How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used Paul Roche's translation.
Quote #4
Chorus: Deep is her sobbing from depths of pain:
Shrill the news her suffering brings
Of marriage betrayed (30)
Jason rips a hole in Medea's soul when he takes another wife. The severing of her marriage creates an unholy rage in Medea. You'd think he'd know better than to mess with her after the bloody deeds he's already witnessed her do.
Quote #5
Jason: I should like you to remain.
But you, Madam,
obstinate in folly,
have continuously reviled our royalty,
And so you are banished. (59)
Jason's claim here that he was hoping that Medea would stay, even though he'd taken a new wife, isn't as crazy as it sounds. It was totally respectable for a Greek man to have a wife and a concubine. Today, he seems like a total jerk, but to an Athenian audience his argument would've been a lot more credible.
Quote #6
Medea: I even bore you [Jason] sons […]
just to be discarded for a new bride.
Had you been childless,
this craving for another bedmate
might have been forgiven. (60)
Part of a woman's perceived duty in marriage was to provide her husband with sons. Medea feels extra cheated because she fulfilled her end of the bargain. Jason has what many men, like Aegeus, crave, yet he throws it all away.