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Key elements of compare and contrast essays
Compare and contrast essays
Key elements of compare and contrast essays
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Comparing and Contrasting Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Rita Dove's The Darker Face of the Earth
Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus can be argued that it is related loosely to Rita Dove's The Darker Face of the Earth. This comparative and contrasting characteristics that can be seen within both plays make the reader/audience more aware of imagery, the major characters, plot, attitudes towards women, and themes that are presented from two very different standpoints. The authors Sophocles and Dove both have a specific goal in mind when writing the two plays. In this paper I will take a closer look of the two, comparing and contrasting the plays with the various elements mentioned previously.
Sophocles style of plot structure was usually to begin in media res. This is particularly true of Oedipus Tyrannus. When the reader or audience is first introduced to the main character, Oedipus is already a grown man and king of his country. In the first few lines, talk of a "fiery plague ravaging the city" is mentioned (Sopochles 3). In the very early stages of the play the reader begins to feel pity for Oedipus and recognizes his suffering. The time span is also another important factor to consider when analyzing the plot structure. The play in its entirety takes place within a one to two day period. The flashback scenes into Oedipus' childhood give the audience a better sense of the big picture, but can be misleading when focusing on the time aspect element.
The roles of the characters are particularly useful when comparing and contrasting Oedipus to Darker Face. Oedipus can be argued to be a sympathetic ruler of his people, "my heart must bear the strain of sorrow for all..." (4). He shows a strong desire to rid the land of its despair. Yet as the reader captures a more in-depth glimpse into Oedipus' soul, we find him to be a jealous, stubborn, "blind", guilty, and sinful man. Oedipus' character outwardly seems to want nothing more than to find the guilty persons involved in the murder of Laius, yet when given obvious clues he turns a blind eye, not wanting to know the truth behind the prophecy.
Even before this story begins, irony is brewing and continues throughout the pages. The creative author is using this enticing technique as a backbone for his play, and also as a key component in foreshadowing the tragic plot. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is filled with many different ironies, so much so, that this reoccurring element tremendously affects the outcome of the story.
“There was nothing he liked so much as flattery.” (De Rouvroy) This quote could discredit the fact that his nobles would submit to his power out of fear. Because he loved flattery the nobles might have only surrendered to him because they knew that his weakness was flattery. They might have only done things for him such as dressing him and accompanying him while he is eating so that they could be on better terms with him and they might get some benefit for doing these things for him, not because they were afraid of him. Frederick William, The Great Elector : A Secret Letter: Monarchical Authority in Prussia, is another source that has ideas that can counter the fact that King Louis was absolute. The quotation “Take advantage of the advice of the clergy and nobility as much as you can; listen to them and be gracious to them all, as befits one of your position,” (Snyder pg 94-95) talks about how King Louis should listen to the advice that the nobles and clergy give to him. The reason this can make him non absolute is because he could have been making decisions based on what other people telling him. He is not making his own decisions on what he thinks is correct, he is listening to the opinion of other unlike an absolute monarch. Finally Duc de Saint-Simon: Memoires: The Aristocracy Undermined in France, can also go against the idea that King Louis was not absolute. A quote from this text, “These secret communications…
President Eisenhower shaped society in a positive way. President Eisenhower was unbiased and not racist. One of the jobs of the president of the United States is to enforce the laws of the Constitution. Since Eisenhower believed this was his duty he was supportive of the integration to Central High. Eisenhower sent the 101st soldiers to keep the peace so that the integration went more smoothly. I believe that
He is known as a general in WWII. Then as a president during the Cold War. This amount of terror and violence would not be seen in America until 9-11. He helped the stock market and built the economy back up. Eisenhower was very strong in foreign affairs. He felt very strongly against communism. He was criticized that he did not do enough for civil rights in the U.S. but was later found to do things with a “hidden hand”. He was unable to secure a test-ban treaty, which he hoped would be a very important part of his legacy. For years he had battled forces in congress and within his administration over increased defense spendings. Eisenhower talked eloquently about how “every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Eisenhower disliked arms merchants that took advantage of the Cold War paranoia of the day to increase the profits margins, so they could increase the country's military
Despite the latter, Louis XIV undoubtedly was able to effectively solidify France as an absolutist state and played a crucial role in molding the world today (Lewis 3). Unlike his predecessors, Louis was able to centralize the government and society, exercising his power in an innovative way, and there are two foundations of the way he did this. One is the symbolic projection of the power, focusing on aspects such as courtly life, rituals, and his patronage of the arts, and the other more conventional way being the power he used to build up the political and economic atmospheres, and the structures of the government. Collectively, this combination of the symbolic and structural exercise of power made France the model example of absolutism and marked the pinnacle of French power; yet, there is still a sense of limitations to his power, as there is this question of myth or reality, and if Louis XIV’s reality was not as romantic as it is made out to be.
Even though Oedipus may be the hero, he is also selfish and ruthless. One example of his ruthlessness is when he meets Laius at the place where the three roads meet. Instead of letting the older man pass, he makes a scene, why should he be the one to move? He is royalty. He believes that he should move for no man. He is also selfish in the fact that when Teresias enters and gives Oedipus the clues that tell him that he has killed Laius, he refuses to believe him, to the point of insulting him, and kicking him out.
Louis also helped himself gain power by selling titles of nobility. Since Louis had to fill many positions within the government with nobles, he would often use men whose upper-class status was recent. Such men, unlike hereditary nobles, could aspire to no independent political influence of their own.
Sophocles’ Oedipus is the tragedy of tragedies. An honorable king is deceived and manipulated by the gods to the point of his ruination. In the face of ugly consequences Oedipus pursues the truth for the good of his city, finally exiling himself to restore order. Sophocles establishes emotional attachment between the king and the audience, holding them in captivated sympathy as Oedipus draws near his catastrophic discovery. Oedipus draws the audience into a world between a rock and a hard place, where sacrifice must be made for the greater good.
Louis XIV was an absolute monarch because he developed a strong military, controlled the nobility and used huge sums of money to glorify his power.
Owen, E. T. "Drama in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus." 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 33-35. Print.
This essay will illustrate the types of characters depicted in Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, whether static or dynamic, flat or round, and whether protrayed through the showing or telling technique.
Upon reading the play, there is an apparent class structure found throughout. In Oedipus Tyrannus, two mai...
King Louis XVI demonstrated absolutism by being careless and having little concern about what was right for his country. He did what was fastest and easiest without looking at the consequences. This is absolutism because he had all the power in his hands and could do what he wanted without anyone else’s consult. But this was a major problem for him because he was never taught the proper way to lead and he never learned how to make good decisions for a country. For example, he wanted to get revenge on
“Oedipus the King” by Sophocles is a tragedy of a man who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. Aristotles’ ideas of tragedy are tragic hero, hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and catharsis these ideas well demonstrated throughout Sophocles tragic drama of “Oedipus the King”.
It was easy life for King Louis XIV everything was handed to him and he was happy for the whole 72 years of absolute monarchy. A popular phrase that he said was L’État, c’est moi which mean I am the state, saying that means he is in control of everything in France. People worshiped him like a god which was the most likely reason of the French’s downfall and also that Versailles cost $100 million of national fund. You can go see Versailles yourself at Europe today it is a big and artistic as ever.