I know that you're supposed to, or at least that's how Euripides intended it. But I find it rather tough to sympathize with a woman so wrought with vengeful intent that she's willing to kill her own children just to get back at an estranged husband.
Thoughts?
-- "I can't do this all on my own... no I know, I'm no Superman." ~*~TEAM RK-VOLTCH'D~*~
I do not. To be honest, I don't feel sympathy for either Jason or Medea. I believe Jason made a horrible mistake and paid the price, and Medea went too far in her revenge.
--
Congrats to 2011 Rivalry Rumble Guru winner, SuperNiceDog http://backloggery.com/articuno2001/sig.gif
Sympathy is not the right word because what Medea did is inexcusable, especially if you judge her coming from today's standards.
I have to admit that she's a very strong tragic character though, you simply cannot stay indifferent to what she does throughout the plot. Besides, like Alec says, it's easier to sympathize with her if you just look at her desire for revenge instead of really looking into the fact that she killed her children. That's where the whole focus lies in the end, the act of killing her children just shows how far she's willing to go to punish Jason, the children are more identified with Jason's pride and dynasty than anything.
-- SuperNiceDog won the Guru contest super nicely!