Oedipus Weaknesses

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Well-known playwright, Sophocles, in his play, Oedipus the King, illustrates the stubbornness of King Oedipus in his quest to uncover the truth of his birth. Oedipus’s purpose was to show the power of fate and warn readers not to race blindly in search for ones deepest desires. Sophocles uses a serious tone in order to demonstrate to his readers the dangers of seeing the truth. The first demonstration in the play is when King Oedipus meets the priest, and Oedipus says, “I’ll do anything. I would be blind to misery not to pity my people kneeling at my feet” (lines 14-15). This quote starts off the play with foreshadowing and dropping hints to the readers. Oedipus is so desperate to help his people that he tells them that he would be a terrible ruler if he was so …show more content…

When Jocasta and Oedipus were discussing the prophet and his conversation with Oedipus, Jocasta starts to become wary of the truth that Oedipus might reveal. When Oedipus begins to piece together that he might have been the one to kill the late King Laius, Jocasta says “What are you saying? I shudder to look at you” (line 822). Jocasta is concerned about Oedipus and what he is piecing together in his head. When Oedipus finally concludes it was him who killed King Laius he states, “Now I can see it all, clear as day” (line 830). Oedipus now sees that he has killed the king that was before him but he doesn’t see the rest of fate working behind the scenes. Oedipus now feels the effects of understanding the truth that he didn’t feel before. Quickly, Jocasta tells Oedipus, “So much for prophecy. It’s neither here nor there. From this day on, I wouldn’t look right or left” (lines 948-949). Jocasta is trying to keep Oedipus from jumping to conclusions; she doesn’t want him to uncover anything that could hurt him because she knows how dangerous it could be for the truth to get

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