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Modern And Greek Theatre Differences And Similarity
Modern And Greek Theatre Differences And Similarity
Oedipus Rex tragedy Vs death of a salesman tragedy
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Recommended: Modern And Greek Theatre Differences And Similarity
June 8, 2010
The multiple similarities between the two tragedy’s “Oedipus the King” and “Death of a Salesman” surpass the differences and reveal the significance of dramatic tragedy throughout the ages. The creative, innovation of Greek tragedy continues to provide generations with a platform in which they can modify and ultimately provide relevancy to their culture. Upon analysis of these two dramatic tragedies, one can observe the distinct similarities regarding the basics of human nature. This evidence confirms the credibility of the age old saying “the more things change the more they stay the same”. This paper will focus on the following: the analysis of the similarities, the similarities in detail, and the meaning behind the similarities concerning “Oedipus the King” and the “Death of a Salesman”.
Originating in Greece, tragedies were and remain a common and popular form of dramatic entertainment. To be considered an authentic tragedy, the protagonist must be one of aristocracy. This noble character begins the story as a likeable person whose destined fate is foreshadowed in dramatic irony to the reader. The reader is aware of the errors in judgment that the protagonist is inflicting on oneself. As the last to discover one’s unfortunate fate, the protagonist is devastated. The revelation is far too much to bear; therefore, the protagonist either commits suicide or inflicts pain or mutilation onto oneself. “Oedipus the King” reflects all of the essential components of a tragedy; however, “Death of a Salesman” lacks some of these defining characteristics. In “Death of a Salesman” the protagonist is not a “tragic hero” (Kennedy, Gioia 1282) like Oedipus. He lacks the nobility that is a prerequisite to being...
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...e no royal figures; however, Miller was able to create a character that the public could relate and empathize with. Abandonment, deceit, and figurative blindness are occurrences that were relevant to Greek society and over two thousand years later the topics remain relevant in our culture as well
The similarities between “Oedipus the King” and “Death of a Salesman” reveal our culture is still intrigued by a dramatic innovation created over 2,400 years ago in Greece. Early tragedies such as “Oedipus the King” continue to serve as a catalyst for modern tragedies such as “Death of a Salesman”. Oedipus and Willy Loman endured the wrath of abandonment, tortured themselves with their own deception and tragically succumbed to their own flaws. Modern Tragedy varies from what it was in Sophocles’ time; however, the fundamentals of the dramatic staple remain strong.
In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there is a deception where readers think one thing, but are presented with a different point of view. They are profoundly similar for various reasons regarding structure and theme. They are complementary in establishing the primary conflict of drama during the storyline; however, Oedipus Rex encompasses foreshadowing that divulges drama from past experiences. Additionally, the authors incorporate violence as a key component in the conflict presented. However, the drama differs in plot, as well as symbolism, in which the reader understands it before or amid the story through gradual discovery. The themes and presentation of these dramatic plots are initially compelling, distinctive,
Set ages apart, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex provide different perspectives on the topic of tragedy and what is defined as a tragic hero. Although Oedipus would be thought of as better representing the tragic hero archetype due to tradition and time period, the modern tragic hero of Oedipus Rex is more of a dismal one. Through analysis of their respective hamartias, it is exemplified that the New York businessman with his humble story proves to be more thought provoking than the King of Thebes and his melancholic tale. **By incorporating a more relatable character and plot, Arthur Miller lends help to making Willy Lowman spiral toward his own downfall while building more emotion and response from the audience than with Oedipus. When Oedipus learns of his awful actions, this invokes shock and desperation.
The tradition of the tragedy, the renowned form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis, has principally become a discontinued art. Plays that evoke the sense of tragedy-the creations of Sophocles, Euripides, and William Shakespeare-have not been recreated often, nor recently due to its complex nature. The complexity of the tragedy is due to the plot being the soul of the play, while the character is only secondary. While the soul of the play is the plot, according to Aristotle, the tragic hero is still immensely important because of the need to have a medium of suffering, who tries to reverse his situation once he discovers an important fact, and the sudden downturn in the hero’s fortunes. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the modern tragedy of a common man named Willy Loman, who, like Oedipus from Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, exhibits some qualities of a tragic hero. However, the character Willy Loman should not be considered a full-on tragic hero because, he although bears a comparable tragic flaw in his willingness to sacrifice everything to maintain his own personal dignity, he is unlike a true tragic hero, like Oedipus, because he was in full control of his fate where Oedipus was not.
...up the question of the value of truth, and whether the pain of knowing an awful truth is more important than the bliss of ignorance. This also applies to Death of a Salesman: while Oedipus chooses to pursue the truth, Jocasta and the Lomans try to live in naïveté and not face reality. The play also questions the increasingly proud leaders of the Athenian society who challenge the higher powers, i.e. men against the gods, when Oedipus reviles the oracles. The gods, he indicates, will always triumph when men, using their intellect, oppose them. One of the themes is that the course of things is partly based on the character's actions but mostly fate.
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
The tragedy of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is not only that of a man exposing the horrific truth behind his past. The greatest tragedy is the ever-changing perception of Oedipus, by both the citizens of Thebes, and the play’s audience. Oedipus exudes a gross amount of self-confidence and ego, leading to narrow vision with no room for the perspectives of Tiresias, Jocasta or Creon, thus insuring his own demise. By the end of the play, the audience, along with the other characters, can track the personality flaws that led Oedipus to his personal, living hell. But the context of the play’s and Oedipus’ history, along with his unfortunate traits, actually highlights another aspect of his character.
After much defeat Willy reflected on his life and said that he was of more value dead than alive (Miller 2173). Many arguments have been made about Willy's character; is Willy truly tragic or plainly pathetic? Considering all the factors of Willy's life that weighed upon him, the reader should determine that this low man was, indeed, tragic. Aristotle analyzed drama to form a definition of tragedy. Aristotle considered “Oedipus the King” the perfect tragedy, so he modeled his definition after the play.
The ancient Greeks were famous for their tragedies. These dramas functioned to “ask questions about the nature of man, his position in the universe, and the powers that govern his life” (“Greek” 1). Brereton (1968) stated that tragedies typically “involved a final and impressive disaster due to an unforeseen or unrealized failure involving people who command respect and sympathy. It often entails an ironical change of fortune and usually conveys a strong impression of waste. It is always accompanied by misery and emotional distress” (20). The play, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles definitely demonstrated the characteristics of an impressive disaster unforeseen by the protagonist that involved a character of respect, included irony, and was accompanied by misery and emotional distress.
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.
Aristotle’s tragic hero is made up of three requirements. The protagonist of the play must be a person of high estate. This allows the protagonist to fall from power or happiness to create a tragedy. The next requirement is the protagonist mus...
In this play Oedipus the King it shows us the perfect example of an Aristotelian Tragedy. This play exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero and it happens in such a perverse and unimaginable
(“Classics.upenn.edu” 2009). The spectators feel dread for Oedipus due to the fact that it is impossible for him to alter the tragedy’s end result. Struck has proven that Oedipus is Aristotle’s ideal tragic hero because of the great empathy the audience feels when a respectable man, greater than they, experiences such horrible misfortune. Struck, a fellow student, and I have provided evidence that Oedipus’s superiority to the common man and the way he enables the audience to empathize with him, makes him the embodiment of Aristotle’s perfect tragic
Maryam Makhdoum 308 words Oedipus the King “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, is a dramatic play with a tragic ending. Tragedy is certainly the oldest form of drama in the ancient Greek literature. Moreover, it was a symbol of religious and political event which called upon all the Greeks to be aware of their relationships with gods. In fact, the Greek tragedy aims to illustrate the misery and glory of life and at the same time, aims to explore the nature of humanity.
People might argue many plots in the tragedy are so extreme that rarely happened in an ordinary people’s life. For instance, it’s uncommon for people to kill his father and marry with his mother, as we observed in Oedipus the King. However, the audiences still can sympathize the tragedy, because they all have lost a family member sometimes in their life. And when they saw the tragedy, they will recall their own tragedy in their life, and be comforted by the characters’ misfortune and their inability to solve the issue. This is true for both ancient Greek audiences and current readers.
Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.