Medea

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Medea’s Insanity in Euripides’s play Medea

“Death. Death is my wish. For myself, my enemies, my children. Destruction.”(13). Medea said this quote in the play Medea when she learns that she is going to be exiled from Corinth. Medea is basically saying that she hopes everyone dies. The quote is significant because it shows that she wants to kill everyone including herself, which seems like she is insane. In Medea a women named Medea seeks revenge for her husband leaving her by killing everyone. When a woman wants to kill everyone and everything around her because of her husband leaving her there must be something wrong in her mind, making her insane. Euripides, in his play Medea, uses the characterization of Medea, to show she is legally insane due to mental illness.
The many evil thoughts of Medea show that she is insane due to mental illness. Jason betrays Medea and marries the daughter of the king of Corinth. Medea was so angry and furious with Jason that she wishes death upon everyone. Intending for Jason, Medea says, “NO! I want him crushed, boneless, crawling-“(72). When Medea is saying this it is like foreshadowing, because later in the play her children and her enemies do die. When Medea says this you first find out how insane she really is. Nobody wishes death upon everything unless they really are insane. This is just one of Medea’s foolish harebrained ideas. When Medea is talking to King Creon about his daughter she says, “But I wish her well, my lord! I wish her all happiness. I hope that Jason may be kind to her. As-to me.”(22). Jason was not kind to Medea at all, and by saying this Medea is telling Creon that she hopes Creusa will be cheated on and betrayed just like her. Medea seems more insane when she says this because of the way she lied to Creon’s face. This shows once again of Medea’s insanity because it is very absurd for a person to lie directly to another’s face. From these quotes it s...