chariot pulled by dragons. These