“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare entertains the audience through use of character, language and drama. The plot focuses on the theme of conflict and consequences, using deep characterisation, descriptive language and high drama to entertain. Act 3 Scene 1 focuses on a brutal feud between two enemies and Act 3 Scene 5 follows the patriarchal society’s approach to women marriage and societal expectations. Shakespeare forces the audience to engage with the idea of conflict and what it must have been like to live through this time. Shakespeare cleverly utilises a changing atmosphere in Act 3 Scene 1 to expertly entertain his audience.
In a tragic play, the tragic hero does something that will destroy himself. In the play Oedipus The King, Oedipus is the main character. Oedipus The King prevails mediated by many to be the impeccable tragedy and the perfect archetype for all tragedies. The well-built reason this play is abiding remains constructed with the idea that tragic events will happen if you don 't hark your destiny. As the play progresses, we see Oedipus running from his destiny as he runs right into it.
In conclusion, Sophocles’ character Oedipus was able to meet each one of Aristotle’s requirements in order to be named a tragic hero. “Tragedy in the ordinary sense, or something close to it, is that which merits, or aspires to merit, a tragic response” (Currie, 2010). The chorus of the play excruciates the tragic fate of Oedipus. Moreover, the four rules by Aristotle clearly sum up that Oedipus is a tragic hero because of his struggles and the realization of his failures. In the end, the story of Oedipus’ tragedy reminds man that no matter how hard he does his best, the inevitable of failure cannot be overcome.
With the realization of his demise, Oedipus tries to protect himself from punishment and shame by gouging out his own eyes and exiling himself out to die in the place destiny prevented him from dying originally. After many years of luxurious living, Oedipus’s predestined fate tears his life apart and returns him to the place he should have died as an infant, the mountain. Through the use of, departure, initiation, and return, Sophocles displays the journey of Oedipus. Not only is Oedipus the King evidence of the use of the hero’s journey throughout many famous plays, movies, and books across all cultures and time periods, but it also seen as a perfect tragedy, in which the audience experiences both pity and fear for the main
Tragedies often trigger emotional responses to audiences. It allows an individual to perceive the situation and emotionally respond to it. Sophocles uses the relationships of individuals with one another that incorporate compromise and division between the clashes of stubborn heroism and defeat. In tragedies, one many often feel pity, which can be very relatable to the reader and audiences. This can be evident in “Oedipus the King.”
The world of literature offers many different works; some may offer similarities while there are differences between others. There are more similarities than differences between Odysseus and Oedipus. Two great examples of literature is the tragic play “Oedipus the King”, written by Sophocles and “The Odyssey”, an epic poem written by Homer who were both Greek poets. Both poets’ work shows similar examples of life altering changes that were ultimately controlled by the Greek gods.
Oedipus the King is a tragedy that was written by Sophocles that emphasizes the irony of an irony of a man who was determined to trace down, expose and punish an assassin who in turn became him. Oedipus the King is also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus. The art is an Athenian play that was performed in ages approximated to be 429 BC. Oedipus the King would later in the play fulfill the prophecy that he would kill his father and later on marry his mother. There is a twist of an event in the play where Oedipus is looking for the murderer of his father to bring to a halt the series of plagues that are befalling Thebes but only to find he is in search of himself (Rado, 1956).
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.
Laden with innuendos, ironies, and intricate wordplay, Shakespeare’s plays are rarely what they initially appear to be. Rather, it takes several readings to be able to barely scratch the surface of all the possible interpretations. Moreover, not everything is black or white, but possible variations of gray. This topsy-turvy approach is encapsulated in the overall outline of Shakespearean comedy, which are typically set during a period of festivities, such as the festivals A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night are appropriately named after. An average festival is usually comprised of chaos through the reversal of the traditional order and rejection of social norm.
The theme of confinement prevails throughout the play. He did whatever was in his limits, but, was still imprisoned by the fate that had already his destiny. Likewise, in the play “Oedipus the King”, the main message that the play portrayed was that no matter how much one try to run away from the fate, it always follows and even succeeds. The father of Oedipus, when found out that his own son was going to kill him, abandoned him, to prove the fate wrong.
“Oedipus the King” is an ancient tale which demonstrates a timeless lesson about human nature. It explores the inner characteristics of the man Oedipus and the multitude of conflicts that ultimately lead to his downfall. The play explores both the tumultuous and troubled relationships that Oedipus has with both himself and the natural world around him. Explored in this play are the conflict of human vs. self such as when Oedipus struggles with his own inner pride, the conflict of human vs human such as when Oedipus argues with Tiresias, and finally the conflict of human vs supernatural in which Oedipus fights to free himself from the fate of the Gods. Oedipus unknowingly fights both himself, his fellow man, and the gods in his quest for knowledge
It is often said that an anti-climax work is more admired than its counterparts. For reasons, the struggle of humans, the ultimate failure of a hero, and the corruption of mortal spirit have always hold its ground against classic comedy. From the ages of Oedipus Rex, a tragedy carries the irony of an egoistic giant trapped in predestined downfall. Oedipus was almost certain that he had escaped the arranged destiny. This confidence led him to pursue the murderer of Thebes until, at the end, he made the horrible discovery that his wife was his mother, and that his daughters were instead, his sisters.
Brilliantly conceived and written, Oedipus Rex is a drama of self-discovery. Achieved by amazing compression and force by limiting the dramatic action to the day on which Oedipus learns the truth of his birth and his destiny is quite the thriller. The fact that the audience knows the dark secret that Oedipus unwittingly slew his true father and married his mother does nothing to destroy the suspense. Oedipus’s search for the truth has all the tautness of a detective tale, and yet because audiences already know the truth they are aware of all the ironies in which Oedipus is enmeshed. That knowledge enables them to fear the final revelation at the same time that they pity the man whose past is gradually and relentlessly uncovered to him.
Drama is literature written for performance--or at least written in a style that would allow for stage performance. As a text form, drama can be thought of as story told though spoken remarks and stage directions(Kurland ,2000) .When we hear the term drama we think fun, excitement , expression of one’s self . A famous quote says that “play is not in the words, it’s in you” (Steller Adler). In the world of drama it is essential that we understand the difference between Process and Product Drama.
Studying plays as Oedipus Rex and Hamlet is a vital part of studying literature since they are timeless works that teach many lessons. Moreover, they still have some concepts to be unmasked by critics of literature. According to Aristotle tragedy is ''a form of drama based on human misery that arouses in its audience feelings of pity and fear'' and each tragedy must have a tragic hero. Tragedy began in the ancient Greek theatre where tragedies were performed in late March to early April at an annual religious festival in honour of Dionysus. () One of the most famous tragedies in that period is Oedipus Rex which was written by Sophocles.