Classics - Tragedy :: English Literature

Classics - Tragedy It seems that the nearly all critics of Medea are unanimous in one prominent feature of the play alone, and that is in their immense abhorrence for Jason. Kitto says 'In him (Jason) it is impossible to find anything that is not mean ´, while Lucas says 'Jason is utterly selfish, and utterly unconscious of his selfishness'. It is hard to find anything kind about Jason as on face value he is such an obvious villain. But all these comments on the Medea centre round a study of Medea herself, while making passing comments on Jason, as and when they see fit, yet they all see Jason as the other main character in the play. When one devotes the largest proportion of study on Jason, rather than Medea, a picture of kinder, caring Jason is created. Thus I believe that a case can be made for Jason - he is no paragon of kindness or any good quality, but he does not quite deserve such comments as 'The unrelieved baseness of Jason is revolting'. Vellacott says in his introduction to the play that 'to appreciate the balance of this play we must take care not to pre-judge Jason'. This is an essential point to make, as Jason has all the elements of a typical villain - he has a wife who devoted his life to him, yet he now deserts her for his own sexual satisfaction. Yet as Jason says himself, on numerous occasions, he is not getting married for solely for his own merit, but for those of Medea and his children as well: 'It's not for the sake of any woman that I have made this royal marriage, but, as I've already said, to ensure your future... and build security for us all' (P.35) Such speeches and comments cannot just be ignored - he says this as these are his genuine motivations, the reasons why he has gone about his actions. The nurse, a character who in the early stages is heavily biased against Jason, even says 'Jason is a prisoner in a princess' bed' (P.4) Whether Euripides meant this to mean that he was literally a prisoner, or just captive to her good looks we cannot be sure, but either way she is showing that Jason cannot be completely at fault. Jason is acting just like most men in his position would - Medea is an exile, so Jason is not bound to her in marriage in the true spirit, and as we have seen, she is being betrayed for her own benefit[page]. Medea says herself that it is acceptable for a men to divorce: Classics - Tragedy :: English Literature Classics - Tragedy It seems that the nearly all critics of Medea are unanimous in one prominent feature of the play alone, and that is in their immense abhorrence for Jason. Kitto says 'In him (Jason) it is impossible to find anything that is not mean ´, while Lucas says 'Jason is utterly selfish, and utterly unconscious of his selfishness'. It is hard to find anything kind about Jason as on face value he is such an obvious villain. But all these comments on the Medea centre round a study of Medea herself, while making passing comments on Jason, as and when they see fit, yet they all see Jason as the other main character in the play. When one devotes the largest proportion of study on Jason, rather than Medea, a picture of kinder, caring Jason is created. Thus I believe that a case can be made for Jason - he is no paragon of kindness or any good quality, but he does not quite deserve such comments as 'The unrelieved baseness of Jason is revolting'. Vellacott says in his introduction to the play that 'to appreciate the balance of this play we must take care not to pre-judge Jason'. This is an essential point to make, as Jason has all the elements of a typical villain - he has a wife who devoted his life to him, yet he now deserts her for his own sexual satisfaction. Yet as Jason says himself, on numerous occasions, he is not getting married for solely for his own merit, but for those of Medea and his children as well: 'It's not for the sake of any woman that I have made this royal marriage, but, as I've already said, to ensure your future... and build security for us all' (P.35) Such speeches and comments cannot just be ignored - he says this as these are his genuine motivations, the reasons why he has gone about his actions. The nurse, a character who in the early stages is heavily biased against Jason, even says 'Jason is a prisoner in a princess' bed' (P.4) Whether Euripides meant this to mean that he was literally a prisoner, or just captive to her good looks we cannot be sure, but either way she is showing that Jason cannot be completely at fault. Jason is acting just like most men in his position would - Medea is an exile, so Jason is not bound to her in marriage in the true spirit, and as we have seen, she is being betrayed for her own benefit[page]. Medea says herself that it is acceptable for a men to divorce: