Sight And Blindness In Oedipus The King

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The eyes are useless when the mind is blind.” This quote is attributed to “anonymous” but it could easily be attributed to Sophocles, more specifically the character Teiresias. The blind seer says many things related to his own blindness and how he sees and knows the truth. Our group concept includes this statement as our focus for design with other elements contributed to our inspiration as a group and individually. I will focus on costuming choices and my concept as related to the script.

In an analysis of themes in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, we see two major themes critics and historians agree on: Fate versus Free Will, and Sight versus Blindness. The theme of sight and blindness is both tangible and abstract. The words sight, blind, and blindness are repeated twenty times. Teiresias is a principle character who is blind but ironically can see as he is a prophet. The literal blindness of Teiresias points to the metaphorical blindness of those who refuse to believe the truth about themselves when they hear it. Oedipus refuses to believe Teiresias or “see” the truth. In the end, when Oedipus …show more content…

In analyzing the script we found many references to sight, seeing, and blindness. These references are easily tied to an image. The bleeding eyes of Oedipus stood out to all of us. The image of the god’s eyes watching the predestined fate of Oedipus appeared valid. Images of eyes being fractured, stabbed, and broken seemed relevant as well. Eyes became our tracked image. Script references and conceptual context are connected to this image of the eye. The eye that is blind to the truth and only sees when it is blinded. The image of the bleeding eye stands out as part of our concept. I will incorporate our overall design concept to costuming with the use of geometric shapes, lines of costumes, and dark, washed out

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