Medea Key Themes 4

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Key Themes

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  • Foreigners
  • In Ancient Greece foreigners were all looked at as Barbarians so the fact that Medea is a foreigner who has caused so much trouble is really important to the play
  • In the play itself Medea isn't part of the 'norm' of foreigners as she is shown as intelligent. Although this intelligence is damaging in the play it is going against normal cultural expectations in Greek plays
  • However she also stays within the normal expectations as she causes problems and is violent and venegeful
  • People of Corinth are mad that Jason brought a murderous foreigner into their land so when she is exiled from Corinth it is likely they will take revenge on him for letting her in
  • She cannot go back to her native land and she is being exiled from Corinth where she is considered a barbarian, surely this will happen wherever she goes next
  • Foreign status affects her as when Jason leaves her she essentially has no social status left in Corinth and is just seen as a foreigner/barbarian where things didn't end up going her way
  • Love
  • By killing her children, Medea is ensuring that she both gets revenge on Jason but also that they are not subject to ridicule from the people of Corinth- possible she may think that she's doing this out of love
  • The break of love between Jason and Medea caused so much hurt on Medea's side, her tendency to get extremely attached could be a reason for such a mental break
  • Jason's love for Glauce and his children is what Medea is playing with and what she is dependent on. His love for them will cause him immense emotional pain and grief and that's all part of her revenge plan
  • In this play love is a force of destruction
  • Creon's love for his family makes him an extremely sympathetic character which means he lets them stay an extra day
  • Medea's love for her children leaves her conflicted after she kills Glauce as she has to ask them to leave before she changes her mind and doesn't kill them. For a while she is stuck in a 'limbo' about whether to kill them or not

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