Medea Journal 1

Pity and fear are both subtlely evoked in the passage read, even if it was only ten pages. When the nurse foreshadows something terrible will befall the children by Medea's hand, stricken by her terrible anguish and fury, the audience is fearful. The children are portrayed as normal young boys, not even speaking in the play, allowing the audience to connect them to any boy they know. This creates a fear and sympathy for them that the mother will do something regretful to them. Pity is felt when we see the utter hatred Medea has for her former husband, who she loved. As she recounts the tales of things she did for him, such as murdering her own brother and chopping him up, the fact he left her is all the sadder.