Wild Revenge in Medea Essay - 870 Words

Revenge is a kind of wild justice. Throughout many texts, the notion of justice has been debated on whether it is an act that vindicates those who have been wronged or an excuse to pursue revenge. Through Medea, Medea’s actions have been judged and criticised whether her murders are an act of justice that she deserves or simply the idea of inflicting pain on those she loathes. Revenge is the predominant motivator for the psychological and corporeal action of the play. In the play, Medea is self absorbed into her misery, her determination of inflicting pain and suffering to Jason consumes her entire rationality and revenge is her only focus point in the play. She effectively draws the Chorus in, â€Å"to work revenge on Jason for his wrongs to†¦show more content†¦Her act of revenge is supported by the Chorus who feel that â€Å"to punish Jason will be just.† Significantly, this notion of support encourages Medea to believe she is correct in punishing Jason and continues to believe her operation of revenge is justice. Each murder that emerges within Medea conveys the true nature of her behaviour. The theme of violence is continually repeated thus it depicts how consumed she is by revenge. Furthermore, the disputed topic of the chorus supporting her, illustrates the ‘justice’ a society has. When the gods are pleaded to and do not take action against Medea’s acts of infanticide, it questions our morals on what we powerless humans can do to change a difficult situation. This concept portrays a system which lacks in authority which leads to doubt that surrounds the idea of ‘wild justice.’ The gods have a small role which plays in the part of revenge as a wild justice. It was always the goddess of love who obtained Medea’s help on Jason’s behalf. The Chorus had always believed that her actions were due her nature for loving Jason and sympathised her emotions as she was only a woman. â€Å"We were born women – useless for honest purposes, But in all kinds of evil skilled practitioners.† This ideally would have additionally been a reason for Medea to pursue a reason of right for women, which could have been a vali d reason for a wild justice. In addition, the extent of wild justice can beShow MoreRelatedThe Use and Abuse of Power by the Female Protagonists in Strindbergs Miss Julie and Euripides Medea1659 Words   |  7 Pagesand Medea by Euripides explore the theme of power struggle. 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