Medea is a Greek tragedy written by Euripides, and first performed in 431 BCE. Medea tells a story of a woman, Medea, who has been wronged by her husband, Jason. There are two main emotions in this play: love and hate. Euripides develops these emotions in such a way that the emotions become pitted against each other in an epic love versus hate showdown. Medea has a monologue (lines 1039-1080) in which she decides whether she wants to kill her kids or not. The purpose of killing the kids would be to exact revenge on Jason for leaving her for the king’s daughter. The desire for revenge arises from a feeling of hate towards Jason, because Jason abandoned her in order to marry the king’s daughter. The passage is very significant to the text
…show more content…
I interpret every hesitation she has to kill her children as the last of her humanity trying to appeal to her human nature so that she might choose love over hate and let her children live. Medea’s stream of consciousness is like a commentary of an actual fight between love and hate. She sees the innocence of the children when she looks into their eyes and feels compassion for them. Love throws the first punch. Thinking of Jason, she cannot let her enemies go unpunished. Hate retaliates with a punch of his own. Once her internal struggle comes to an end, she chooses whole heartedly to stick with her original plan to kill the children. Hate conquers love, and Medea loses what was left of her …show more content…
The tone effects how the audience feels about Medea’s plot to kill her kids. It reaffirms the audience’s natural feeling that Medea should not kill her kids. The tone is partially developed by the chorus, whose role in the play is to give a voice to the audience. Euripides plays into the audiences’ human nature as to illuminate the two different sides of the conflict. Once again, love and hate are center stage during Medea’s monologue, and the audience, because of their own humanity, wants love to win, but the gloomy tone foreshadows her choice of hate. Medea’s monologue also takes on the somber tone. The audience can tell that killing her kids will make her upset. Having emotional attachment to her children makes Medea seem more human, but in the concluding lines of the monologue she says, “I understand what evil I am about to do but my wrath is stronger even than my thoughts…” in these lines her humanity is raising the white flag. She is aware that she is about to do wrong, but her wrath is too strong. Madea’s compulsive need for revenge triumphed over her compassion for her children. Medea’s monologue contributes to the somber tone of the play mainly because she chooses to kill her children. Because of human nature, the audience sympathizes with the innocent kids. The monologue also contributes to the somber tone by showing Medea’s emotional attachment to her children. The audience can relate to this very human quality
I interpret every hesitation she has to kill her children as the last of her humanity trying to appeal to her human nature so that she might choose love over hate and let her children live. Medea’s stream of consciousness is like a commentary of an actual fight between love and hate. She sees the innocence of the children when she looks into their eyes and feels compassion for them. Love throws the first punch. Thinking of Jason, she cannot let her enemies go unpunished. Hate retaliates with a punch of his own. Once her internal struggle comes to an end, she chooses whole heartedly to stick with her original plan to kill the children. Hate conquers love, and Medea loses what was left of her …show more content…
The tone effects how the audience feels about Medea’s plot to kill her kids. It reaffirms the audience’s natural feeling that Medea should not kill her kids. The tone is partially developed by the chorus, whose role in the play is to give a voice to the audience. Euripides plays into the audiences’ human nature as to illuminate the two different sides of the conflict. Once again, love and hate are center stage during Medea’s monologue, and the audience, because of their own humanity, wants love to win, but the gloomy tone foreshadows her choice of hate. Medea’s monologue also takes on the somber tone. The audience can tell that killing her kids will make her upset. Having emotional attachment to her children makes Medea seem more human, but in the concluding lines of the monologue she says, “I understand what evil I am about to do but my wrath is stronger even than my thoughts…” in these lines her humanity is raising the white flag. She is aware that she is about to do wrong, but her wrath is too strong. Madea’s compulsive need for revenge triumphed over her compassion for her children. Medea’s monologue contributes to the somber tone of the play mainly because she chooses to kill her children. Because of human nature, the audience sympathizes with the innocent kids. The monologue also contributes to the somber tone by showing Medea’s emotional attachment to her children. The audience can relate to this very human quality