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A crown is a metonym (a kind of metaphor) for rulership. Medea chooses to exact her revenge on Creon and the Princess with a poisoned crown, a crown that represents Creon and Jason's having polluted the royal line with unjust rulership. Creon has earned his death and the loss of his authority by punishing the innocent Medea, who he himself has wronged by encouraging Medea's husband to abandon her and marry Creon's own daughter. Jason has earned his grief by violating his marriage oaths and abandoning his wife and children for the promise of future ruling power.
The Poisoned Crown Quotes in Medea
The Medea quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Poisoned Crown. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Lines 301-400
Quotes
The direct way is best, the one at which
I am most skilled: I'll poison them.
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Lines 901-1000
Quotes
I'll send her gifts, the finest in the world:
A finely woven dress and crown of beaten gold.
The boys will take them.
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The Poisoned Crown Symbol Timeline in Medea
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Poisoned Crown appears in Medea. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Lines 701-800
...the Princess by sending them to her with poisoned gifts, a dress and a golden crown.
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If the Princess takes the dress and crown and lets them touch her skin, Medea says, the Princess will die horribly—so will anyone...
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Lines 901-1000
...she will help Jason win her over by sending along gifts—a finely woven dress and crown of beaten gold—and suggests that the boys carry them.
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...to the happy, royal bride. Jason calls Medea foolish for parting with the dress and crown, saying the castle isn't short on such objects. His new wife, he says, will care...
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Lines 1001-1100
...murder the children. She knows, she says, that the Princess is dying with the poisoned crown on her head and she can't leave her work half finished. She justifies the horror...
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Lines 1101-1200
...Jason left the room and she put on the embroidered, poisoned gown and the poisoned crown and arranged her hair in the mirror. Then she stepped daintily around the room on...
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...palace. The Princess said nothing for some time then gave a frightful scream. The gold crown gave off a stream of all-consuming fire and the dress devoured her flesh. She jumped...
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The Princess, the Messenger says, could not get the crown off. She fell and gruesomely died. The servants, having seen her death, were afraid to...
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