Main Character Analysis:

Medea (Line 214-264):

This particular 50 line extract clearly shows the strong emotions portrayed by Medea.
Beginning with the first few sentences of the extract, it becomes clear as to what type of
Medea is portrayed as. Medea can be seen as a strong and independent woman, who has a
strong pride in feminism. This, however, is reasonable, given that she was recently betrayed
by her husband, Jason. This extract explains, what appears to be, a moment of betrayal by
her husband, who’s abandoned her with his 2 childrens.

Although Medea may be portrayed as an intelligent and manipulative character

towards the end of the play, this extract may show otherwise. As Medea was only recently
betrayed by her husband, Jason, she seemed to be in a very vulnerable position where she's
lost almost all trust in humanity. This can be seen when Medea mentioned that one first
impression may not always be a full reflection of their personality. As impactful as her words
may sound grieving over her marriage, her dialogue seems a little repetitive. Medea mainly
elaborated on the fact that divorce is the last thing she wants to experience, as she
explained how she was scarred by the betrayal of her husband.

Euripides can be seen using very brief sentences to highlight tension during this
extract. He repeated a lot of his points and ideas to emphasise the situation and the sorrow
that is felt by Medea. Another thing worth mentioning about this extract is that, this will be
notable for her character development overview as Medea can be seen as a very fierceful
person later on.

Jason (Line 908-958):

In this extract, it appears that Jason is explaining to his sons as to why he is getting
remarried with another girl after betraying her wife. It becomes very apparent just about how
condescending and egotistical Jason can be. Although it may seem logical to some, Jason
was very transparent about prioritising his interest over others. The first few lines of the
extract portrays this very masculine side of Jason, almost as if he’s mocking women in
general. He mentioned how his woman can be emotional. He might seem a little self-centred
as he thinks he’s a classic Greek hero who lives above everyone else.

Despite all of this however, Jason can be seen as a positive father figure towards his
sons. He shows great optimism when talking about their future. Although he tends to
prioritise his interest above all else, he is fairly constructive about his sons. Aside from his
brief lecture with his son, Jason also had a conversation with Medea. During the exchange
between the two, it becomes clear again how condescending Jason can be towards his
former wife. This ill-trait can be seen across the entire story, which makes his character
much more unfavourable for the readers.

In this extract, Euripides didn’t feature a lot of suspense as the conversation was
relatively slow-paced.Instead, Euripides was able to build a really strong character for Jason
which made him all the more “iconic”. Euripides was able to create clear distinctions
between the characters and their personal traits.
Chorus (Line 627-677):
The chorus plays the least significant role of the three characters, however it is one
that is essential in every play. The chorus helped narrate the entire story and connect the
different dialogues together. This extract involved a handful of features that would otherwise
be seen in a poem. It has a steady rhythm and most of its phrases rhyme with each other.
The context of this extract also revolves around Jason’s betrayal as well. There wasn’t
much, if any, character development throughout the entire story for the chorus, making it the
most stable character of the three.

Euripides featured a lot of rhythms and rhymes, that are vastly used for poems, for
this particular character. This made the dialogue a lot more melodic making it easier for its
reader to grow attachment with the chorus.

The chorus, however, didn't contribute any significance for the story as far as story
development goes. The chorus has always been reiterating the dialogue of the previous
character, sometimes elaborating upon it as well.