Medea Key Themes

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Key Theme

Information
  • Character of Medea
  • Cunning- Uses her children as a reason to stay in the city, appeals to Creon's love for his own children
  • Dangerous- Nurse expresses concern over children's well being in beginning of play, already killed her own brother in order to be with Jason, kills Glauce due to jealousy, eventually kills her children
  • Confused- Can't decide whether to kill her children or not, asks them to leave because if she see's their faces anymore she will not be able to carry out the deed
  • Vengeful- The whole idea of killing Glauce and the children is to hurt Jason, she's extremely jealous and set on hurting Jason as much as she can. Also does this by depriving Jason of being able to bury his sons bodies
  • Unstable- The thoughts and ideas Medea is having are not normal of a woman in any era. The fact she previously cut up her brother to get away from her homeland should have brought up some immediate suspicions
  • Manipulative: Gets her children to give Glauce the robe and crown laced with poison but suggests its an attempt to realise that Jason remarried for all of their own benefit. Gets Aegeus to swear an oath by the gods that he will provide a place for her to stay however he isn't aware of her plans
  • Grief stricken- Over her split with Jason rather than over a death, She is not taking care of herself or the children hence the nurses worry for her at beginning of play. She's conflicted about love and whether it is good or bad as the Chorus tends to portray love as mad and damaging
  • Supplication
  • Very big part of the play. If they supplicate someone they're basically forcing/begging them to tell them the information the other knows. Appropriate parts of the body to touch were the chin and knees
  • Nurse supplicates the tutor at beginning of play by his chin asking him for what he knows about Medea (he heard that Medea and her children are going to be exiled)
  • The children supplicate Medea by her feet when she is about to kill them as they cry out for help- she's merciless
  • Medea supplicated Aegeus by his beard and his knees for him to take her into his country. Says she will give him children (more manipulative because he has just come back from an oracle as he went in search of answers as to why he had no children)

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