Except that now and then she turns her pure white neck and weeps to herself for her dear father, her country and her home, all of which she betrayed to come here with a man who now holds her in dishonor. The poor woman has learned from disaster what it means not to be cut off from one's native land.

Sometimes Medea turns her white neck and weeps for her father, her land and her home, all of which she betrayed to follow Jason. The nurse puts the lesson plainly: she has learned "from disaster" what it is worth not to be cut off from one's native land. Exile runs through the play. Medea cannot go home: to escape with Jason she betrayed her father, and Jason will throw the cost of that escape back at her before the end. Her white neck is the first detail of her body the play gives us, and it is turned away.