Conceptions of women and the foreigner Essay

In the ancient Hellenic life, wo custodys role was unceasingly considered to be quite an insignifi coffin nailt as compargond to the role of the Greek work force. However, in around tragedies women were the study and integral contributions who revealed close to insights on the way the women happened to be treated and also thought in the entire society. Medea is maybe the approximately complex and fascinating persona when we look closely to the Greeks drama. She is an long and an ultimate mixture of villain, heroine as well as the dupe as dis caprioleed in the play.She was married to Jason who was a Greek existence who she had persistent to follow from the foreign land. Her love was deep and when Jason fixed to leave her in roll to adopt Creons daughter she was extremely furious (Euripides1907, lines. 1-24). From in that location we assure her redeemting involved in mevery acts of r til nowge. Her acts of murder ar the ultimate st blind of r change surfacege tow ards her children and her ex-husband. Despite each(prenominal) this catastrophes, Medea is a character to sympathize with. She decided to give up in wholly that she had beca role of her love for Jason.She betrayed her family and slay her br opposite, she left her phratry be practise of the love she had for Jason to a foreign land and she became a stimulate to please his husband yet she had no any intrust to drive home children (Euripides, 1907,line,248). Even after Jason had kn take in of all the sacrifices that Medea had had for him, he exempt had to leave her for a Greek princess. Medeas love was quite immense and Jasons betrayal ended up damaging her mind wholly and r counterbalancege became the scarce comfort that she had in her power. She ended up cleanup position the Greek princess using the cleverest chess that was available and her children.Though Medea is portrayed as one of the most frightening characters, it is crucial to compare her ethical concerns and the sharp shallow hollows of her ex husband. Medea accompanies her Antigone as the most defining heroines in the ancient Greek drama. She ended up defying her main role as the powerless and happy polaritywife and refutes to expect betrayal without revenging. Medea decided to abandon all the gender roles in the ancient society of Greek. She defied almost perceptions of gender by dint of portraiture both womanish and male tendencies.She decided to detach herself from all the womanly emotions and acted in a way that the society did non look appropriate for women. In the ancient Greek, murder was an trim down that was never associated with the women though Medea in the play committed a series of murder including her own children (Euripides, 1907, 207-213). It is on that pointfore imperative to analyze at length the judgments of women and the noncitizens in the Greek tragedies basing the rationale as portrayed by Medea. In the play, Medea is portrayed as a foreign witch. She i s treated irrationally throughout the play by various people at divergent times.She then changes her whole character and finally triumphs over Jason. She is feasibly seen as the mortal woman and Aristotles hero figure as well as the goddess. Womens rights suck been overleap throughout the play and women stir no voice. Medea changes all that in her revenge against Jason and her own children. Foreigners and women were loathed and had no any place in the society and were non supposed to submit any powerful position. It is a play portraying chauvinism, women treated unfairly and their work portrayed as only meant to keep back children.Though to an limit we see the evil deeds of Medea, we also have a glimpse on the reasons behind her deeds. She is a foreigner and to the Greeks she result forever and a day be a Barbarian. Her acts sour it even hard for her as she gets hated more. Even other women treat her suspiciously. Medea is portrayed as a foreigner in her land and in her ow n home who has no any common feature with the Corinth women. All she had was Jason and the children. Before she got married she was viewed as a princess and later became an outcast. Women and foreigners in the Greek tragedy were portrayed as disenfranchised, slaves and were unrepresented.The acts of Medea have contradicted the view of the society that the women are the main givers of life and that the men end up taking it out. It is quite unacceptable because of the fact she is the mother to the children. Killing a member of the family was usually frowned upon in the ancient Greece a same(p) it is done today. Medea has portrayed extreme pride which is usually stereotyped as one of the characteristic of the male species. She decided to sacrifice all that she had even her reputation in order to restore her own reputation (Sophocles, Euripides & Aeschylus, 2004).It has ever so been a common belief that the major enervatedness in a woman is the children but in this case this is not so. Her pride has prevailed other maternal instincts. Medea aims to seek vengeance in the same intense baron to rectify a situation just like a man would. A woman who is seeking for revenge usually challenges the societal views of women as passive and weak. Medea is dwelling on self pity until she contrives to a outline that will avenge how lots she has been hurt. Wallowing is usually a quality that is attributed to the women in the society.Medea was so sad with her life after her marriage to Jason ended that she only wanted to die. The common opinion in the society is that the women usually use trickery and deceit in order to achieve their main goals in life. Medea in this case is not an exception as she persuades Creon to permit her to sojourn at least one day in Corinth as she pretends that she is preparing for transportation system while in the actual sense she was just planning on how she will carry out the murder acts to her enemies as well as children (Euripides1907, pp. 198). Medea in the entire play has defied the stereotypes of both female and male characters.She has shown slightly immense emotions portrayed by both sexes. At times she acts as an ultimate man and others as a woman. The Greeks had an immense suspicion when it came to foreigners and always thought of all of them to be savages. With Medea, Euripides has confronted this prejudice issue by deciding to honor foreigners with near roles of a tragic heroine and making her one of the most intelligent character in the entire play. The playwright has also support numerous Greek stereotypes of the foreigners through making Medea overly passionate, wild and vengeful.Medea is a very powerful and tragic heroine who gets to achieve successful vengeance and ends up escaping with impunity. In some scenarios, she is portrayed to be a submissive and weak who commits no any crime (Paul, 2006, pp. 1321-4853). Allan (2003, pp. 143) asserts that beneath Medeas personality there lies a credible, cohe rent and an effective character who portrays an immense sense of justice and whose humiliation and revenge drive her to go for the revenge. He also notes that Medeas actions and plans were affected by her main place as a foreigner and a woman and not as a mortal avenger.Euripides in his play is fascinated by the acts of women as well as the contradictions that do exist in the Greek understanding of the term gender. His interference of the women is so sophisticated. Medeas starting speech to the chorus is the most rational and liquid statement on the injustices that befall the women species. He recognizes that the major position of the female and their style of subordination to men are coming from the social order that prevails in Greece. Medea is not really a role model as far as feminist is concerned.Euripides has portrayed the difficulties that women went through. He portrays an stick out of a real woman who has suffered and has been twisted by her suffering. It is not a tarr adiddle on women liberation but rather it is a war that exists between sexes. The other key is a major theme. Medeas foreignness has been stress from the beginning. In the very first opening lines, the nurse reminds us that Medea is from an strange and a distant land. The foreignness aspect is portrayed as barbaric, exotic, portentous and unknown. The issue of exile has also been portrayed in the play.Modern readers and audiences have a great difficulty when trying to conceive on the concept of exile and how more it was horrible for the Greeks. Homes and cities were considered as the major source of security department. rambling with no friends and shelter was seen as a great fate which was much horrible than death itself. Medea just for the sake of husband made herself to be the exile. She goes away from home, have no friends or family who can offer protection to her. The theme of exile has been linked with womens position.In emphasizing some of the circumstances in which wom en have to give in after marriage like leaving their homes and staying with strangers. Medea reminds us of the worst conditions in exile. Her position is a somber situation since she is already an exile in reality and portrays the fact that all women in reality are exiles. She is a foreigner then to all the Greeks she will always remain a barbarian. In the play the issue of cleverness and cunning is also evident. These traits though they ought to be admired cause a lot of suffering to Medea.Her intellect, force and strength exceed her site of operation. Though the Greeks to an extent have some respect for her, they are seen treating her smugly just because she is a woman and a foreigner. She is surrounded by some people who are less resourceful and less intelligent than her. She is contemn because of her own talents that ought to have won her praise. Since she is a foreigner she therefore behaves without worship and any restraint. In the chorus, we see how much Medea is pitied but also it reveals that women ought to endure.We see Medea entering and delivering a monologue on the sufferings that women go through. Though women are creatures that can feel and think, they have to endure some indignities in the society. hands are meant to bear arms but women are supposed to bear children (Medea 214-224, 2006, pp. 115). The theme of women and their position has been emphasized in the play. To just allege that Euripides was a great feminist can only be a major oversimplification and anachronism. What is factual is that Euripides is fascinated by the difficulties and womens position.Through examining the treatment that women are accorded, Euripides has also revealed some of the injustices in the society. He is savvy of how art has been wrongly used in defaming the character of women and how smart it has been used in recognizing that most fables and myths of the Greeks male dominated orders through teaching women on how to accept as well as enjoy subjugation. Med ea who is a woman and a foreigner has portrayed numerous specifics of the life of Greeks that are universal in todays society.A woman when she gets married ought to leave her home in order to join her own family. Therefore she is portrayed as an outsider. Women are not meant to socialize freely as men, while men can roam wildly and indulge with other women. Medea has made herself as the main spokesman on the suffering of women thus has secured the secrecy and loyalty of the main chorus. Foreigners were people who were disliked in Greek. In the play we see how much King Aeetess hated the foreigners. A great anger make full King Aeetes heart as he listened.He did not like foreigners, any more than Greeks did, he wanted them to keep away from his country, and he himself said to himself, if these strangers had not eaten at my table I would toss off them (Jimmison, 2009). The image of Medea and the barbarian king was irrational, magic, frightening and issues to do with some marvellous powers had no any place in the Greek mythology. As a foreigner, Medea only expected suffering since this myth was created in the Greek image of a Barbarian woman. Medea has shown numerous heroic qualities that were uncommon among the Greek women.She is even willing to kill her brother just to be with Jason. In Greek, women murdering acts were quite rare and this is something that was not supposed to happen at al. To some extent, Medea is reacting to the outclassed status of injustice that women were accorded. Central to the entire plot, is Medeas foreign origins and how they are really related to her main actions. Generally women in the play have been portrayed as creatures with very few rights. As far as men were concerned, women were only supposed to cook and clean, do some house chores and bear children.They had no imperative votings like the right to own property, vote or choose their own husbands and they had to be presented in any lawful proceedings that were taking place. They were just like slaves. Though some of Medeas actions were untypical of what a Greek woman was supposed to possess, to some extent she also had emotions and attitudes of a common woman. She speaks against some of the womens rights and how they have no any choice to whom they decide to get married to and men can get rid of a woman in order to get whatever they wanted (Euripides, 1907,pp. 231-247).In the play we see Medea portraying some emotional attitudes of a woman and a mother. She says, Poor heart, let them go, have pity upon the children (Euripides, 1907,pp, 1057). Also in the play women are portrayed as faithful. Medea talks of how she helped her ex husband during his quest of the Golden Fleece and even helped him to escape to an extent of killing his own brother for him (Euripides, 1907,pp. 476-483). The fact that she decided to betray her family just to be with Jason shows her sense of loyalty. Though women and foreigners were portrayed as minorities with no say, the pla y also shows that they were resourceful and clever.Instead of using sensual force in accomplishing her plans of revenge, she went ahead to use her mind instead. She asserts, it is best to make away with them with poison (Euripides, 1907,pp384-385). She poisons Jasons wife as well as the King of Corinth though she poisons them indirectly. Medeas act of murder against her own children is because of her barbarian origins. The major reason why Jason decided to let go of Medea and marry a princess is in order for her to have a higher status and material wealth through getting married to the kings daughter (Euripides, 1907,pp553-554).It is lucid hence to note that Jason had a belief that Medeas foreign origins were a burden and a distracter to him since there was a grade that was related to that. Medeas foreign status is also a major burden to her. Once they got separated, she became an outsider and had no any place to go since barbarians were never highly thought in the Greek society. If Medea was not a foreigner, then it is possible that Jason would not have divorced her. Medea is a play that portrays the real ancient Greeks and their attitudes towards the foreigners and women.Women were supposed to be seen and not heard and thus Medea surprises the Greek society since she goes against the norms. Women were supposed to bear children and take care of their husbands. The womens rights were less considered and there was no way women could equal men. The foreigners had no any right and were also treated unfairly. It is a play revealing some of the heroic acts of women and what they had to go to get noticed in the society. Works Cited Allan, William. Euripides Medea. 2002. capital of the United Kingdom Duckworth, pp. 143 Euripides.Medea. 1907. USA Oxford University Press. Euripides, Sophocles & Aeschlus. Five Great Greek tragedies. USA Courier capital of Delaware publications. 2004. Jimmison. The idea of foreigner in Euripides and Senecas Medea. Retrieved 11, July, 2010