Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis of oedipus the king character
Literary analysis of oedipus the king character
Literary analysis of oedipus the king character
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Literary analysis of oedipus the king character
After word of the prophecy in Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, multiple occurrences of irony are present. This is evident when Jocasta doesn’t believe what the Oracle or the gods have to say but is found praying to the gods for answers. There is irony within both Oedipus and Tiresias, in which Oedipus can physically see but is blinded from the truth; opposing, Tiresias is physically blind but is the seer of all. Both Jocasta’s and Oedipus’ ironic inability to believe the prophecy lead to their postponed revelation of the killer of Laius. These instances reveal that the tragic irony of these characters is directly related to their own personal journey of revelation.
When the word of the prophecy is first spread, Jocasta immediately disregards it. Even though she doesn’t believe in the fate that the gods provided her, she later prays to the gods after it is revealed to Oedipus and begs, “ O prophecies of Gods, where are you now?” (Sophocles 34) Which is ironic because she describes said prophecy as a rumor and called it a
…show more content…
He genuinely wants to help the city of Thebes but he questions Laius’ death: “By what purge?/ Whose fate does this signify?/ And what was that?/ How could your robber have dared so far?” (Sophocles 4-5) Oedipus subconsciously replaced robbers with robber as if the story sounded familiar. Further on when he is actually told the prophecy by Tiresias’, he responds with “begone’ back from these walls, and turn you home again” (Sophocles 16). Although Oedipus has now heard of the prophecy, the event of Laius death, and remembers fleeing Corinth and murdering people at the crossroads, he still doesn’t put two and two together. He is the solver of the Sphinx’ riddle but when he realizes he killed Laius he still doesn’t believe in the prophecy. This tragic irony of his inability to see the truth ultimately prolongs his journey to
Aristoteles’s “Theory of Tragedy” suggests that the tragic flaw in Sophocles’ play Oedipus is the King’s “self-destructive actions taken in blindness,” but a worse flaw if his arrogance. There are a few opposing views that stray from Oedipus being fully arrogant. First is that he took actions to save himself further pain. Second by putting himself in charge was the right thing to do as the leader of his people. Third Oedipus never tried to outwit the gods but used the prophecy as a warning to leave Corinth. All three opposing arguments shows a different side of Oedipus other than that of arrogance.
Few people think of detective work in regard to “Oedipus the King”, but this play builds on riddles solved, and unsolved, making it to be a mystery. Oedipus starts out as an optimistic individual who is in charge of a cold case proclaiming that he is going to solve the mystery of the murder of King Laius, in order to life the plague from his city Thebes. The people of Thebes look up to and Oedipus for solving the Sphinx riddle, “You freed us from the Sphinx; you came to Thebes and cut us loose from the bloody tribute we had paid that harsh, brutal singer. We taught you nothing, no skill, no extra knowledge, still you triumphed (Sophocles 44-47). The people believe in him without any prior knowledge of him. When he first hears of the murder, Oedipus immediately takes on the role as a detective when he hears “where shall we find clue to solve that crime after so many years” (Sophocles). The Oracle at Delphi tells Oedipus that the plague will be lifted if Thebes banished the man who killed Laius (Sophocles 74, line 350).
Oedipus took great pride in saving people and being seen a hero. He wanted the death of Laius to be avenged and he had to be the one to find the murderer and punish him. "I'll fight for him, I'll leave no means untried, to cach the one who did it with his hand..." (Literature, Oedipus the King, Ln. 270-271, page 1081) He did not want to let the people of Thebes down, and he wanted to show that he would be a true hero once again.
The behavior of Oedipus is ironic, because he is not capable to grasp the truth that is being unrevealed before his eyes. Oedipus is blinded by his ignorance. He is a very confident man and powerful in the way he acts and talks. Oedipus is so blind to himself, that instead of relying on the oracles, he counts on his own knowledge to find out the truth. Oedipus is destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father.
In the Guilt of Oedipus, Vellacott says “The grey hair lies in the dust, near four other bodies. Oedipus has, at the first opportunity, ignored a divine warning. That this man could be his father would be a coincidence, so incredible as to be impossible; but this was the risk he ought not to have taken. He is guilty.” (Vellacott) This quote signifies the irony of the statement he is blameless because the series of events were out of his control i.e. fate. At the cross road ultimately he has a choice fight or flight and he chooses to fight killing Laius and three other. If it was truthfully fate he would not have a choice at all. In addition, in the play the priest was speaking with Oedipus, who at the time is expressing his concern for the kingdom whose people are falling ill and says to Oedipus, you came to Thebes and freed the city from the Sphinx who riddles made the wisest dumb; you freed us from the monster’s bloody feast, alone, you solved the riddle–killed the beast. (Wilson) The journal A Hermeneutic Tragedy brings forth an interesting analysis The Sphinx, asked Oedipus the question, “what goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?”. Could the Sphinx be given him a chance, a chance to identify himself by questioning his own answer. He does not see that here in this challenge
In order to find the killer he calls on the blind prophet Tiresias who says that Oedipus himself is the murderer. Even though Oedipus trusted the prophecy to help save the city in the beginning, he now is refusing to believe it and starts to think that Creon and Tiresias are trying to overthrow him.
Oedipus choses to seek the truth about the murderer of Laius, honourably indeed to save the people of Thebes, but through this choice he in a sense administers his own lethal injection. Oedipus is warned about the consequences of his actions by Teresias when he prophesises the outcome of the search for truth. Due to Oedipus' ego which is built up by the pedestal that the people of Thebes have put him on, he does not accept the help of Teresias and continues to search. His opinion of himself being above the Gods leads him to then again shun the help of Jocasta who once again warns him of the consequences of the search for truth. Oedipus' persistence lands him our criticism, at this point we cannot criticise Jocasta as she tries to help him, and warn him about what will happen is he persists.
If Oedipus had not been so determined to escape and prevent the prophecy, he would not have fulfilled it. Possibly, he was doomed to fulfill the prophecy because he believed he could avoid it. Nevertheless, his fate was sealed by his actions of pride and determination. His pride of conquering the Sphinx led him to the marriage of Jocasta, his mother. When avenging Jocasta’s previous husband, and his true father, King Laius’ death, he was blinded by his pride to the concept that perhaps he was the murderer. Not knowing the truth, he cursed himself to an “evil death-in-life of misery”. Of course at that time, Oedipus failed to realize his connections to Jocasta and Laius, but recognition of the truth would bring him to his eventual suffrage.
Not only does his ignorance create the flawed character inside himself, but it also causes him to run from his fate. The significance
Dramatic irony is used commonly throughout the play: sometimes obviously, sometimes it is more subtle. By using it so often it makes the audience think about the subtleties moments and how they could be ironic, which is a very clever way to keep their attention. When Jocasta figures out that she is in fact Oedipus?s mother, she tries to stop him from finding out, and ironically, Oedipus gets offended and more motivated to figure out the truth, as he believes that she thinks he is the offspring of slaves. This example builds tension because it gives a guarantee that he won?t give up until he figures out the truth. ?Oedipus whose name is afar? says this in the beginnin...
Dramatic irony in Oedipus the King is evident throughout, which is similar to the latter play, but in a different form. In here, the irony is evident. Oedipus the King revolves around characters' attempts to change their destiny (which fails) - Jocasta and Laius's killing of Oedipus and Oedipus's flight from Corinth. Each time somebody tries to avert the future, the audience knows their attempt is futile, creating irony. When Jocasta and Oedipus mock the oracles, they continue to suspect that they were right. Oedipus discounts the oracles' power, but believes in his ability to uncover the truth, yet they lead to the same outcome. His intelligence is what makes him great, but it is also what causes the tragedy. When he ridded Thebes of the Sphinx, Oedipus is the city's saviour, but by killing Laius and marrying Jocasta, he is its affliction, causing the blight that strikes the city during the opening. Meanwhile, the characters, especially Teiresias, mention sight, light, darkness, &c as metaphors, while referring to `seeing the truth'. However, while Teiresias knows the truth and is blind, Oedipus can see all but the truth. When he discovers the truth, he becomes blind. Also, he does not just solve the Sphinx's riddle - he is its answer. His birth is mentioned throughout the play (crawling on `4 legs'), and he never relies on anybody but himself (`standing on his own `2 legs'),...
Sophocles’ use of symbolism and irony is shown in Oedipus Tyrannus through his use of the notion of seeing and blindness. This common motif is extended throughout the play and takes on a great significance in the development of the plot. In an effort to escape his god given prophecy, Oedipus tragically falls into the depths of unthinkable crimes as a result of the mental blindness of his character; thus never escaping his lot.
Through finding out the truth behind the prophecy of Oedipus and dramatic irony, both of the characters Jocasta and the Chorus end up believing prophecies are real and that no one can avoid them. Ultimately, in Oedipus the King, Sophocles plays with the views of prophecy among the characters. Some characters view prophecy as real while others don’t believe in the idea of it. Though some characters may believe that prophecies are a hoax, Sophocles takes dramatic irony and ends up making the characters believe in it.
When Oedipus inquires “who is this man whose fate the god pronounces?” (1740) after this inquiry almost every statement made by Oedipus becomes ironic because he is referring to himself though he is yet to find out. The audience is aware that the more he looks into the murder of the former king Laius the worse it is going to be for him. Sophocles’ use of dramatic irony keeps the audience one step ahead of the protagonist so they are able to see the errors made by Oedipus. Because the audience has had time to figure what the mistakes are, they are more emotionally invested in how Oedipus will react when he finally understands all the mistakes he has made through the play. As the play progresses the audiences attitude about Oedipus starts to slowly shift; the emotions start to become deeper and we start to see that though he is guilty of murder empathize with
Sophocles makes use of many situations involving dramatic irony. In fact, the entire play could be said to be an example of dramatic irony. The audience becomes aware of Oedipus’ prophecy from the very beginning of the play. The reading from the Oracle stated that Oedipus was destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Although Oedipus is unaware of his fate, the reader knows the tragic future of the character. This use of dramatic irony allows the story to avoid the typical Greek tragedy structure and keep the reader intrigued as the events unfold.