Unstoppable Anger - Medea, Blog Post #1

I believe the point of Medea was to show how horribly things can go if people let their anger blind their decision making. Medea’s unfiltered anger causes her to deny the assistance of her husband and leads her to making rash decisions that negatively affect the people around her that she used to care for. Jason offered to use his new status of marrying the king’s daughter to allow him to support Medea and their children while they were in exile. Jason also said that he was willing to help Medea find somewhere to stay so she and the children could live a life in exile. However, Medea refused any help from Jason regardless of how helpful it would be. Medea was angered because Jason left her for a different woman, and let that anger affect her judgment and made her make rash decisions. Medea chose to poison the young bride and kill her children to hurt Jason for leaving her. The point of this play was to make the reader think about the consequences of letting anger blind him/herself by having Medea perform extreme acts out of her anger to show the audience how bad acting out of anger is.

Jason:  All the same, and in spite of your conduct, I’ll not desert

My friends, but have come to make some provision for you,

So that you and the children may not be penniless

Or in need of anything in exile. Certainly

Exile brings many troubles with it. And even

If you hate me, I cannot think badly of you.

Medea: O coward in every way—that is what I call you,

With bittersweet reproach for your lack of manliness,

You have come, you, my worst enemy, have come to me!

It is not an example of confidence

Or boldness thus to look your friends in the face,

Friends you have injured—no, it is the worst of all

Human diseases, shamelessness.

This quote accurately depicts the point of “Medea” because it shows how hardheaded Medea becomes because Jason has left her. Jason goes as far to say that despite how crazy Medea is, she is not his enemy and he still wishes to help her and make the best of a bad situation. Medea responds by calling Jason a coward and tells him all the reasons why his gesture is bad and undesirable. This passage almost makes me lose any guilt I had for Medea. She made a bad situation worse and refused any help that was offered to her. Medea cared more about how she was personally hurt than she did about the well being of her children.

The word “spite” serves as important in this passage because all of Medea’s actions throughout the play are done to spite Jason for leaving her. Medea cannot simply bury the hatchet and is driven by her emotions. The word “boldness” also seems important because both characters are bold in this passage. Jason is bold to offer assistance to someone who he doesn’t want to associate with anymore, while Medea is bold to not only refuse the help of Jason, but to call his desire to help shameless.