Medea's great first speech is an account of the injustices done to women in patriarchal societies. Compare her real ethical concerns with the rather shallow and scheming Creon and Jason. Do you see any significance in the fact that her rival remains namel

Medea delivers a monologue on her sufferings and the sufferings of women. Women, though creatures that can think and feel, must endure terrible indignities. Marriage is necessary, and with marriage comes servitude. And though men are free to indulge their appetites and enjoy the company of their friends, women must remain in the house and live for their husbands alone. Men must bear arms, but women must bear children. And Medea tells the Chorus that her problem is still worse: she is a foreigner in Greece, without a family or home, and Jason has treated her like a prize won in a foreign land. Medea secures a promise: if she can find a way to get revenge, she asks the Chorus to vow that they will remain silent. The Chorus does as she asks, telling her she is right to seek revenge. Her rival remains nameless because her identity isn't relative to the revenge she will seek. Her revenge is saved for the man who has wronged her.