Jocasta is Not to Blame in Oedipus the King
In the play, Oedipus the King , written by Sophocles, it is Oedipus, not Jocasta, that deserves our criticism. Oedipus made some `errors in judgement' that caused him dire consequences and is therefore going to be inevitably condemned for them.
Many could argue that Jocasta is responsible for the downfall that Oedipus encounters due to an unsuccessful attempt to have Oedipus murdered as an infant. It could be said that she therefore deserves our criticism for her actions in the play although we cannot over look the choices the Oedipus makes himself. Oedipus chose to leave Corinth when told the news of the terrible prophecy that had been foretold about him. It was this choice that led Oedipus to kill what he thought to be a wanderer on a foreign road. In leaving Corinth he fulfilled the prophecy to kill his father. It was Oedipus' choice that accounts him responsible for the criticism he eventually endures, not Jocasta.
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.
Although Jocasta tried to murder her son, Oedipus, to save her husband and herself from the terrible prophecy foretold at Oedipus' birth, Oedipus still deserves most of our criticism. He chose to murder another human being, through no fault of Jocasta's. She honourably tried to save her husband by having her son murdered although the person meant to do it couldn't go through with it.
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.
The authority which Oedipus and Jocasta defy is the same. Both the king and his mother defy the authority of the gods by trying to evade their edict. The edict states that a son would be born to Jocasta who would marry his mother and kill his father, as Oedipus says, “How mating with my mother I must spawn a progeny...having been my father's murderer.” (OEDIPUS, Oedipus, 44). When Jocasta hears of this, she attempts to kill the baby Oedipus, thus trying to escape the prophesy. Similarly, when Oedipus, as an unmarried adult, hears that he would kill his father, he runs away from his home town, Corinth, never to return. Oedipus and Jocasta both defy the gods' authority, which in this case comes in the form of running away from a menacing prophesy. In the end, however, Jocasta dies and Oedipus is overthrown and ruined.
Oedipus goes through denial and then separates himself through self-examination. Although warned to refrain from the search by his wife/mother, Jocasta, Oedipus continues to seek out the truth. This truth seeking leads to the transformation where Oedipus realizes that he is responsible. He had killed his father (although at the time he did not know Laius was his father) and married his mother (he did not know this either), thereby causing the plague. This realization was too much for Jocasta to bear, and so she committed suicide.
Act 3, scene 5 is a vital scene in the play, as it shows how the
Jocasta’s blindness to the truth ruins her relationship with Oedipus unlike Gertrude’s blindness which merely taints her relationship with Hamlet. Primarily, as Oedipus comes closer to discovering the truth, Jocasta begs him to stop searching. She pleads with him yelling “No! In God’s name – if you want to live, this/ must not go on. Have I not suffered enough?/... I know I am right. I’m warning you for your own good.” (Sophocles 55). It is clear that Jocasta knows the truth and all along yet she refuses to tell Oedipus .She tries very hard to ignore the fact that Oedipus is her son because she knows once he discovers the truth, he will not even be able to look her in the eyes. It terrifies Jocasta to know that once Oedipus realizes that she is aware of the truth all along he will loathe her. Nothing hurts her more than knowing that the one she loves despises her. Jocasta can evade these unfortunate events if she did not ignore the obvious truth before her. Moreover, Jocasta desperately hopes that Oedipus dies before he u...
opinions in Act 1, Scene 2. The aim of this is to build the suspense
Oedipus’ personality clearly reflects pride and determination throughout the play. When Oedipus heard the oracles’ prediction that he was to kill his father and marry his mother, he was determined to prevent the prophecy. Therefore he left his homeland of Corinth never to return. Then when he solved the Sphinx’s riddle, Oedipus’ pride rose to a new level. He was praised by the people of Thebes, resulting in his marriage to Jocasta, Queen of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his determination when in search of Laius’ murderer. He stated that he would avenge the King’s death as if Laius were his own father. He cursed the murderer, announcing “May he drag out an evil death-in-life in misery.” These characteristics of pride and determination, which Oedipus emanates throughout the play, may appear to be positive attributes to one’s personality. However, Oedipus’ actions, based on these characteristics, are what led him to his eventual downfall and suffrage.
The aim of tragedy is to evoke fear and pity, according to Aristotle, who cited the Oedipus Tyrannus as the definitive tragic play. Thus pity must be produced from the play at some point. However, this does not necessarily mean that Oedipus must be pitied. We feel great sympathy ('pathos') for Jocasta's suicide and the fate of Oedipus' daughters. Oedipus could evoke fear in us, not pity. He is a King of an accursed city willing to use desperate methods, even torture to extract truth from the Shepherd. His scorning of Jocasta just before her death creates little pity for him, as does his rebuke of the old, blind Tiresias. But with this considered, we must not forget the suffering he endures during his search for knowledge and the ignorant self-destruction he goes under.
Oedipus is the head investigator for the murder of King Laius. Even though he tells the people of Thebes that, "I am ready to help." He promises the people that he would do anything t...
Oedipus is seen to have double standards with regards to the idea of murder. He is aware that he has killed someone, yet to hear that King Laius was killed, he seems appalled, "...so daring, so wild, he'd kill a king?"p166. It is depicted as being morally less acceptable to kill someone of "royal blood".
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.
Jocasta’s compliance to the demands of the men around her is revealed through her constant role as a nurturing mother, one who provides emotional connections, but cannot make decisions. This role spans throughout the entire prophecy, throughout her entire life, and throughout her roles as Oedipus’ mother and then his wife. With the arrival of the prophecy that her and Laios’ son is destined to kill his own father and marry his own mother, Jocasta had to leave her child to essentially die in order to evade the prophecy. A mother’s first instinct is typically to protect her child at all costs; however, Jocasta goes against this by actually putting her child in danger in order to protect her husband. This instance proves that the husband seems to be the main focus. Every action seems to be to p...
The play Oedipus the King by Sophocles has often been described as the story of a “tragic hero.” This story is indeed tragic; however, Oedipus is not the only character stricken by tragedy. Equally stricken may be the character of Jocasta. She, as well as Oedipus, suffers many tragedies throughout the story. Shifting the story to a different perspective quite possibly may increase how we view it. The point is not to denounce Oedipus’ role as a tragic hero, but to denounce his role as the only tragic character.
First off, Teiresias is hinting at the fact that Oedipus’ relationship with Jocasta is a “sinful union” (Sophocles 36). Oedipus is unable to make the connection between what Teiresias is saying and his own prophecy. Oedipus does not want to acknowledge the fact that he has committed a sin and he avoids learning the truth by remaining ignorant of his true parentage. On top of this, when Teiresias outright tells Oedipus that “the killer [he is] seeking is [himself]” (Sophocles 36). Oedipus refuses to believe this and instead accuses Teiresias of lying and plotting against him. Oedipus, as a known intelligent character, should have listened to Teiresias, who is known for being a wise man; instead, Oedipus puts the blame on Teiresias. Teiresias then goes on to foreshadow that the “taunts” (Sophocles 36) Oedipus is throwing at him will “someday [be] cast at [him]” (Sophocles 36). Oedipus does not take the warning of Teiresias seriously instead he continues to insult Teiresias. Oedipus’ inability to face the truth will result in him being banned and blinding himself for his ignorance. Similarly, Jocasta attempts to prevent Oedipus from gaining knowledge by explaining that “[i]t makes no difference now” (Sophocles 55) and to “[f]orget” (Sophocles 55) what has been told to him. Jocasta not only tries to stop Oedipus from learning the truth, she also tries to stop herself from verifying the truth, this later results in her unfortunate suicide. Also, Jocasta’s ignorance and inability to discover Oedipus’ true past causes her to commit incest, a major sin. Jocasta and Oedipus committing this sin then result in the God’s punishing Thebes. Showing that, ignorance leads to
In the play Oedipus the King, Sophocles affirms that the gods ultimately have the final say to control one’s destiny; however, an individual is solely responsible for the decisions he makes. Approaching near the climax, Sophocles sets up a fundamental conflict of the play, the need for Oedipus and Jocasta to perceive the immutable state of prophecy through the consequences that deliver itself when the gods fulfill their plans for one’s destiny. The messenger even describes the omnipotent power of the gods, and witnesses the augury of death proposed by the supernatural, finally stating: