Dramatic Irony in Sophocles' Oedipus the King

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Dramatic Irony in Sophocles' Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles. Sophocles knowing that his audience is aware of the outcome of the play utilizes that knowledge to create various situations in which dramatic irony play key roles. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows the tragic truth before the characters do. Through his use of irony Sophocles manages to avoid retelling an old tale, though the audience is cognizant of the story's end they are intrigued by the irony present in the story. Sophocles made liberal use of irony. By doing this he tantalized the viewer into wanting to see how the events that occurred later would mentally affect the main character, in this case Oedipus.

Oedipus is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Because of these traits Oedipus was able to solve the riddle given...

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... attempted to show examples of dramatic irony and how they apply to the story line in the play. I thoroughly enjoyed "Oedipus the King" due to the style Sophocles used and because I normally enjoy tragedies such as this. I believe tragedies cause one to question every aspect of life which would explain why many of the plays were written in this time frame. This play held up to it's expectations and I look forward to seeing more dramatic irony in this form in the future.

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