Medea

This play is much different than any play that we have read thus far. It is a true tragedy that is exaggerated and presented in almost a fantastical matter. I really enjoyed the way that this play was written and would like to read more plays like it. It also brings up some very important and serious issues that for some people are dealt with in everyday life. The concept of abandonment is obviously a very prominent aspect of this play. For Medea, this sense of abandonment leads to her mental unstableness and eventual insane drive to get back at her husband for leaving her and her two children. It shows just how fierce the effects of abandonment can be. The love she felt for Jason overshadowed the love she felt for her children. It was interesting how Euripedes portrayed this concept because i feel as though this is something that is extremely uncommon. In fact, I believe that the opposite is true for most women who have husbands leave them. The love they have for their children is often times the only thing that keeps them going from day to day and the only thing that keeps them sane. This then also brings up the debate of whether the mother or father has a stronger bond with their children. Clearly, if Jason just up and left his wife and children to be with another woman, the feelings that he felt for his new wife overcame the love that he had previously felt for Medea and his kids. I believe that the connection that a mother has with their children is so personal that it is much harder to break. Not to say that it should be easy for a father to abandon his children by any means, but there is something to be said about actually giving birth to a child and the personal connection that helps to form between a mother and child.

Obviously this is an extreme case of feelings of hatred and revenge towards someone else taking over a person, and it is quite an unrealistic scenario, but it brings up some very powerful and interesting issues that need to be brought to light. Although none of us hope to experience such pain in our lifetimes, it is important that we realize that there are much healthier ways to handle a situation like this than the way Medea handles it.