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Shakespeare analysis essay introduction
Shakespeare analysis essay introduction
Greek religion and mythology
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The choir represents the voice of the people, the voice of the masses.
People often conform to this uniform truth, they want to be like other people. This conformation leads to a uniform voice from the public. This voice is often ignorant to the truth, seemingly to the point that it creates its own truth. This is seen often in Oedipus the King, by Sophocles. They believe that Oedipus is godly, even when they have found out that he is the cause of their plague. It is not until the end that their haze of false truth clears, and they turn against Oedipus.
The idea that the people speak with a unified voice is seen whenever they speak. Never does one individual stray from this one voice. This is seen in the Strophes and Antistrophes, the choir speaks as a whole. At the start of the, the choir shows unquestioning faith in Oedipus. They believe that he is godly, that since he ended the Sphinx’s reign of terror, that he would stop the plague. They believed this without question, they had no doubts that Oedipus would find a cure. They even came to Oedipus with “olive boughs all wreathed in woe,'; the same way one would go to a altar when they wanted something urgently. This shows their faith in Oedipus.
This faith blinds them to the truth. When they find out that it could be Oedipus that is the cause of the plague, they still follow Oedipus blindly. They do not see the truth, they create their own. They become so deeply entwined in their own web of falls truths, that they do not realize what is really happening. They do not believe the Oracle, “Show me the man speaking stone from Delphi damned'; shows their disbelief in the oracle. This further reinforces their false truths, their blind faith toward Oedipus. Eventually this haze of false truths clears, and they see reality.
Even when they are confronted with the truth, they follow Oedipus. When
Oedipus is pondering whether or not he could have killed King Laius, they encourage Oedipus. “But wait until you’ve heard the witness speak. Have hope,'; this shows their faith in Oedipus. “Your Laius prophecies are turned to lies'; shows their belief in the oracle. They feel he is lying, and continue their praise of Oedipus. This belief does not last forever, the web of false truths dissipates, and they see Oedipus for who he really is.
“Shepherd: I am on the brink of dreadful speech/ Oedipus: And I of dreadful hearing yet I must hear” (Sophocles 63) With this Oedipus shows that he wants the truth to be reveled so that he can save the city and have the truth realized. It does not matter what the truth is only that he must know who he needs to kill or banish to save the people of Thebes. Oedipus also shows his care for the city of Thebes when he finally learns the truth about who his parents were and that he had in fact fulfilled the prophecy that he had so desired to not do. Oedipus chooses to still banish himself and stick to what he promised the city at the beginning of the play. “conceal me somewhere far from Thebes” (Sophocles 75) Oedipus does this to not only hid from the shame he receives from fulfilling the prophecy but to also end the plague and to save the people of Thebes. Finally Oedipus shows his quality of care for his children a trait that makes him more admirable in the play. This moment is shown after Oedipus finds out that he has fulfilled the prophecy and is the reason for the plague. Then he blinds himself and prepares to banish himself but before he is banished he asks for Creon and asks of a favour “Take care of them Creon do this for me” (Sophocles 77) Thus Oedipus shows his compassion for his children
Oedipus’ baneful traits of naiveté, arrogance, and curiosity blend with one another in Oedipus Rex to comprise his horrible, inevitable fate. With the traits given to him, Oedipus is destined to have the fate he receives, but what would become of him if he is not arrogant? What if he was not curious or naïve? Would Oedipus still finish with his eyes gouged out and his subjects scorning his name? Even the author himself, Sophocles, may not know if the tragic hero could ever free himself of his inescapable web of his fate.
Many times humans do things that contradict another thing they do. An example of this is one thing may be good but also bad at the same time. A person who has done this more then once is Oedipus in the writer Sophocles plays. Sophocles uses imagery like light verses darkness, knowledge verses ignorance and sight verses blindness.
The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.
Aristotle defined a tragic story as the adventure of a good man who reaches his ultimate downfall because he pushed his greatest quality too far. Sophocles advocates the definition in the tragic play Oedipus Rex. He develops the play with the great polarities of fame and shame, sight and blindness, and ignorance and insight to show Oedipus’ experiences in search for knowledge about his identity. Through his search, Oedipus pushes his quest for truth too far and ultimately reaches his doom. Oedipus’ reliance on his intellect is his greatest strength and ultimate downfall.
The passage begins with Oedipus crying, "Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must! / I must know my birth, no matter how common / it may be-I must see my origins face-to-face" (lines 1183 - 1185). He is eager to know his past, no matter how ugly it may be. He believes the truth can be no worse than learning that he comes from a humbl...
Oedipus believed that he could take on the Sphinx and rid Thebes of the plague. The plague was the god’s example of the fault in human condition. Children and mothers were dying and the world was at war with itself. The plague showed that the mortality of being human is a death sentence. The riddle of the Sphinx defines human limits. The first stage is that of a baby, the second is when you are your strongest, and the third stage is when you are old an dying, and there is no way to avoid this cycle. Oedipus fails to recognize the third stage of the riddle in himself even though it is staring him in the face in the form of Teiresias.
Throughout Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, there are many references to sight, blindness, and seeing the truth. Characters, such as Tiresias, are able to accurately predict what Oedipus’ fate will be through their power to see the truth in a situation. Oedipus maintains a pompous and arrogant personality throughout the play as he tries to keep control of the city of Thebes and prove the speculations about his fate as falsities. Ironically, although Tiresias is physically blind, he is able to correctly predict how Oedipus’ backstory will unfold, while other characters, such as Jocasta and Oedipus are oblivious to the truth even though they can physically see. Thus, we can conclude that the power of “seeing the truth” deviates greatly from the power of sight in reality and can lead to an expedited fate or a detrimental occurrence.
In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the audience is able to gain a deeper understanding of Oedipus’ downfall due to the context provided by the chorus. Through its own wavering faith in the Gods, the chorus is able to explain and add meaning to Oedipus the King that would not otherwise be evident. Further, the chorus’ explanation allows Sophocles to expose his goal in writing the play, giving the reader a unique perspective into the true cause of Oedipus’ downfall. Therefore, it is strictly the chorus that enables the reader to realize that the true cause of the plague is not a murderer but a crisis in faith.
Ancient Greeks cared deeply about the pursuit of knowledge. Although the truth was often a terrifying concept, they still saw it as a critical virtue. One of the main underlying themes in Oedipus the King is the struggle of sight vs. blindness. Oedipus’ blindness is not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. Sophocles has broken blindness into two distinct components. The first component, Oedipus's ability to "see" (ignorance or lack thereof), is a physical characteristic. The second component is Oedipus's willingness to "see", his ability to accept and understand his fate. Throughout the play, Sophocles demonstrates to us how these components.
When it is suggested that Oedipus himself could be the source of the plague, his anger emerges in full force. "(Truth has strength,) but not for you (Teiresias); it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes (Soph. O.T. 370-371)." The Oedipus of Senaca’s play is not nearly so rash. He seems to dread what will come from his exploration into the death of Laius, even though the condition of his city is just as terrible as that of Sophocles’. "I shudder, wondering which way fate will steer. My shaky mood could waver either way. When joys and griefs so close together lie, the mind is doubtful. How much should one see? How much is best to know? I’m dubious (Sen. Oed. 204-208)." This Oedipus even has thoughts that the plague might have something to do with him, that his rule might be the pollution that has descended upon the city (Sen. Oed. 40). It is this anxiety that Seneca wishes to bring out in his play, one of the emotions that are the downfall of man.
Throughout Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Oedipus frantically searched for the truth, but due to his pride, remained blind to his own connection to the dire plague that infected Thebes.
Oedipus is indeed convinced of his own virtue, and why not? As the play opens, the priest lavishes praise upon the k...
The priests of Thebes have come to Oedipus to stop the plague that is killing the people of Thebes. They revere him for his knowledge, since he solved the riddle of the Sphix many years before and became the king. As the reader is introduced to Oedipus, they are given many facts about his life so that they become familiar with this man who has done great things. But Oedipus learns from his brother-in-law, Creon who he had sent to Delphi, that Apollo has placed this plague upon Thebes until they "Drive the corruption from the land, don't harbor it any longer, past all cure, don't nurse it in your soil - root it out!" ¹ Oedipus swears an oath before the priests and the chorus (which represents all people of Thebes) that the murderer would be found and driven from the land.
The Chorus in the play Oedipus has three basic functions. Firstly, to act as bystanders throughout the play, observing what goes on, reacting and offering opinions at regular intervals throughout the play (e.g. When Oedipus accuses Croon irrationally of conspiring against him, the Chorus says "To one who fears fall, his words seem good; O king, swift counsels are not always safe". In this role they are important to the play as they often offer the voice of reason during moments of heated debate, the voice of fear and confusion during Oedipus' downfall, which seems to mirror the audience's reaction and emotion in many situations throughout the play. The Chorus are also used as a sort of receptive audience for passages of description over what has gone on behind closed doors (e.g. After Jocasta has realised the truth, the second messenger describes the scene inside the palace to the Chorus: "Within the porch, straight to the couch, she rushed, her bridal bed, and tore her hair." ... ...