Analysis Of Loyalty In The Play Medea English Literature Essay
Throughout Greek play there is ever an implicit in message of opposing values. This message allows the audience to larn about human nature, and life lessons. The drama Medea, by Euripides, is no exclusion to this overall form in Greek play. The drama exhibits the struggle between the opposing values treachery and trueness through characters and their shifting understandings. Euripides seems to value trueness over treachery through his presentations of the dangers of one who lets their emotions take over ground in his calamity Medea. He shows this through elucidation of secondary characters, a vivid poignancy, and clear Son.
The drama uses poignancy, or emotional entreaty, to stress the importance of trueness. Medea, in the beginning of the drama, was enduring, because Jason did non hold the trueness to remain with her, so the people felt sympathy towards her. Her emotional province was caused by how of import trueness was to her, and now she is wholly broken psychologically, “ Oh I wish That lightning from heaven would divide my caput unfastened ” ( 6 ) . That quotation mark reflects how she is genuinely feeling, hopeless. Emotionally, Medea brings up the fact that she betrayed her state, her male parent, and killed her ain brother to how emotionally connected she is with her trueness to Jason, “ Oh, my male parent! Oh, my state! In what dishonour I left you, killing my ain brother for it ” ( 6 ) . From that quotation mark, Medea does non utilize any words of requital, which has given her adequate emotional entreaty that the chorus truly believes that she is the victim of the state of affairs.
Logos, or logical entreaty, is used in the drama to demo that Medea ‘s Acts of the Apostless of force were centered more on retaliation instead than the prosperity of her kids. Medea has had legion chances to obtain a secure life style for herself and her kids. Medea is faced with an chance to do her and her kids ‘s life better from Jason, and she turns him down stating she does n’t desire his commiseration, “ I shall ne’er accept favorsaˆ¦ Nor take a thing from youaˆ¦ There is no benefit in the gifts of a bad adult male ” ( 20 ) . Jason was doing a logical statement, but Medea lets her emotions cloud her judgement and refuses Jason ‘s offering, “ But you refuse what is good for youaˆ¦ You are certain to endure for it ” ( 20 ) . This is demoing that Medea is more focussed on bewraying Jason than her kids ‘s well being, because Jason had offered a logical statement that would hold benefited her. If she had accepted Jason ‘s offer, her kids would hold had some sort of support when they got into expatriate. Furthermore, if Jason had been able to get married once more, her kids would hold been considered royalty and would hold had a claim for the throne.
Medea ‘s covetous hungriness for retaliation finally brings her to butcher her kids. She kills them out of her ain benefit non their ain, because she is blinded by her ain emotions, “ I know so what evil I intend to make, But stronger than all my reconsiderations is my rage, Fury that brings upon persons the greatest immoralities ” ( 35 ) . That quotation mark reveals her true desires when she is on phase entirely. The logical statement here comes from the chorus whose place is that there is no ground good plenty for her to butcher her ain kids. The chorus finally had to implore the Gods for Medea to halt and hold her reconsider logically about her determination to slay her kids, “ O heavenly light, keep her manus, Check her, and thrust from out the house The bloody Fury raised by monsters of Hell ” ( 41 ) . That quotation mark shows that Medea has genuinely gone mad in that she has thrown off all of her sense of logical thinking, and is focused wholly on acquiring retaliation. Through Son, Euripides shifts the audiences ‘ understandings from Medea to the victims of her programs. This shows that Loyalty is being emphasized more, because of Jason ‘s offering of aid, and the chorus ‘ supplication to assist the kids.
Some would reason that Euripides makes a strong instance for the dangers of treachery, and that there is non a instance for trueness. They may claim that Medea killed her kids because she wanted to bewray Jason. Another claim would be that the chorus betrayed Medea because she was traveling to kill her kids. Though, that argument fails when the audience looks at the emotional and logical claims presented by the chorus and Jason. Despite the statements the Jason presented were indurate and anti women’s rightist, the truth is that they support the value of trueness. Jason believes that Medea ‘s agony was caused by her ain manus, and that if she had been loyal and less emotional the whole epidemic could hold been averted. An illustration would be Medea ‘s expatriate, which was caused by her cussing the royal household, and thirst for retaliation and treachery, “ You called down wicked expletives on the King ‘s household ” ( 20 ) . Another illustration would be the decease of the princess, which was justified by the chorus whose still loyal to Medea, “ Heaven, it seems on this twenty-four hours has fastened many Evils on Jason, and Jason deserved them ” ( 40 ) .
During the full drama of Medea, Euripides is recommending trueness by exposing the dangers of unmanageable treachery. Through the usage of elucidation of secondary characters, a vivid poignancy, and clear Son Euripides demonstrates the effects of one who lets their emotions interfere with their logical thinking. He is able to nowadayss that by trailing trueness, one could ne’er their eyes on the way of requital.
