Oedipus

A detailed Summary of Oedipus

The play Oedipus the king, written by Sophocles, was written in the era of classical Greek tragedy. It involves a king, who promises a lot to his people, yet through trying fight his destiny, meets an ironic fate. The main character, Oedipus, is a protagonist. He has very little control over what his fate will decide for him. Oedipus is constructed as a character which impacts us deeply, not because we admire his character, but the way in which the reader is positioned to feel involved in his struggle.

The way in which Oedipus is constructed relates a lot to the context of the time. These themes such as fate and destiny, allow us to know more about the context of the time period, but also helps us to understand what Oedipus is going through. Fate is defined as, "a power beyond human control that is believed to determine course of events, a person's destiny". Fate is referred to a lot in the play Oedipus the King. The word fate isn't often used, but words involving the fate of the city, and the fate of its people are often used. The way in which Oedipus talks about his authority, and the way he puts himself above the gods, automatically shows that he is trying to decide his own fat

The different images we get of Oedipus throughout the story, vary. The way in which imagery, dramatic irony and the themes of fate and destiny reflect how we think about Oedipus and what he is going through. We are positioned to feel helpless and this can lead us to different opinions of the protagonist, but the impact on the audience is made by the way we know Oedipus's fate before he does. We are constantly feeling involved, with his struggle and suffering throughout the play.

Dramatic irony is probably one of the most prevalent and most effective ways of establishing Oedipus's character and involving the audience with his struggle. The audience often feels a lot more powerful than Oedipus in the way, that we know that he doesn't know about his disturbing truth, that he killed his father, and had children with his mother. Irony is defined as conveying opposite meaning. The play of Oedipus from start to finish is full of irony. When he is trying to save the city from the plague, which he caused is probably the most important. On line 157 "for my own sake ill rid us of this corruption, who ever killed the king may decide to kill me too". This is a play on dramatic irony as hes talking about himself, yet he doesn't know it. This one truth, which holds Oedipus's destiny in its hands, isn't revealed to the very end. All through this, even if we don't know the end of the play, we feel sorry for Oedipus. The reader is positioned to feel helpless, which can lead to us feeling for Oedipus and his struggles. The way which the reader knows more about the play than the characters can lead us to feel more involved with the character, and sometimes even lead to our opinion of the character changing. This concept of Oedipus, who killed his father, can lead us to think he is a tyrant, yet after the irony, and the fact he is powerless in a struggle with his own fate, leads to think differently of him.

Tiresias provides the audience with the truth about Oedipus but,

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Approximate Word count = 1338
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English