Revenge is a kind of wild justice. Throughout many texts, the notion of justice has been debated on whether it is an act that vindicates those who have been wronged or an excuse to pursue revenge. Through Medea, Medea’s actions have been judged and criticised whether her murders are an act of justice that she deserves or simply the idea of inflicting pain on those she loathes.
Revenge is the predominant motivator for the psychological and corporeal action of the play. In the play, Medea is self absorbed into her misery, her determination of inflicting pain and suffering to Jason consumes her entire rationality and revenge is her only focus point in the play. She effectively draws the Chorus in, “to work revenge on Jason for his wrongs to
She easily manipulates characters to do her bidding. “..you are a father too, you should feel kindly towards them.” When Medea pleads Creon to let her stay she effectively uses his affection for his daughter and his parental role to gain a small yet important favour. The one day she is allowed to stay to “make provisions for her two sons” . This evidently proves her cunning intellect as part of her nature and easily persuades with her use of words. Her revenge against Glauce could be considered as sexual jealousy as Jason had pointed out, however, her pride and passion do not allow her to break the barrier that has been enforced between her mind and her morals. She is too consumed by revenge to allow justice to come through.
All in all, revenge as a wild justice, is efficiently portrayed in Medea by using various forms. Each form discusses the actions of Medea and to what extent wild justice has affected the outcome of the play. This inevitably, controls the reader and their beliefs. Her journey of revenge brings out the theme of wild justice and leads to a deeper understanding of what moral responsibility is that is needed in our own