Unfaithful and the Faithful: A Term Paper

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As Jason states,"Twas not for the woman's sake I wedded the king's daughter, my present wife" (Euripides 547). This shows that he has no real regard for his new wife. He also goes on to describe how they will benefit from the marriage. In part, Jason is telling the truth. He has married to further his position. His lie to Medea is that he pretends he has done it for their family, when his only real concern is himself. This shows that Jason is driven and unscrupulous, focused on getting what he wants and willing to manipulate and wrong others to achieve his own needs. This difference in what they want from life is part of the reason that Jason is an adulterer and Charles is not. Jason's drive for success is the reason he is not faithful to Medea. Jason's focus exclusively on his own personal success also means that he does not care about ruining his relationship with Medea. In contrast, Charles's joy in life comes from his relationship with his wife, so he would not even consider being unfaithful and ruining the relationship.

A related difference between Charles and Jason is their level of self-involvement. Jason is completely self-involved, caring about nobody except himself. This includes that he only views both his wives in terms of what they provide for him. This explains why Jason shows no loyalty to his wives, since he does not consider or care about their feelings at all. Even when he is trying to convince Medea that marrying another woman was to her benefit, he makes it clear that he chose to marry her to serve his own needs.
As he says, "what happier device could I, an exile, frame than marriage with the daughter of the king?" (Euripides 529). For Jason, his actions are determined by what he will gain and include no regard for other people. With Jason's focus exclusively on his own needs, it seems that it does not even occur to him that his wife would object to his second marriage. In his speech to her, he seems to expect that she will see the benefits and be glad for what he did. This is another sign of his intense self-involvement. Charles is quite the opposite. He cares deeply for his wife and often seems more concerned with her welfare than his own. He shows the same concern for his daughter. Overall then, Jason and Charles are opposites in this respect, with Jason only caring about himself and Charles caring more about others. This difference also helps explain why Charles is faithful, while Jason is not.

Considering the characters of Jason and Charles, it has been seen that they are opposites in more ways than one. Jason is driven and self-involved, while Charles is simple, content, and caring. It is these opposite features of their characters that explains how one can be loyal and have blind faith, while the other is unfaithful and shows no loyalty.

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"Unfaithful And The Faithful A" (2005, April 24) Retrieved June 6, 2026, from
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"Unfaithful And The Faithful A", 24 April 2005, Accessed.6 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/unfaithful-faithful-66385