ipl-logo

Oedipus The King Irony

490 Words2 Pages

OEDIPUS THE KING-SOPHOCLES
DRAMATIC IRONY ESSAY
SUMAIA FARAH

In the play Oedipus the King, is a story that takes place in Thebes, Greece. This mythological sytory is about a King named Oedipus who has fulfilled his familie’s curse of killing his father Laius ( former king), and marrying his mother. Throughtout this mythical story, sophocles emphasizes the dramatic irony that enhances the tension throughtout the story. Dramatic irony enhances tension by making the readers anxious, by making it more interesting -attention grabbing.
Dramatic Irony enhances tension by making readers anxious. An example of this is on page 15 where King Oedipus states “ That man, whomever he may be, I banish him from this land where I sit on the throne and hold the power; no one shall take him in or speak to him. He is forbidden”. This is significant to how tension is enhanced because the irony of him banishing himself, and saying …show more content…

An exmaple of this is on page 22 where Prophet Tiresias says to Oedipus “ I say that without knowing it you are living in shameful intimacy with your nearest and your dearest, you do not see the evil in which you live’.The irony in this is that Tiresias is a blind prophet who is told to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth and no one will believe him. He speaks in riddles and he is telling Oedipus that he is living in shameful intamacy with his dearest- his mother. Tiresias is telling the truth but no one will believe him, and ontop of that Oedipus doesn’t understand. This makes readers interested because Oedipus than ridicules Tiresias cause he is blind and tells him that he is “ blind” to the truth. When Oedipus later becomes blind he realizes the truth of Tiresia’s words. Dramtic Irony is also found in the fact that it is a blind man who truly sees. This connects to it grabbing the readers attention because it keeps them interested and focused on the

Show More
Related

  • The Book Thief Irony Analysis

    533 Words  | 3 Pages

    The literary analysis irony is used in The Book Thief many times throughout the book. The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel, a young girl who is taken to a new home because her mother can't afford to take care of her. This story is told by Death, who becomes an important part in the book. The Book Thief is set in Nazi, Germany, at the start of World War ll.

    Read More

  • Piggy Character Development

    752 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lord Of The Flies Every obstacle in life makes you stronger even if at the time you think you’re going through hell and don’t know how you’re going to get out. In the novel Lord Of The Flies by William Golding the author uses many ways in each different situation to develop the theme of the novel. Every story has situations that are shocking to the reader, and this book was great at letting the reader know what’s going on before the character. Character development was very big in this book as each boy changed towards the end.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Irony In Romeo And Juliet

    1009 Words  | 5 Pages

    Treyvionte Moorer April 30, 2015 1st Period Irony is a very important piece used in literature all over the world. Many of the world greatest writers used Irony in their writing pieces. Irony is sometimes confused with a coincident, actually there’s a huge difference between the two.

    Read More

  • Blindness And Vision In Oedipus The King

    686 Words  | 3 Pages

    It's great ignorance to have physical sight when you are ultimately blinded by the truth that you cannot see as in the case of Oedipus. The king makes ironical statement to Teiresias of how he cannot be hurt by Teiresias (Calame, 1996). This later turn to Oedipus equating physical blinded to ignorance as he removes his eyes so as not to see his terrible actions. The play displays Oedipus two encounters of blindness.

    Read More

  • Sight And Blindness In King Oedipus The King

    628 Words  | 3 Pages

    Master of Tragedies Neil Gaiman once said, “There’s none so blind as those who will not listen.” This quote relates to the theme of sight and blindness in “The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex”. King Oedipus was a man who would not accept the truth about himself. Physically he was not blind but in truth he was. There are three examples of Oedipus’s metaphysical condition of blindness which will be listed as follows.

    Read More

  • Pride In Oedipus The King

    619 Words  | 3 Pages

    ““Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface … a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”” (Jung). When it came time to face the truth Oedipus’s hubris did not want him to accept it yet given the facts he knew it had to be

    Read More

  • The Motif Of Light And Darkness In Oedipus The King

    825 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sight is the ability to see beyond the surface of things, not just the openings of your eyes. The motif of light and darkness in the passage, Oedipus the King, clearly describes one’ s inability to envision the best of something. Sophocles presents Oedipus as a seemingly powerful and virtuous man bursting with great strength. Ever since Oedipus had defeated the Sphinx, it became apparent that this was the King that the Thebans have been pleading for. Only a great King can effortlessly assert themselves in a dominant manner over others, on the contrary, Oedipus had pushed it to the point where he overlooks the thoughts of smart individuals.

    Read More

  • Mood Messengers In Oedipus Rex

    1252 Words  | 6 Pages

    This blindness towards doom is made even more ironic by the fact that he was made king by his knowledge and insight. Oedipus was known as the person who solved the famous riddle of the Sphinx, a monster which terrorized the citizens. As the play proceed, we can see how much of a contrast between the two groups of character there is, even the messengers knows stuff that the king doesn’t. Sentences like “My son, it is clear that you don’t know what you are doing” (Sophocles 55) salutes to the ignorance of the supposedly “wise” king. Using words like “son”, Sophocles gives an sign that even the messenger It illustrates the flaws that exist in Oedipus, amplifies it by comparing him to other who are supposedly

    Read More

  • Compare Oedipus And Willy Loman

    880 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout both plays, dramatic irony is used to portray the protagonists as tragic heroes and deliver their meanings as a whole. The heroes are not necasarilly aware of these events of dramatic irony, but they are apparent to the audience. One example is when Oedipus refused to believe Teiresias the blind prophet about the truth of his actions and the prophecy. Oedipus called him a “… sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man,” when ironically Oedipus , “with both [his] eyes”, was the one blind to the prophecy and the severity of his actions (Act1.

    Read More

  • Tragic Flaws In Oedipus The King

    1159 Words  | 5 Pages

    Introduction The story of Oedipus the king is gloomy, yet captivating. Going from a child bond around the feet and abandon by the mountainside, to marrying his mother, his story is intriguing. In search of the truth about the prophecy and putting an end to a plague Oedipus, search for king Laius’s killer, did somethings inadvertently, making him a tragic hero. His search for truth in the death of Laius the king, as well as his birth led to the ultimate destruction and downfall of his life.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Blindness In Oedipus The King

    1874 Words  | 8 Pages

    Oedipus The King by Sophocles Theme of Blindness Sophocles was a prolific writer and his long life enabled him to have a prodigious literary output. There is always a deep philosophic content at the back of Sophocles’ plays. Men suffer in the tragedies of Sophocles, characterisation always charged with emotion and poetry guesstimates the growth and development of his dramatic genius. One of the main underlying themes in Oedipus Rex is blindness.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Rex Self Discovery Essay

    796 Words  | 4 Pages

    The plot is thoroughly integrated with the characterization of Oedipus, for it is he who impels the action forward in his concern for Thebes, his personal rashness, and his ignorance of his past. His flaws are a hot temper and impulsiveness, but without those traits his heroic course of self-discovery would never occur. Fate for Sophocles is not something essentially external to human beings but

    Read More

  • Sight Vs. Blindness In Sophocles Oedipus The King

    1063 Words  | 5 Pages

    Tiresias reveals that Oedipus has been blind to the truth his whole life and when he finally does find the truth, he loses his physical vision. Due to the truth, Oedipus blinds himself. In this case, those who are blind ultimately do have a higher vision- the truth. The theme of sight versus blindness in Sophocles’ work Oedipus the King is portrayed through

    Read More

  • Oedipus Tiresias

    197 Words  | 1 Pages

    As the scene unfolds with the first interaction of Tiresias and Oedipus, readers are engaged in a verbal turmoil in uncovering the truth. Reluctant to answer, Tiresias is doubted by Oedipus thus leading to Tiresias revealing the truth he never intended to let known. Here, readers are greeted by a central theme in this section, the unwillingness to believe the truth. The verisimilitude of Tiresias’ words did not persuade Oedipus as he deemed “your words are nothing” (line 416). Therefore, Oedipus had a conviction that Tiresias was professing fallacies which ultimately led to his blindness, a major motif in this scene as well as the entire play.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King Research Paper

    1224 Words  | 5 Pages

    Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.

    Read More

More about Oedipus The King Irony

Open Document