Medea Monologues Essay Example For Students

Medea Monologues Essay A monologue from the play by Euripides NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from The Plays of Euripides in English, vol. ii. Trans. Shelley Dean Milman. London: J.M. Dent Sons, 1922. MEDEA: From my apartment, ye Corinthian dames, Lest ye my conduct censure, I come forth: For I have known full many who obtained Fame and high rank; some to the public gaze Stood ever forth, while others, in a sphere More distant, chose their merits to display: Nor yet a few, who, studious of repose, Have with malignant obloquy been called Devoid of spirit: for no human eyes Can form a just discernment; at one glance, Before the inmost secrets of the heart Are clearly known, a bitter hate \gainst him Who never wronged us they too oft inspire. But \tis a stranger\s duty to adopt The manners of the land in which he dwells; Nor can I praise that native, led astray By mere perverseness and o\erweening folly, Who bitter enmity incurs from those Of his own city. But, alas! my friends, This unforseen calamity hath withered The vigour of my soul. I am undone, Bereft of every joy that life can yield, And therefore wish to die. For as to him, My husband, whom it did import me most To have a thorough knowledge of, he proves The worst of men. But sure among all those Who have with breath and reason been endued, We women are the most unhappy race. First, with abundant gold are we constrained To buy a husband, and in him receive A haughty master. Still doth there remain One mischief than this mischief yet more grievous, The hazard whether we procure a mate Worthless or virtuous: for divorces bring Reproach to woman, nor must she renounce The man she wedded; as for her who comes Where usages and edicts, which at home She learnt not, are established, she the gift Of divination needs to teach her how A husband must be chosen: if aright These duties we perform, and he the yoke Of wedlock with complacency sustains, Ours is a happy life; but if we fail In this great object, better \twere to die. For, when afflicted by domestic ills, A man goes forth, his choler to appease, And to some friend or comrade can reveal What he endures; but we to him alone For succour must look up. They still contend That we, at home remaining, lead a life Exempt from danger, while they launch the spear: False are these judgments; rather would I thrice, Armed with a target, in th\ embattled field Maintain my stand, than suffer once the throes Of childbirth. But this language suits not you: This is your native city, the abode Of your loved parents, every comfort life Can furnish is at hand, and with your friends You here converse: but I, forlorn, and left Without a home, am by that husband scorned Who carried me from a Barbarian realm. Nor mother, brother, or relation now Have I, to whom I \midst these storms of woe, Like an auspicious haven, can repair. Thus far I therefore crave ye will espouse My interests, as if haply any means Or any stratagem can be devised For me with justice to avenge these wrongs On my perfidious husband, on the king Who to that husband\s arms his daughter gave, And the new-wedded princess; to observe Strict silence. For although at other times A woman, filled with terror, is unfit For battle, or to face the lifted sword, She when her soul by marriage wrongs is fired, Thirsts with a rage unparalleled for blood.