Negative Aspects Of Women In Medea By Euripides

Medea remains a highly controversial work of literature because through it, Euripides seems to be making a statement about women in general, but his stance on women and feminism remains unclear. Euripides’s complex portrayal of Medea suggests both positive and negative aspects of women. He depicts Medea as a clever, manipulative, daring, dangerous, powerful woman. Using this technique, he puts women in a positive light, by suggesting that they are clever and powerful; on the other hand, he gives women some negative characteristics, since people generally frown upon people who are dangerous and manipulative. In many feminist criticisms of Medea, the writer makes the wide assumption that Euripides is commenting on the race of women as a whole …show more content…
While speaking to the Chorus, Medea acknowledges the inequality between males and females in society, indicating that she is observant, strong, and knowledgeable enough to notice such an issue and speak out against it when the rest of society either fails to notice anything wrong with males being treated better than females or lacks the strength to speak out against it if they see the inequality as wrong. She also proves her ability to manipulate others when she convinces the women in the chorus that she has sufficient justification for getting revenge upon her unfaithful husband, even when she unambiguously hints that she is considering committing murder. Furthermore, she manipulates Creon easily by using her identity as a woman to her advantage. Because during the time at which Euripides wrote this drama, men saw women as weak and vulnerable, Creon mistakenly believes Medea when she says “[she doesn’t] have it in [her]” to hurt someone who did no wrong to her (Lines 314-315). Furthermore, she tries to appeal to the father in Creon by explaining to him that she worries about what will become of her children, which causes Creon to give in to her pleas though he is aware of her capability to cause harm. Euripides may have been suggesting that women sometimes take advantage of their innocent appearance and may possess some degree of cleverness and ability to manipulate. This insinuation positively portrays women as knowledgeable and clever, which are considered useful traits that were thought to be predominantly masculine. Medea’s innocent guise breaks when Creon describes her as “wise and silent” (Line 329), suggesting that she is not terribly difficult to read; this aspect of Medea that people generally view as negative can be applied to women in general. It basically says that women are easy to figure out. The