Loss Of Innocence In Medea

Medea by Euripides is a tragedy of a woman who feels deceived by her husband, who has left her for another women and her jealousy overwhelms her. Medea is first seen as a helpless woman; as the play continues her true colors begin to unfold. The reader is shown Jason and Medea’s wrongdoings, Medea’s influence of the daughters of Pelias to commit murder and Jason’s abandonment towards Medea and his children. In Medea the theme and idea of love are seen throughout. In Medea although Jason and Medea’s children play a minor role character they are crucial to the plays innocence.
Children are vital part to a family but most importantly they show the love and relationship between two others. In literature authors use children to represent many things but most often they are used to portray a since of purity and innocence. Children are born innocent. “helpless children” (1081). They only want to be loved, to learn, and contribute to the world. Although there are some parents who cannot trust their child so they begin to suspect all the imperfections they might have and what needs to be fixed. Children’s minds are not yet able to understand evil as adults can but adults do not yet understand that. …show more content…
The loss of the children’s innocence becomes a key factor to the play. When Medea kills her children she kills the children’s innocence but by doing this she destroys her own innocence. “To slay” (1531). At the beginning of the play the writer shows Medea and Jason’s wrongdoing. Medea gradually becomes more and more overwhelmed by evil .Until she decides to take the lives of her own two suns in order for her to exact revenge on Jason. The children can therefore be viewed as the plays ethics, influencing the reader into sympathizing with the children through their innocence while still be horrified with Medea’s cruelty and