MEDEA

Abandoned by Jason for a younger, richer bride, Medea turns to the women of Corinth and makes the case — cold, furious, unanswerable — for the whole injustice of a woman's lot.

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And then the jeopardy, for good or ill, what shall that master be; reject she cannot: and if he but stays his suit, 'tis shame on all that woman's days. So thrown amid new laws, new places, why, 'tis magic she must have, or prophecy—home never taught her that—how best to guide toward peace this thing that sleepeth at her side. Her lord, if he be wearied of the face withindoors, gets him forth; some merrier place will ease his heart: but she waits on, her whole vision enchainèd on a single soul.

And then, forsooth, 'tis they that face the call of war, while we sit sheltered, hid from all peril!—False mocking! Sooner would I stand three times to face their battles, shield in hand, than bear one child.turn

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MEDEA

Medea · Euripides · 1:30 · 200 words

Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow, a herb most bruised is woman. We must pay our store of gold, hoarded for that one day, to buy us some man's love; and lo, they bring a master of our flesh! There comes the sting of the whole shame. And then the jeopardy, for good or ill, what shall that master be; reject she cannot: and if he but stays his suit, 'tis shame on all that woman's days. So thrown amid new laws, new places, why, 'tis magic she must have, or prophecy—home never taught her that—how best to guide toward peace this thing that sleepeth at her side. Her lord, if he be wearied of the face withindoors, gets him forth; some merrier place will ease his heart: but she waits on, her whole vision enchainèd on a single soul. And then, forsooth, 'tis they that face the call of war, while we sit sheltered, hid from all peril!—False mocking! Sooner would I stand three times to face their battles, shield in hand, than bear one child.

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