A feminist or misogynistic Essay

In the quicken Medea, Euripides recognises the lack of gender equality of his time and comments on the patrichial nature of ancient Greek society. A womens dependableist theme resonates in the play and has been developed through the characterisation of Medea and Jason. Medea, the distaff protagonist, is portrayed as powerful figure. Medea is spurned and aggrieved by a gay but instead of accepting the situation submissively as she would work been expected to do, she asserts her make power. Furtherto a greater extent, when King Creon decides to banish her, she doesnt hesitate to turn over persuasively on her own behalf despite his position of power.She naturally assumes that she has the right to speak as a humanity might do. Medea recognizes the oppression of women in her society when she declargons we women are the sorriest lot first we must at abundant expenditure of money but a husband and even number on a master of our body. However, Medea herself denounces women by adm itting that they were born unuseable for honest purposes suggesting that womans skills lie solely in the office to exert their will by deceit and manipulation. Her deceptive nature is diaphanous in the nature of the murder of Glauce by giving gifts laced with poison.Medea argues that although women suck a deserved written report for treachery, they only do so as the patriarchal society to which they belong deprives them of any other avenues of power. Yet Medeas response to masculine exploitation surpasses any reasonable measures by her repulsive murder of her children. The audience is positioned to be shocked and unsympathetic towards her actions. Medeas actions are portrayed as hers alone not indicative of the natural attendance of women and Euripides acknowledges that the social injustice experienced by Medea cannot absolve her personal office for her actions.In the play through his characterisation of Jason, Euripides mocks the mens hypothetic entitlement to authority an d supremacy over women. Jason, the key male figure, from the onset of the play reveals himself to the audience to be a weak character, at odds with his reputation as a hero. His abandonment of his obedient wife, Medea, his greed-driven re-marriage and his inability to admit his own culpability in the drama that ensued, portrays him to the audience as vapid, vacuous man whose actions are fuelled almost entirely by self-interest.His constant emasculation of Jason by his line drawing as a weak and flawed character makes him appear unsympathetic to the audience. Medea is a strong-willed and powerful individual whose personality traits would be stereotypically attributed to a male character whilst Jasons self-obsessed and treacherous ways would more often be linked to a female character. Through the depiction of Medea and Jason, Euripides makes the conjecture their characters are both highly flawed and so they should be condemned for their deeds rather than for the gender.