FREE ESSAY ON MEDEA'S FATAL FLAW

MEDEA'S FATAL FLAW

The Curse of a Fatal Flaw
Every highly tragic and dramatic figure has a fatal flaw that leads to his or her
downfall. The character of Medea fits into this category perfectly. Excessive passion is
what leads Medea to her destruction. Her love for Jason, her selfishness, and her rage
are all factors of Medea's harmartia.
First, the strongest factor contributing to Medea's fatal flaw is her love for Jason.
During Jason's quest of searching for the Golden Fleece and meets the Princess of
Colchis, Medea falls madly in love with Jason and runs off to lolcos with him. Medea and
Jason get married and have two children. Medea's excessive love for Jason started showing
when she killed his uncle, who was the king of lolcos at the time, so that Jason could
take over the throne and rule. But his uncle's murder resulted negatively for Medea and
Jason. They were forced to flee from lolcos to the kingdom of Corinth. Once in Corinth,
Jason meets the king of Corinth's daughter. He leaves Medea and their two children and
marries the princess. Because Medea is madly in love with Jason, Medea is crushed to find
out that Jason has left her. Medea explains to the women of Corinth that, It has crushed
my heart. Life has no pleasure left, dear friends. I want to die. Jason was my whole
life; he knows that well (24). Therefore, Medea becomes outraged and over powered with
excessive passion. 
Secondly, Medea's selfishness provides power to her fatal flaw. Medea's selfishness is
displayed through the act of killing her own two sons. Medea understands that the slaying
of her children will make Jason miserable. During this time, the chorus recognizes her
self-worship and states, O miserable mother, to destroy your own increase, murder the
babes of your body! Stone and iron are you, as you resolved to be (56). Medea does not
stop to think what pain she may cause to herself by murdering them. She is only concerned
about her happiness that will be derived from Jason's grieving. Medea comes to the
conclusion that it is worth the suffering just to see her ex-husband unhappy. Medea
states, ...my pain's a fair price, to take away your smile (59). This exhibits Medea's
selfishness by the slaying of her sons just to cause sorrow to Jason for her own
pleasure. Therefore, selfishness contributes to Medea's harmartia.
Medea's rage also leads to her fatal flaw of excessive passion. Her excessive passion,
fed by rage, leads to Medea to do uncalled for acts of violence and murder. Medea kills
Jason's uncle in lolcos for the reason that she wanted Jason to be the ruler. The murder
of the princess of Corinth is another example of Medea's rage. Her passion drove her to
poison clothing and send it to the princess. Not only is Medea proud that she killed her,
but when the messenger tells her of the death of the princess, Medea responds by saying,
...But take your time now; tell me, how did they die? You'll give me double pleasure if
their death was horrible (52). Also, the Nurse acknowledges Medea's rage. While in
conversation with the tutor she says, She'll not relax her rage till it has found its
victim (20). This proves to be true since Medea does not give up until she has made Jason
miserable. These acts of murder show the wrath of Medea's rage. 
In conclusion, Medea's fatal flaw of excessive passion is due to the three main reasons
of her love for Jason, her selfishness, and her rage. These factors all contributed to
the downfall of Medea's character.