Medea: A Product of Social Tension

The character Medea, in the play by the same name, is a character shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding. Being from a foreign land, Medea is treated much more harshly than a normal Greek citizen would be. In addition to this, her status as a female places upon her the label of 'property'. She is nothing more than an item of trade. It is for these reasons that Medea's character is easily misunderstood, and whose actions are a product of the social tension all around her.

Medea's portrayal in the play shows the general attitude towards women during this time period. Her husband, the hero Jason, brings her from a foreign land for marriage. However, this marriage is to be short lived when Jason finds a better opportunity through marrying the daughter of the local king. It is in this way that Medea has been used, for children and for temporary political gain, only to later be left behind for a new political benefit. Unfortunately for Medea, she does not only loose a husband when Jason leaves her; Medea has lost her security, her right to live in the country, her dignity, and her husband's support. This is a life destroying move on Jason's part; he has torn away all that matters to Medea and has left only the children.

This leaves the question of whether or not Medea had any supporters or sympathetic relations. The only supporters to Medea were her nurse slave and the chorus, but this for only a short time. The nurse was sympathetic to Medea only due to her connection to her as a slave. The destiny of the nurse was a direct product of the destiny of Medea, and for this sake the nurse was sympathetic. The other supporter(s) were the chorus who were sympathetic in that they are women as well, and therefore understand the plight of another woman. However, when Medea performs the final action of murdering her children the chorus is in shock and dismisses her. Even the nurse seems to only be doing has she is told out of her slave binding to Medea. In this way, Medea has lost all sympathy from the characters and is alone in the world.

Another area that shows social tension on Medea is the fact that she is a foreigner. In the play, her label as a foreigner played a huge role in the outcome or her life; her exile was nearly dependant on the fact that she was non-Greek. Because of this, I would imagine that making Medea's mask look different from the other women's would be very important. With a variance in mask type, it would be far easier to make the point that Medea is unknown, different, and her actions do not have obvious explanations to the locals. I feel that the addition of this feature shows more the social tensions placed upon Medea.

Given the reasons above, I feel that Medea's actions are well explained by the amount of social tension placed on her by many factors; the obvious factors being gender, nationality, and lack of social ties. Although the author may or may not have expected sympathy from the audience, I believe there are many reasons to show sympathy for Medea. Her actions are unacceptable, but under these circumstances no one could be expected to act in a sane manner. Therefore, Medea is a sad product of her time; a person who had life ripped from them and only reacted in a fashion equal in proportion to the harm performed.