Suspense In Oedipus Rex Essay

In theatre, a character’s mental challenges can be just as important or more important than the incidents happening around them. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus faces a great psychological turmoil as he is faced with the possibility of having killed his own father. Though the major events of the plot take place within Oedipus’s own thoughts, the suspense of the play is still maintained. In order to give these mental happenings a sense of excitement, immense consequences are put into place, external events are utilized, and parts of Oedipus’s conflict are embodied by other characters. The effect that Oedipus’s internal realizations have on the world around him serves to emphasize the excitement of the tragedy. Oedipus, being a king, has a large influence

Characters like Iocaste, the messenger, and the shepherd are the best examples of this. Ioscaste’s future is at risk just as Oedipus’s is, representing his contrasting need to find an answer and the need to not be proven guilty. The messenger, who comes with news of Oedipus’s father’s death and knows more of Oedipus than he knows of himself, serves to represent Oedipus’s hope and doubt. This is seen as Oedipus gains hope that his father has died by causes unrelated to Oedipus, which brings him joy as the prophecies must be false. However, the messenger’s news of this not being his true father brings doubt back to him. The shepherd who knew Oedipus as an infant represents the truth of the conflict, as he is able to provide the answers to Oedipus’s mental turmoil more than any other character throughout the tragedy. This strong association of the characters with the pieces forming Oedipus’s internal struggle allows the audience to visualize the inner workings of Oedipus’s thought process. Which, in turn, creates immense suspense as different pieces of the puzzle of Oedipus’s fate are presented with each new