Medea: The Representation Of Woman In Ancient Society

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The play is actually reinforcing patriarchal ideology comparatively more than it's undermining it. She's healthy and decisive which are virtually believed to be male characteristics in a patriarchal society and she’s also mental like a female was believed to be. Patriarchy is a society that favors the men over the women. Guys would not be in an area to perform something that's thought to be girly also. He would not have the ability to cry, show act or emotion too caring towards folks.

Medea is proven to be unstable mentally which supports the ideology of women during this time in literature. Medea is upset because Jason tells her he is marrying someone else to look out for him and his children. This pertains to the feminist theory because women never had the option to just up and leave relationships. Women were seen as monstrous for dating a man for his status or net worth nowadays. Medea is also limited once she is married and basical pays for her husband. Giombini states, “Medea refers to the suffering of women: a woman must pay to get married because her family is obliged to bring a dowry to her future husband, so her family must provide the dowry to the groom of the daughter. Furthermore, even after purchasing a husband, a woman cannot repudiate him, while the man can divorce his wife at will. In such a case, the woman ends up dishonored by a divorce, unwanted by her husband” Being mentally unstable was seen as a women characteristic. There is a social class put in place to attack the feminist theory and without that social class feminism wouldn’t thrive. Diane Reay states “without class or something to go in its place feminist theory will fail to engage adequately with the intricate web of inequalities that constitutes society in the 1990s and into the millennium”. Jason believed that her brain was 'dangerous'. This explanation is actually displaying Medea's hate and just the way she's really angry she's not thinking straight. Medea couldn’t look at her children without thinking of Jason which she despised and led her to kill them. All of these particular actions, portrayed Medea as just being stereotypically a' bad girl' who's believed to be monstrous, worldly, aggressive, and violent. Medea was seen having these awful qualities and it took away from the traditional gender role of a women. This story was so impactful that there was even a disorder named after her. The author states, “The Medea complex refers to a disturbed mother-child relationship with obvious destructive aspects, and it evokes a central theme that Jung articulated in his writing about the Terrible Mother”. Though there were numerous patriarchal concepts in the play; feminist techniques are actually offered as well. There's a social class structure put in place to strike the feminist principle, and without that public group feminism would not thrive. She's an incredibly interesting concept that's unbelievably incredible too. Medea figures out a plan, by herself, to solve this huge issue in her life. She finally decides to attack Jason’s heart instead of his physical body. Medea works through her pain in the play and her actions are clear as day to the people around her but it goes under the radar with Jason because of her decisiveness. She's independent in supporting the choices of her and does not back out.

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Jason pursued his own desires, while Medea ignored the stereotypes of many females within the Greek patriarchal world. She questioned female's inequality within the patriarchal world, contradicted Jason's motivational opinions and challenged the passive and weak stereotypes of women and totally ignored the job of maternal women. Many believe it's among the very first works of feminism, as well as Medea is actually the hero of feminism. These females had been feared as well as enchanted by Medea, which rather replaced the life of her. All of them condemned her and shame on her bad conduct, though they didn't try to understand her point of view. Fearless and powerful, Medea refused to deal with unfairness by males, and plans her revenge. It's the role of an ancient Greek female, as he's having to pay more interest to Medea himself. The simple fact that Euripides selected Medea to eliminate the infant is actually decisive for this conversation and will be pointed out. The meaning Goodman discovered that there are actually 3 important issues in defining a thing as a feminist, near to literature, with publication literature and gender.

Many would argue this Euripides Medea is actually an early representation of feminism even though this's real as apparent by Medea's quest and independence for equality, Medea doesn't display feminist qualities until the first exchange of her with the females of the chorus. Many folks feel Medea's bold choice to abandon her fight and fatherland with Jason reveals that she's a feminist; however, the betrayal of the family of her just to be with a male shows that Medea is much more interested in experiencing a husband than becoming an unbiased female. When Medea will lose Jason, she suffers from grief which turns into rage that sparks the feminism which motivates Medea to get the justice of her. To obtain the chorus's loyalty, Medea lures them inside with the woes of the life of her and potential in order to make the sympathy of theirs. Pity is actually an important thing; when folks have pity for somebody it is able to cloud the judgement of theirs and escape them weak to manipulation. Medea uses this expertise as being a tool to encourage the chorus to feel really sorry for her. Medea initially exclaims, 'unexpected trouble/ has crushed the soul of mine. It is over now; I take/ absolutely no pleasure in my life' (Euripides 226 228).

Jason's beliefs about women’s role in society are examined in this play. Jason airs the views of his about what all females want: 'If they are (females) satisfied in bed, they are happy everywhere'. By comparing Medea's fresh feminism to Jason's self-centered chauvinism, Euripides brokers sympathy as well as support for feminism in the market. Medea concerns the securely held belief in Greek modern society which females are actually passive and weak. Wanting payback on Jason for the betrayal of his or her, Medea should take control of the predicament, a stereotypical masculine quality. She's in a situation in which she need to struggle between her would like for freedom as well as her motherhood instincts: 'My center throughout the dagger. Do it. Do not flinch. You need to. Come, hand: the blade. This particular program must run. No weakness. No…memories. Flesh of the flesh of yours! Forget you enjoyed them for a particular very short day, forget. She should kill the children of her and shed the sympathy of the market. Nevertheless, at this stage in the play the chorus don't sympathizes with Medea as well as the actions of her and really plead with her: 'On the knees of ours we beg you think once again. Your kids mustn't die.'(p.29, Medea). The' motherhood' and' nurturing' function are actually both qualities concerning femininity which Medea through rightly disregards when she gets rid of the children of her. Medea's inquiries the inequality of females in a patriarchal world, contradicts Jason's chauvinist opinions, issues the stereotype that females are actually passive and weak and totally disregards the feminine job of motherhood.

In conclusion, Medea is the trailblazer for feminism and represents it well within the story until she kills her children. Her reaction to her husband’s action paints her as a monster when in fact she was just reacting to her heart being broken. The way women are portrayed in this story corrupts the feminist theory because it doesn’t show women with individual liberty. Medea did not want to fall victim to the patriarch system so she decided to take matters in her own hands. Medea represents women without a voice that have been hurt or harmed by men and get blamed for the men’s actions.

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Medea: The Representation Of Woman In Ancient Society. (2022, Jun 29). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/medea-the-representation-of-woman-in-ancient-society/
“Medea: The Representation Of Woman In Ancient Society.” Edubirdie, 29 Jun. 2022, edubirdie.com/examples/medea-the-representation-of-woman-in-ancient-society/
Medea: The Representation Of Woman In Ancient Society. [online]. Available at: <https://edubirdie.com/examples/medea-the-representation-of-woman-in-ancient-society/> [Accessed 22 Dec. 2024].
Medea: The Representation Of Woman In Ancient Society [Internet]. Edubirdie. 2022 Jun 29 [cited 2024 Dec 22]. Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/medea-the-representation-of-woman-in-ancient-society/
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